Page 133 of Silver Elite

For once, I’m in agreement with her.

The sun is just beginning to rise over the base, casting a golden hue across the horizon. We jog in formation, trainers hitting the pavement, footsteps thudding in unison. It’s a cool morning, and my breath emerges in a wisp of steam as I exhale with irritation. Who invented jogging? Is this not something we could have left behind in the Old Era?

I glance at Kaine. Beads of sweat glisten on his brow, but he’s otherwise unbothered. The guy takes everything in stride, no pun intended.

Lyddie, on the other hand…Poor thing barely made it half a mile before she was gasping. When I poked her in the side to speed her up, she glared at me and said, “I’m here for Intelligence, not to join somesadistic running unit.” The words were spoken on a wheeze, making me laugh.

A few others are like Lyddie, set on joining Intelligence, but I know a lot of them are like myself, eager to make it into a fieldwork unit, particularly Elite. The high-adrenaline, high-clearance ops. I only wish I knew what the criteria are for making it into Silver Elite. None of the instructors are too forthcoming with that information.

Only twenty of us remain in Black Cell. I think Red Cell is down to eighteen members. Of the thirty-eight recruits left, I have no idea how many will be selected for Elite. All I can do is work my ass off to make up for the first three weeks that I bungled.

We round a bend in the road, and now the base stretches out before us, a sprawling expanse of buildings and training grounds bathed in the soft light of morning. Alongside us, Hadley barks orders to move faster, to stay in formation. He’s the worst.

By the time we return to the training center, the base is showing signs of life. Soldiers going about their morning routines. Vehicles rumbling to life in the distance.

Awareness floods my body when I notice Cross at the entrance. Dressed in fatigues, he’s speaking to Struck, Ford, and a man with dark skin and a lot of muscles.

My traitorous eyes sweep over Cross, and a jolt of electricity shoots through me.

I can’t get it out of my head. That kiss. His touch. His scent. The way his lips felt against mine. I swallow hard as every part of my body remembers him. My fingers tingle at the memory of how soft his hair felt sliding between them. My breasts remember the sensation of being crushed against his chest, the fast hammering of his heartbeat.

I shouldn’t have kissed him.

Stupid fucking move.

As if sensing my presence, Cross’s head swivels in my direction. His gaze meets mine, and my obnoxious heart flutters like a trapped butterfly in my chest.

Stupid fucking heart.

Our gazes hold for longer than appropriate. I glimpse a hint of hisdimple before he breaks eye contact and turns back to his subordinates.

Hadley orders us to wait, then goes to join the small group.

“Wren?”

I glance over at the sound of my name.

Jordan.

It’s been little more than a month, yet it feels like a lifetime ago when I was in bed with this man.

He strides up to me, clad in his uniform. It bears the Copper Block emblem along with two bronze stars—I remember him saying the night at the inn that he hoped to earn a third. He was planning to start officer school in the fall.

Kaine grins at me as I move away from the group to speak to Jordan, whose eyes fill with relief. He moves like he’s about to hug me, but stops just short, arms dropping to his sides. His gaze flickers toward the Silver Block officers.

“I’m so glad to see you,” Jordan says, keeping his voice low. “Are you all right? I was worried.”

“About me?”

“I tried to find you after they executed your guardian. All I was told was that you’d been detained.” He notes my workout uniform. “I didn’t realize you were recruited.”

“I wasn’t at first. They held me for a couple of days, but after Lieutenant Colonel Valence confirmed that I didn’t know what my uncle was, they allowed me to join the Program.”

“I told them you were innocent,” Jordan says, and I have no idea what I did to earn the conviction ringing in his voice. I’m notthatgood in bed.

“You spoke to them about me?”

“Yeah. After I found out you were caught in South Plaza. I told them there’s no way you knew your guardian was a ’fect and that you were loyal to the Company.”

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