Page 17 of The Divide that Binds Us

“I told these two to leave thirty minutes ago!”

I shoot a glare back at the twins, who sheepishly smirk at me.

“Finchers!Up and out, NOW,” I order.

Bed sheets fly in a tornado as they scurry off their beds, grabbing their snacks and whizzing past me and out of the medical wing.The disgruntled nurse sighs and calls for help getting the beds ready for new patients.I leave the wing where the twins wait by the reception desk like lost kids.My phone buzzes to a text from Cedric—a thumbs-up emoji.

The twins follow me to my room while trying to avoid the rush hour traffic of shift changes.

Scotland isn’t in the room, so I can breathe a little with the twins.They plant themselves on my lower bunk and sprawl out with their crumbly goodies.Maybe someday we can remodel these dorms so they aren’t forever eleven-by-twelve boxes with gray walls and black, vinyl-tiled floors.

“I hope your hangovers are long gone at this point because now, we have work to do.”

Derrick crunches on a sugary pastry that’ll get lost in my covers.“Cool, what kinda work?”

I smirk.“There’s a gem on Emerald Island that needs excavating.Master Cedric just greenlit the mission.You’re coming with me.”

“Can we see King Jonah too?He’s so nice,” Eric sighs dreamily.

“Anyone is nicer than that jerk, King Evan,” Derrick grumbles.Hatred is written all over their faces since they’ve been banished from returning home on Sapphire due to “excessive pranking.”What makes it worse is their family doesn’t bother to visit them here.

“No.We’re grabbing the gem and taking it to Onyx Island.You’re still in trouble, but this is your chance to redeem yourselves.”

The two smile in perfect unison, and for a moment, I almost can’t tell the difference between them.Usually, it’s easy to distinguish with the simple hair trick—Derrick having a lighter brown shade of hair than Eric.But with their dorky grins, every feature down to the long nose, square jaw, and brown down-turned eyes look identical.

“So, this Elite member you encountered,” I begin.“Anything else I should know?”

“Yeah, she’ll kick your butt if you don’t watch out,” Derrick says.His fingers are caked in orange residue, and crumbs litter the corners of his mouth.He looks tempted to lick his fingers.

“And she’s stronger than you, without a doubt,” Eric adds.I frown.

“I don’t know how else to describe it,” Derrick says.“It’s like a heavy layer of an ethereal aura.”

Eric snorts.“She’s like OP.”I furrow my brows, confused about the phrase.“Just avoid her at all costs.My guess is if she’s been with Elite for a while, and no one has seen her before, it’s for a good reason.Don’t go provoking people, Rio.”

“Yeah, seriously, just don’t,” Derrick adds.

A smirk creeps across my face.The excitement has fully resurfaced from the depths of Katarzyna’s hefty apprehension.

“Heh, nonsense.I don’t provoke people,” I say, juggling a lightning bolt in my palm.“Ichangethem.”

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