Page 61 of Rising

I shook my head, turning to Alexiares to question him instead. “Where did you even store that?”

He shrugged. “My pocket.”

“Your pocket? Dude.” Riley’s face went green again at the thought.

“It’s not like I had fancy field gear or anything. Probably lost in the approval pile stacking up right here on her desk.” He grinned, fingering through the papers as I quickly moved to smack his finger away.

I gestured towards him, nearly hitting him in the face with my thumb. “Now, do you see why I want him gone? Who does that?”

Glancing down towards the square pieces of skin, I too wanted to gag, but forced myself to appear unfazed at the gore.

“Well, I suppose I could have drawn a picture, but then I wouldn’t get the pleasure of soaking up this moment and watching you squirm.”

Before he could blink, my fingers latched onto the back of his neck. I slammed his head down on the desk, making his flesh meet the improper biopsy lab he’d imported into my personal space.

Riley’s arms latched around my waist, pulling me off him as I released my grip, satisfied for a moment, until I saw the unwavering grin still on his smug, bloodied face.

“Everyone’s upset aboutwhatI brought, but no one’s talking about what it means.”

Riley and I glanced at it with an open mind for the first time, and my legs went numb, body cold. Riley met my stare. He recognized the symbol, too.

“Duluth,” Alexiares confirmed.

Amaia

My family stared at me from around the room. Reina’s hair pulled into a tight ponytail, her pale skin taut, showcasing the lines of worry across her face.

“Duluth doesn’t make any sense. After all this time … they’ve been nothin’ but friendly to us in the past. There’s gotta be another reason.” Her usual singsong voice was tight in confusion.

Her hands were trembling as if she’d had too much caffeine. The thought of another cross-territory conflict triggering emotions she’d long worked to bury from the war to establish our borders. Surprising us both, Reina jumped at the touch of Seth’s hands, rubbing the thumb of his sister in an attempt to help calm her nerves.

Tomoe sat cross-legged from the floor in front of them, fist propping up her head as she answered contemplatively, “They’ve been friendly out of necessity. Amaia practically held their troops together during the last conflict. Poor leadership makes for a great ass-kisser.”

Riley nodded his head in agreement, and I felt Alexiares attention turn towards me. I let myself wonder where he’d been during that time, who he had fought for, if anyone at all.

“Let’s all just slow down for a minute and look at this objectively—”

“You, objective?” Riley interrupted Seth from his usual spot against the door, his right eyebrow arched towards the ceiling.

Seth’s face remained stone-faced, intent on getting his point across and stepping into his role as my lieutenant. “Yeah Riley, objective. We got nothin’ but pieces of skin that one ofourguys sliced off the back oftheirguys’ necks. Can’t exactly walk on up to their front door, soldiers in tow and demandin’ answers that we don’t even know they have.”

“He’s right,” I said, giving him a slight nod of agreement as I met the storm behind his eyes. “What if they accuse us of doing this? I’ve been up to Duluth, seen what they have to offer, and high-tech is the last thing on their minds, let alone lab experiments.”

Alexiares mumbled in agreement. I made note to add that to the list of things that’s taken me by surprise in this room during the past hour.

I continued, “I think it’s bigger than that, beyond experiments. We have to think holistically, like why run experiments at all? What’s the end goal, and—”

“Why they’ve turned on you to begin with? This isn’t something they’re doing alone, she’s right. They wouldn’t waste time focusing on this, they’ve got much bigger shit to deal with.”

The room turned to Alexiares now, absorbing his first words since they’d all joined us in my study.

“And you know this because …” I asked, accusation electrifying my words.

He glanced at me, answering carefully, “I did work up there, for my old community. Stayed for some time.”

There was something in his eyes that kept me from pressing on.Is that … regret? No,I told myself,it’s shame. A feeling that came naturally in our line of work. Despite the continued banter, a shift had occurred in our dynamic since our conversation by the rocks.

He’d become more transparent, more vulnerable. Our words had been harsh, meant to sting each other, but there was also the unspoken understanding of each other’s pain that had somehow surfaced. I didn’t know where his pain came from, and he only knew fragments of mine. But, the fact remained that there was only one thing rooting us to remaining in this bleak world. Each having our own reason, but understanding that neither was driven by our own will.

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