Page 66 of Silver Elite

“Any reason why everyone is talking about me?”

“Oh?” Lyddie’s tone is suspiciously neutral. “I don’t think they are.”

“No, they are,” Kaine corrects, and Betima snickers under her breath.

“What’s going on?”

Silence falls. Even Kaine, who’s never met a situation he can’t find humor in, keeps his mouth shut.

“What’s going on?” I repeat.

“Well. Um.” Lyddie’s doing that thing she does, where she tries too hard to be tactful instead of just stating what needs to be said.

“Spit it out, Lydia.”

She pushes her eggs around her plate. “Some people are saying…that, uh, your uncle was Aberrant.” She won’t meet my eyes anymore. “And he was executed for concealment.”

I slam my fork down on my tray.

“That struck a nerve,” murmurs Kaine.

As bitterness whips through me, I grind my teeth so hard, I’m surprised nobody can hear my molars crunching.

Finally, I find my voice. Low and even. “My uncle wasn’t Aberrant.”

“Was he executed?” Lyddie asks. Beside her, Lash’s gaze is unsettling in its intensity.

I nod in defeat. “He faced the firing squad. But what they’re saying about him isn’t true.”

Even as the lie slips out, I feel the weight of the truth pressing down on me, amplified by the sidelong glances directed my way. Every single one of these people would happily see me dead if they knew what I was. They’ve been taught from birth that there’s something wrong with me. I’m an aberration. I’m defective. I don’t belong in society among the likes of them. We are not peers. They are better than me.

Except they’re not. They’re no better and no worse. We all live on this godforsaken Continent together, and we’re all equally fucked.

“I don’t know what’s going on,” I continue, “but they charged him with desertion and concealment. The desertion part, fine, I guess I believe it. They showed me his file and it confirms he was in the Command. I don’t know why he left, but what I do know for certain is hewasn’tAberrant. I lived with him for twelve years. There’s no way he could’ve been one of them all along without me suspecting.”

Relief flickers through Lyddie’s eyes. “I can’t imagine how he’d even pull it off. Especially because of their veins. It’s not like they can hide it forever.”

“Exactly. It’s impossible for anyone to maintain their cover for that long. I would’ve known.” I shake my head. “I wasn’t sharing a house with a ’fect.”

My acting abilities impress even me. It almost makes me sick how easily I can spew this nonsense.

“At least it makes sense now, why you’re here,” Lash says with a rare contribution to the conversation. “Given that you don’t seem to enjoy it much.”

I give him a wary look.

“They’re making you prove your loyalty, right?” He shrugs. “I’ve heard of them doing that before. Drafting family members of criminals as a loyalty test.”

He’s just provided me a great cover story, and I have no problem taking full advantage. “Pretty much, yeah. The Command probably wouldn’t have been my first choice of life path. I miss the ranch. But if serving the General shows him that I can be trusted, then I’m happy to do it.”

Lyddie nods her approval.

“How did everyone find out about my uncle, anyway?” I shove my tray aside. My appetite is completely gone.

Kaine fields that question. “Eversea.”

It takes me a second to connect the surname with its owner. “Ivy?”

Irritation tickles my throat as I seek her out. She’s sitting with Bryce and a few others. When her gaze meets mine, she gives a hint of a sneer. I remember her saying that one of her Copper Block fellows was in South Plaza for Uncle Jim’s execution, but I wonder how she connected Jim tome.

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