Page 62 of The Devil's Conflict

“Our CO had to leave on another assignment, and Sniper was tasked with overseeing us to finish our day. And of course, the moment he found out I was in the squad, he decided to push me to see how far I would go. We were just about finished and he ordered me and two of the tallest men in our group to pick up a long heavy item and carry it to the equipment room in another building a good hundred feet away, knowing full well that the moment they lifted it on their shoulders I wouldn’t be able to reach it or help. And I lost my temper and told him he was a horse’s ass, obviously blind, and clearly needed an anatomy lesson as well as a math lesson on how height and body types worked. He tried to warn me to stop while I was ahead, but I knew I was already in deep shit, so why bother stopping? So I let him have it. By the time I was done, everyone was silent and shocked, and I was on toilet duty, along with having to run another three miles. But I got back at him for that though.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask how.” Rose giggles, but then waves at me to continue.

“See, he also ordered me to clean his and the other COs’ bathrooms as well. And at one point, he had to leave because he was called away when he was supervising me. So I got up, dunked his toothbrush in the dirty toilet water, and used it to clean the bathroom. Then, when I was finished, I put it back, andwent back out to his room. Since he wasn’t back yet, and sure he was going to be a little while, I hurried down to the mess hall, where they were serving shrimp and salmon for dinner. And then I took small pieces of both, rushed back to his room, and hid them in his curtain rods.”

“Oh my God,” Sadie gasped, shocked, but then starts laughing like a lunatic. “That is brilliant!” The other women are laughing and nodding their head in agreement.

I grin. “By the time he came back, I was already on to the final CO’s bathroom, who just let me in and left, uncaring. Sniper came in to check on me and said he hoped I learned my lesson. I told him I had. I went back to his bathroom to clean for a couple more days, until finally the stench was so bad in there, I refused. No one could figure it out, and Sniper was pissed and he couldn’t blame me so he just let it go. They tore it all apart, cleaned it, cleaned the vents, you name it. Everything he owned stank, and that room had to be quarantined off for like a week until they decided that something must have died in the walls and they had an exterminator come in and tear it all apart. Lucky for me, there actually was a dead something in the wall, and they basically threw everything out in the room. Including the curtain rod and the curtains. He was in the worst mood for weeks and miserable because he had to be moved to another room in another building. It wasn’t long after that he got called up to serve on the Forces team, but it was worth it. He never figured out it was me.”

“My girl.” Rose beams, high-fiving me. “That is deliciously petty, wicked, and utterly brilliant. I would never have thought of doing something like that. And you’re sure he never figured out it was you?”

“He tried to accuse me once, but I happily reminded him that he stood and watched me the entire time like a creepy old man so it was impossible. It wasn’t my fault he didn’t know how to keephis shit clean.” I sigh happily at the memory. “He was so intent on finding the source of the smell he didn’t even bother to yell at me for the creepy old man comment.”

“And no one else knew or figured it out?” Sage asks, wide-eyed and looking thoughtful.

“Nope. The other women were pissed it meant the hot CO wasn’t around anymore for them to gawk over, and the other COs and the men on our teams were just glad not to have to deal with the stench anymore. Especially because the men on our team were the ones who had to haul everything out for him. Pretty sure most of them vomited at least once.”

“Remind me to never get on your bad side.” Izzy snickers. “That’s some next level petty and I am here for it.” She lifts her hand up for me to high-five across the table.

“That was probably the meanest thing I’ve done,” I say, thinking back. “Though when we were kids and Theo used to piss me off, I would bury his toys in the backyard and act like I never saw them or touched them. Does that count?”

“Did he ever find them?” Syn asks.

“The dog would sniff them out and dig them up. But he assumed it was the dog in the first place.” I shrug.

“I should have known you were the one who did that,” Theo’s voice says behind me, sounding aggravated. The women’s eyes widen as they turn to look at him. Me, I just turn my head and grin. “I even told Mom I was sure it was you, but she didn’t want to believe her little angel could do something so mean and evil.”

