Crusade Across Worlds (27 page)

“And you?”

“Me?”

“You have a good few months?”

“I didn’t do bad with the ladies,” he
smirks, “if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“It was.”

“Surprised you’re interested,” his smile
widens and I instantly wish I hadn’t said anything. The last thing
I want to do is give Walker the wrong idea. Or any idea. He
admitted to having feelings for me before the last invasion and
although he hasn’t said any more on it, I don’t want to encourage
him. I decide not to respond and instead, keep focus on the canopy
ahead. The tribesman follows my lead and nods to himself. “I’ll
have Werzo laid by the end of the week.”

“That’s mighty confident of you.”

“When I put my mind to something, it tends
to happen.”

“And why now? Why not help him these last
few weeks?”

Walker faces me and I feel his stare. I feel
it barreling into me the way it used to, the way it still does when
Reid isn’t around and sometimes, even when he is. Unable to help
myself, I glance over and find myself locked in his intent gaze.
“Guess I need the distraction too.”

I focus on the trees. I really should leave.
Now. Right now. It’s getting late and I could use the rest. And
besides, it’s not right that we’re out here alone. If I found Reid
paired off with Mallup at night, I’d be upset. I need to go before
this gets any more inappropriate. Deciding how best to make my
departure, I open my mouth when Walker cuts me off. “Probably use
the old
shy guy
technique. Chicks love that.”

“We do?”

“From what I can tell,” he winks. “Or the
wounded guy. That may fit him more.”

“You seemed to have it all figured out.”

“You just have to know how to work your
target, is what it is. Really. Got to know what she wants. How she
wants it.”

“How?” I turn, suddenly intrigued.

He grins, a battle won. “Does she want the
guy to take control? Or does she want to do it? Does she like eye
contact when he tells her she’s beautiful? Or for him to touch
her?” Walker brushes a curl behind my ear, his fingers lingering.
My heart pounds at the intimate contact but I don’t move. I’m not
sure if I’m uncomfortable or curious, and the confusion has me
hesitating. “You’ve got to read her…got to know what she wants,”
his voice softens, his eyes flickering between mine. “Even if she
doesn’t know it herself.”

There’s something I should say here,
something about him removing his hand, about keeping things between
us platonic. Friendly. Instead, I feed into his argument. “That’s
some…strategy you have there.”

“Want someone bad enough, you get one.”

I look down at the bridge, aware his fingers
are still lingering, my heart beating with panic.
Say goodnight
and leave. Say goodnight and leave
. “I think—”

Walker kisses me.

I must be in shock or something because I
don’t immediately push him off. Cradling my face, Walker holds it
to his, his tongue penetrating my lips, seeking mine. It finally
registers and I slide my hands between us, pushing back on his
chest.

“You—”

“Fallon—”

“You just—” I glance back at Tucker’s home.
It’s quiet and the light has already dimmed a bit. I glare are
Walker. “You can’t—”

He leans in again and I slap him hard across
his face. He recoils from the impact and withdraws, a bright red
mark appearing. We stare at each other a moment before he
approaches, explanation in his eyes. “Fallon—”

“Are you serious?”

Walker gives me a flat look.

“I’m engaged!”

“Who gives a fuck? You deserve better. You
deserve—”

“Are we really going through this
again?”

Walker pulls back whatever response he had.
Clearing his expressions, he tries again. “You deserve better than
Rox. You deserve—”

“You?”

“Yeah,” he deadpans. “Me.” He runs his hands
down his face, an exhausted sigh following. “Look, maybe I went
about this the wrong way.”

“Yeah. Normally, you wait for the girl to
give you a sign.”

“You’re not going to give me a sign because
you’re all googly-eyed over
him
,” he sneers the word and
throws his arm out, gesturing to the tribesman’s home where Reid
is. “And the longer you’re around him, the less likely you are to
see what’s in front of you. You’ve only got a limited amount of
time and you should really explore your options. I’m not saying
call off the engagement or anything, but just…be fair to yourself.
Make sure you’re making the right choice… for you.”

I thought we cleared this up. I thought
after everything that happened, he understood the situation.
Apparently he doesn’t. Selecting my words carefully, I speak in a
calm but confident tone. I need to get my point across so that
there is no more confusion. “I appreciate the concern but I know
what I want.”

“You only think you do.”

“Walker.”

“He’s got you hypnotized,” he throws his
arms up in an oncoming tirade. “He’s got
everyone
hypnotized! All the Rogues think he’s some kind of God when all he
did was break off from Mantis to build his own clan.”

“That helped people. Kept them fed.”

“How else would he keep their loyalty? If he
didn’t have the Rogues to watch his back, he would’ve been
dead.”

“You’re wrong.”

“Look,” Walker runs his hands through hair.
“You’re going to wake up one day and realize you shortchanged
yourself. You deserve so much better than him and I want to be that
for you. Just give me a chance,” his exhales, stopping right in
front of me. “Let me prove that I can do this better.”

