Page 15 of Beta Lies and Cursed Lives
I may not have been in the academy longer than a day, but my life has never been my own. Not even before I was on the run.
I look at the little rabbit behind metal bars and wish I could feel its fur beneath my fingertips. To know, just once, its soft, silky feel before we part ways.
But it will never be.
With great care, I lower the cage to the ground and gently place it there, the door facing away from me.
“Okay, little guy,” I whisper as I grip the clasp with my fingers and pinch it, then pull it open. “Be free, my friend.”
The hare stands there a moment. Once I rise and step away, it scampers out of the cage and dashes off into the woods, obscured by the tall grass there.
Loneliness strangles my heart once he’s gone. The little guy was in my life less than an hour, but I felt a kinship to him. Captured, caged, used...but I was able to set him free.
If only I could do that for others like me.
“Tell me what Tomlin said and did.”
Laurant’s voice draws my attention back to him. I pick up the cage to busy myself as I respond with a question.
“Was Ness the head of Tenebrosa?”
He doesn’t answer right away, and I look at him, his expression switching from surprise to suspicion. “Yes.”
A little of the weight on my chest is lifted to learn Tomlin had at least been honest about that.
So, I tell Laurant the rest. How my father, also Cursed, was captured and sent to Tenebrosa. How Tomlin hated Dr. Ness and intends to replace him with someone under his command. How he told me to kill him so that could happen.
Laurant doesn’t look upset or angry, more confused. “What is he up to?”
The words are just above a whisper, almost carried away by the cool breeze.
“We have to get back,” he declares with sudden haste.
As we make our way to the vehicle, I can’t help but notice that Laurant isn’t horrified that I’ve murdered someone, nor is he judging me for listening to Major Tomlin, who he doesn’t seem to get along with.
There is more going on at the Cursedblood Academy than I know, but I intend to discover every little secret. And then, I will do whatever it takes to save my father.
AUBREY
Anotherday,anothercombattraining session.
Most of the Cursed here train only hand-to-hand, or melee or ranged weapons, depending on their curse. Lucky me, however, trains in all forms of combat. Today is a Krav Maga session to hone our physical defenses.
At least they have the sense to break the sessions up so I’m not physically overexerted.
I’m not the only one who has to learn various martial art styles and how to use both melee weapons and ranged, but the only other person I care to communicate with who goes through what I do is Colt, who told me he wouldn’t be here today. Psyche evaluations are a constant for him.
“Front and center!” Lieutenant Yarr shouts over the clamor of incoming students and commands us to stand before him. Once we’re all lined up, me in the rear third row, Yarr begins to pace the front line, his hands clasped behind his back. Like the rest of us, he’s in his usual workout gear: Black sweats and a gray tee-shirt. Most military instructors here like to stand out and wear something more flashy than those they teach, but not Yarr. Part of me respects that.
“We have a new student joining us today, and we will whip her into shape posthaste. Enter, Miss Amato!”
That scent hits me before I see her; faint roses and myrrh surround her frame and invade my senses.
She’s wearing the same sweats and tee as the rest of us, only beneath it is a skintight black bodysuit that covers her arms and neck. She wears a pair of black gloves as well. Her mass of deep brown hair is haphazardly wrapped up atop her head. Those pale silver eyes are wide, like a frightened doe as she approaches us all.
I fight a growl that threatens to escape my throat as something shifts in my chest, a creature that demands no one else looks at her. But it calms when I scan the group and find no one else paying her much attention. I’m both soothed and confused.
I hadn’t seen or even scented her all day yesterday, and now she’s here in the same room, and I find my hands clenching and opening with nerves.