“I was an angel,” I counter smugly. “You were the one who didn’t know how to keep himself out of trouble. And you also wouldn’t stop taking my dolls and using them as target practice when you and your friends were trying out Dad’s guns. Or don’t you remember getting grounded for like two years when I ratted you out.” I look at my nails and then him pointedly. “Or should I be the one to tell Dad now about the fact that you used to sneakin beer and Sherry Tracker into his old camper behind the shed so you could get busy and drink until you both passed out? And that you were the one to leave the door open after because you were so intent on getting out of there before he caught you that the raccoons got in that night and destroyed the place. And Dad had to junk it and cost him thousands of dollars?”

Theo glares at me. “You wouldn’t dare, because then I would have to tell him about the time that you hooked up with Danny Prescott in the back of Dad’s old truck, and then you two took it on a joyride and got it stuck. Of course, Dad could never imagine his little girl doing something like that so you lied and said someone must have stolen it. You know, since you couldn’t blame it on me,” he adds with a narrow-eyed glare.

“You guys seem like you get along so well now,” Rose remarks, looking between the two of us. “Or is that all a show.”

We both grin at her. “Not all show. When we were teenagers, we had our moments. The rest of the time we were thick as thieves and we stuck up for each other or covered for each other,” Theo explains. “Like the time we were horsing around in the house and accidentally broke our mother’s absolute favorite lamp. It was some ugly thing she picked up second hand but for some reason she loved it more than any other piece of furniture in the house. Thea accidentally kicked it and sent it flying. We spent an hour coming up with this elaborate explanation of what happened to it and how we fixed it if they noticed. And when they did, we immediately started spewing it.”

“And long story short, they figured out it was me.” I sigh. “But because he stuck up for me and didn’t admit to the lie, Theo got punished too. Wasn’t it that we couldn’t go to the dance at the end of the school year or something?”

Theo pouts at the reminder. “Considering that the hottest chick in school asked me and I had to tell her I couldn’t go, effectively making it so that I never got a chance to have anykind of anything with the head cheerleader, I’m still pissed about that.”

I roll my eyes while the other women giggle. “Considering how many women you’ve been with since then, I think you’re fine.”

“We’ll never know now, will we.” He sniffs. “But I came in here to take my break and also let you know that Cryos wants to talk to you. Something about security the next time you’re in the office.”

“Oh, okay.” I’m instantly distracted. “I guess I should probably go and look into that.” I get to my feet. “I’ll be back,” I tell the women with a smile. “And remind me to tell you about the time I made a CO cry.”

“Thea, you are going to be a lot of fun around here, I can already tell.” Rose beams. “And I’ll be taking notes.”

I swear I hear someone that I can’t see groan at that, but I just grin and step away from Theo. “Are you on duty to watch over them?” I ask him in a low voice.

He nods. “I’m going to get myself something quick to eat in the kitchen and then come out to sit with them and eat. Make it really casual. Viper told me they don’t want the women knowing they’re being guarded in case they worry.”

I nod. “Alright. Point me toward Cryos’s office and once I hear what’s up with him I’ll come back so you can go get some sleep.”

“Thanks, sis,” he says before he heads for the kitchen once he directs me on where to find Cryos.

When I get to Cryos’s office door, I knock briskly and wait until he calls me in. Walking inside, he looks over at me absently for a moment while typing away furiously before going back to staring intently at the screen directly in front of him. “I gotta finish this, and then we’ll talk,” he tells me. “Don’t touch anything, and just hang out.”

I move to lean against the wall on the left side of the room since it’s the only uncluttered spot. Personally, I couldn’t work in this kind of chaos, but to each their own. I look around the room, remembering what it was like to sit in front of screens like this day in and day out trying to decode things, or get information to my team. Usually, we were in the middle of nowhere having to set something up for me, but it was the same no matter where. I was in charge of telling them where to go, how to get there, and of any dangers that may lie ahead. I wonder if Cryos does that here at all?

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