Page 241 of Silver Elite

“Hey.” He strokes my face. “I can’t. You know I can’t. I won’t leave the entire Continent in my brother’s clutches. Either of them. If you thought my father was ruthless, Travis is even worse. And Roe? He’ll kill Mods indiscriminately. You realize that, right?”

I bite my lip so hard I taste blood in my mouth.

“Wren.”

I release my lip and sweep my tongue over the puncture I created.Liquid copper coats my taste buds. “Please don’t make me do this alone.”

“You won’t be alone.” He nods toward Xavier.

I don’t even turn my head. “He’s not you,” I say stubbornly.

“Someone needs to keep Travis and Roe in line. I don’t know what the wards will look like with them calling the shots.”

“What do you mean ‘them’? Travis isn’t going to put Roe in charge.”

“Not officially. But he’s never even tried to rein Roe in. He’s going to let him run loose and do whatever the hell he wants. I need to be here.” His expression grows pained. “My mother is here. I can’t leave her, either.”

I feel my heart splintering in my chest, the sharp slivers scrapingover my ribs. It didn’t even occur to me that he might not come withme.

“Fine.” I lift my chin. “Then I’m staying.”

“No. If you stay, you’ll die. I can’t protect you here. I’m already on shaky ground with them because I selected you for Elite. Travis thinks you fooled me. He seemed to get great pleasure out of that.”

“You’ll be punished for it?”

“No. He needs me too much. But he suspects we were romantically involved.” Cross curses under his breath. “Someone reported seeing me leave your quarters.”

“Ivy,” I growl.

That makes him chuckle. “Actually…It was Sutler. Guess we weren’t careful one night.”

Kaine?

Even as my heart squeezes for my fallen friend, my jaw drops in outrage. Kaine snitched on me? He’s lucky I don’t like to speak ill of the dead, that hellfucker.

“I told Travis I was dropping off some paper maps for an off-the-source op. I think I convinced him. Regardless, he and I have never been on the same page about how to run the Command. It might take a while to earn his trust back, but he won’t kill me. And you…You’ll be safer with the Uprising.”

“Will I?” I counter. “Because I have no idea what kind of peopleare working for the network. These corrupters. For all I know, I’m walking into even more dangerous territory.”

Xavier pipes up. “Don’t worry, Darlington, you’ll be safe. I got you.”

I growl at him. “I don’t want you to ‘got’ me. I wanthim.”

“Damn, you’re bad for a man’s ego.” He lowers his gaze and continues arranging his pack.

I move closer to Cross. Tears well in my eyes as I lean into him, seeking his embrace. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he says roughly. “But you have to.”

He brushes a stray lock of hair from my face, blown free of my ponytail during our hyper-speed ride.

“Please don’t leave me,” I whisper, embarrassed that Xavier might hear the crack in my voice.

“I’m not leaving you. I’m just staying behind.”

“For how long?”

“Until I figure out what the hell is going on here.” He grips my chin with his big, capable hand. “I promise I will see you again.” He bends his head as if to whisper in my ear, but really, he’s opening a path, his husky voice surrounding my senses.

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