Page 19 of Sparks Fly

As the day wears on, Hallie commits to singling Kaia out at every turn. She criticizes her form, her speed, her decision-making, pushing her harder than she’s ever pushed anyone before. Soon, her voice grows hoarse from shouting.

Kaia, for her part, takes it all in her stride, gritting her teeth and pushing through the pain, determined to prove herself, as always. But Hallie can see the confusion in her eyes. The hurt. The silent question hanging between them,

Why are you doing this to me?

Hallie’s chest aches with every harsh word, every biting comment. She hates herself for what she feels she has to do, for the way she tears Kaia down in front of her team. For the first time in her career, Hallie starts to resent her role as the tough, uncompromising lieutenant.

The last drill of the day is a high-stakes simulation of a multi-level building fire. The recruits must work in teams to locate and evacuate trapped civilians, coordinating their efforts and maintaining constant communication throughout the operation.

Hallie watches closely as Kaia and her teammate make their way through the smoke-filled structure, calling out to each other as they search for survivors. For a moment, it seems like they might actually pull it off without a hitch.

But then, just as they’re about to make their final exit, Kaia appears to disagree with her partner’s instructions, ignoring his call and taking a wrong turn instead. The mistake costs them precious seconds in the race against the clock.

Hallie takes a deep, levelling breath before she storms over to Kaia as soon as the exercise is complete, her fists clenched at her sides.

“Montgomery, what the hell was that?” she demands, committing to her performance. “You nearly cost your team the whole damn scenario. Do you even want to be here? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you think you should be running the whole department.”

Kaia’s eyes flash with hurt, eyebrows drawn together in obvious confusion.

“Of course I want to be here,” she snaps back, her voice trembling a little. “I’ve worked my ass off to be a part of this crew.”

Hallie’s heart clenches at the raw pain in Kaia’s voice. She wants to reach out to her, to tell her that it’s just an act, that she’s sorry. But she can’t. She can only pray that one harsh dressing-down is enough to convince the rest of the rookies that she isn’t playing favorites.

Instead, she narrows her eyes and takes a step closer, her voice dropping to a low, menacing growl. “Then you better start acting like it. Because right now, you’re not just letting yourself down. You’re letting your team down. You’re letting me down.”

Kaia’s eyes widen at Hallie’s brutal words. For a moment, Hallie thinks she might break, thick lines of moisture gathering in those warm, brown eyes. But then, something shifts in Kaia’s expression. Her jaw tightens, and her eyes harden with resolve.

“You’ve made your point, Lieutenant,” she bites back, her voice steady and calm. “It won’t happen again.”

Hallie blinks, taken aback by Kaia’s sharp response. Before she can say another word, Kaia turns on her heel and storms off the training ground, leaving a stunned silence in her wake.

She can feel the eyes of the other recruits on her, can sense their confusion and unease as they shift on their feet, waiting to be dismissed. But she can’t bring herself to care about whether her plan had the desired effect. All she can think about is Kaia, and the look of betrayal painted across her face before she’d turned away.

10

KAIA

Kaia storms into her apartment that evening, slamming the door behind her with a resounding bang. She throws her bag across the room in a violent rage and collapses onto the couch. Burying her face in her hands, she tries to calm the storm in her head, the humiliation and hurt coursing through her veins.

How could Hallie do that to her? After everything they’d shared with each other, Kaia thought she’d found someone who truly understood her. Understood what she spent every day fighting for. But apparently, she was wrong. Apparently, Hallie’s position will always come first.

Her iron grip on her team, on her power, certainly came before her feelings for Kaia today.

Kaia’s cell begins to buzz insistently in her back pocket, the sound muffled by the couch cushions. She fishes it out, glaring at the screen where Hallie’s picture stares up at her.

Taunting her.

With a scoff, Kaia declines the call and tosses the phone aside.

“I thought we had something real,” she mutters to herself, anger and confusion warring in her chest. “Well done, Kaia. You really misjudged that one.”

The phone buzzes again and again, each vibration grating on Kaia’s already-frayed nerves, but she ignores it every time. If Hallie thinks a phone call is going to fix anything between them, she’s got another think coming.

An hour passes. Maybe two. Kaia doesn’t care to check the time.

She just stays where she is on the couch, replaying each minute she’s spent with Hallie over and over, wondering how they all led to that gut-wrenching exchange in training today.

It all flashes before Kaia’s eyes like a living nightmare. The way Hallie singled her out time and time again. The smug look on the other rookies’ faces as they watched her get torn apart. The sharp stab in her ribcage when she realized that maybe, just maybe, Hallie wasn’t who she thought she was.

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