Page 106 of Of Flames and Fallacies

I sigh in exasperation. “If I ask you nicely, will you do it?”

“No,” he responds plainly.

“And why not?”

“Because he’s a lost cause.”

I growl through gritted teeth, “Don’t fucking talk about him like that.”

He tilts his head to the side at the irritation sharpening my voice, and a grin pulls at the corner of his mouth. “Why are you so defensive of him?”

“Because he’s my friend. And you’re being impossible at helping anyone but yourself.”

“I know,” he taunts as he leans back and crosses his arms with a smile, mirroring my stance.

It enrages me. I can’t tell if he’s doing it to piss me off or if he really doesn’t care.

“What is your problem?” I finally ask.

He opens his hands and arches his thick eyebrows, prompting me for more clarification. As if he has more than one problem.

“Whatis your problem with Archie?” I snap.

He scoffs and swats at the air. “As I said before, that kid is hopeless. I might as well be with a squad of muskrats.”

I glower at him. “He’s optimistic.”

“No, he’sunrealistic.”

“He looks up to you!”

Darian rolls his eyes. “If you were smart, you wouldn’t attach yourself to such an easy target.”

“Why are you such a fucking asshole to everyone, huh? Archie is kind. And the rest of the squad arenothingbut good to you.” I jab a finger at his chest.

A muscle in his jaw flickers, his gaze dropping to where I prodded him. When he draws his eyes back up to mine, staring through lowered brows, they simmer with a hidden anger.

“And yet for some reason, out of everyone here, you save me from your piss-poor attitude. Instead, I get your flirty bullshit and unwanted sexual innuendos.” I spin on my heel and storm off, opening the door a few inches.

“Because you don’t expect anything,” he fumes.

I swivel toward him. “What the hell is that even supposed to mean!”

“They think I’m supposed to save them. They think there’s some good in me and I owe it to them.” He pounds a fist into his chest, his voice getting dangerously louder. “There’s not!” He growls, like something hisses in a nightmare. “Andyou.”

Thundering toward me, his anger rips across his features and roars in his green eyes. Too afraid to turn my back to him, I back-step slowly out of his room.

“There’s no expectations with you. You know what I am. Void of pressure or responsibility to be good. That’s why I don’t even have to try to be an asshole to you. Because you know I am. And I don’t have to prove that to you.” He spits at the ground, stopping at the threshold momentarily as he braces his hand against the door. His voice dips to a depth that sends shocks to my spine.

“And don’t youeverfucking mention my sister again.”

He slams the door in my face. The walls shudder with the shear force and strands of my hair blow back from my face. A sharp ringing pierces my ears. I stare in shock with my mouth open wide before I physically shake it off. Another soldier walks by, staring at me with wide eyes before he averts his gaze.

I slip back into my room, swallowing against the guilt tightening my throat as I think of my brother. How much I would have done in his name. How angry I would have been if someone used him against me.

I deserved that.

I went too far.

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