Page 87 of Coldwire
“What can I say?” he offers. “I pay attention.”
His words are impassive, but he’s slightly breathless, a low rasp catching in his throat. It isn’t the strenuous activity getting to him. There’s something else there, something that shows as an excited glint when he stares at me. As though he’s daring me to ask for elaboration. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think he’s trying to hold back a grin. He must be delirious.
Nik finally turns away, maneuvering the drone back with the zip line. He’s quick to shove the equipment into the bag swinging from his waist, asking Miz to scan the perimeter, see if any alarms have been triggered by our presence here.
“Clear,” Miz reports after a minute.
“Then we proceed,” Nik says. He pauses. “Soldier?”
I don’t know what to think. I take a step forward, and my knees tremble with a faint weakness, not entirely attributed to the scrape I took coming off the zip line.Why?If I’d barely understood what I was planning until I was doing it, how could Nik Grant possibly have known?
“We proceed,” I echo.
24LIA
I stare at Kieren, my mouth opening and closing.
“You think NileCorpdidsomething to change your father?” I finally echo. “What—what do you mean?”
“I mean that ever since my dad left his job, he’s been entirely different.” Kieren scoffs, clearly hearing how ridiculous he sounds. “I can’t explain it. It’s as though he’s been brainwashed. Or recruited into a cult. Or… I don’t know—maybe if I had a better grasp on what happened, I’d actually be able to do something about it.”
“You don’t think it was his adjustment to a major life change?” I ask. “Pivoting gears from NileCorp to the academy is a pretty big deal.”
“There’s midlife crisis, and then there’s losing your soul,” Kieren says darkly. “And if you’d known my dad before he was the headmaster, you would know exactly what I mean. I’ve compared notes with Hailey and Weston. It’s as if he walked home that day after quitting and the light disappeared from him. He grew mean. What NileCorp wanted would be the law. What the company asked for must be delivered.” Kieren pauses. “He and Mom got divorced three years ago.”
I jolt. I had no idea. They must have really kept it quiet if I hadn’t heard the faintest rumor around school. Kieren’s mom is a socialite. I’ve said hellowhen she’s on campus, but I mostly see her on the feed because she livestreams all the time. Her shoes, her bags, her trips downcountry to get high-end manicures.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Kieren returns. “It was inevitable. My mother’s attendance at his academy fundraising events was already sparse. Nothing looked like it had changed once the separation went through.” He puts his hands in his pockets. A moment passes, his gaze cast forward. “It doesn’t make sense, does it? Why take a job to be closer to your kids and then act like you hate your kids?”
I don’t have an answer for him. I almost want to grab him and hug him, but Kieren might find that degrading, so I stay put by the window, lolling my head against the glass.
How would NileCorp even have had a hand in that? The company’s technology is advanced, but I can’t imagine it covers brainwashing. Hard to argue for cult recruitment too if it happened with the click of a finger.
“You’ll get him back,” I say quietly. The reassurance feels like the most natural response in this moment. It’s not empty platitudes or condolences for what he’s suffered. Kieren doesn’t like that sort of drivel. When he wants something done, he’ll do it. I trust that to be true, if nothing else.
His lip quirks. It’s a soft gesture, made pinker by the setting sun. “Even if it means beating you for valedictorian?”
I shrug one shoulder. “Even then. I understand the play you’re making here. Being valedictorian means NileCorp can’t say no to joining cyber.”
It suddenly colors everything I knew about Kieren Murray. I’d thought that his career would be sunshine and roses, that no matter what grades he got, he’d be cushy after graduation. He was a Murray. NileCorphadto post him somewhere prestigious.
And exactly that: the headmaster would want his own son in the division he once led. He would fight against any other designation. Cyber is the one place where they might decline his application. Kieren’s been trying to ensure it doesn’t happen.
“Thank you for understanding.” He sniffs.
“Don’t push it,” I warn immediately.
It’s too late. Kieren feigns tears, reaching up to dab his eyes. “I never thought this moment would come. Lia Ward, giving me permission to be the best.”
“Hey, I’m saying you cantry.”
We can’t sit in a genuine moment for long. I don’t think we’ve had an entirely sincere conversation since we met at the pre-cadet party, before Kieren decided to take my test scores personally.
“Fine,” he relents. “May the best cadet win. At this point, we have no choice but to collaborate until the end anyway.”
It’s a shame, really. It’s always been about winning. Even in ninth grade, when neither of us had fully gotten our bearings down yet, it was already about making sure we were overtaking the other.