I’m too distracted with the absurdity of the
situation to realize Walker is leaning in. Again. But when I do, I
push back on his chest, horrified that he’d try for a third time. I
feel like drop-kicking him straight to the ground, hard enough that
he wouldn’t get up. But I don’t. Instead, I storm past, over the
bridge and toward my home.

“Fallon,” he grabs my hand.

“Don’t.”

“Fallon,” he whips in front of me,
stretching out his arms to block my path. It only fuels my rising
fury because right now, the smartest thing for him is to get as far
away from me as possible. “Walker,” I keep my voice steady.
“Move.”

“I just want a fair shot. You owe me
that.”

“Walker.”

“Think about it. That’s all I’m asking.”

“
Move
.”

Gritting his teeth, he shuffles to the side
and I take the opportunity to leave. I don’t bother looking back. I
head straight for my home, trying to out-walk what just happened.
But it doesn’t matter how fast I go or how much distance I put
between us. Walker kissed me and there’s no changing that.

I’ve just passed my curtain when Pratt
rushes in behind me, followed quickly by a flabbergasted Mae. Pratt
stops at the foot of my bed, her excited eyes wide and wild, her
legs apart, like she’s about to jump up and down.

“Tell me that was real! Tell me Walker
actually
kissed you!”

“What?” I glance back at the entry-way,
momentarily confused. Were they there the whole time? Did they see
everything? “Keep it down.”

“Reid is going to
freak
.”

“We’re not telling Reid.”

“You’re not?” Mae asks.

“She can’t. But oh man this is
so
epic!” Pratt falls onto the bed. Grabbing her stomach, she kicks
her feet and barks out a laugh. “Walker actually went for it! I
didn’t think he would—but he did!”

“We weren’t eavesdropping or anything,” Mae
is quick to explain. She joins me at the curtain, helping me
straighten it as though the solid fabric wall will keep our
conversation indoors. “We heard you shouting and when we came
over…” she lowers her voice and leans in. “Are you sure you don’t
want to tell Reid?”

“She really can’t,” Pratt sits up. “Reid
would kill Walker. Like, for real. Literally kill him. And I’m
starting to warm up to the guy, so it’s probably best she
doesn’t.”

Mae frowns at me.

I don’t know what to say. Should I tell
Reid? Should I not? This only happened a few moments ago—I haven’t
had time to process anything myself. The only thing I understand is
anger. Anger at Walker for betraying our friendship, for putting me
in this situation and stirring this rising guilt.

“I don’t know,” I sit on the edge of the
bed, my head in my hands. “I don’t know.”

“Well,” Pratt climbs to her knees, “if you
do, be prepared for the beat-down of the century.”

“Not helping.”

“What?” She laughs. “Walker asked for it. He
knows what he did. He should know the consequences.”

“You don’t have to decide tonight,” Mae sits
next to me.

But I do. If not, I’ll carry the question
around with me and it’s the worst possible time to be distracted.
And I don’t want that for Reid either. The best thing to do is
pretend it never happened. I’ll forget about it, Walker will forget
about it, and Reid will be none the wiser.

“This is what’s going to happen,” I decide.
“Reid is not going to find out. I’m not going to tell him,” I
glance between both girls, “and you aren’t. We’re going to pretend
like nothing happened. Because nothing did happen, right?”

“Right,” both answer.

“Question,” Pratt raises her hand. “What if
he does it again? Can I tell Reid then?”

“Let’s hope,” Mae’s focus shifts between us,
“that Walker finally got the message. We’ll do like Fallon
said—we’ll pretend it didn’t happen and move forward. Walker’s a
smart guy. He should know that if Fallon said no…” she risks a
glance at me, “…multiple times, then that’s the answer.”

“Right.”

“Okay,” Pratt agrees. “But if he tries it
again, I’m telling Reid. It’s only fair.”

I can’t even think of Walker trying that
again. Any of it. Telling me I should choose him and actually
making a physical move. Actually
kissing
me. To keep from
thinking about it—and getting angry—I offer a nod and let out
another exhale. “Can we change the subject now?”

“To what?” Mae asks.

“Anything. What’s going on with you? How’s
Able? Oh,” I blanch, glancing quickly at Pratt, then back at Mae.
“Sorry.”

She waves her hand. “Everyone already knows.
I get it.”

Pratt grins. “As if there was any point
hiding it. I think we knew it was going to happen before you guys
did.”

“Really?”

“Uh, yeah. Able’s been crushing on you for a
while. I like you two together. You guys are so cute.”

“And what about you?” Mae teases. “Any
crushes we should know about?”

Pratt stops.

“Is there?” I ask.

For the first time I’ve seen, a slight blush
darkens Pratt’s face. “No.”

“I think so,” I grin. “Come on, you’ve got
to tell us. Who? Who is it?”

“Is it one of the Rogues?”

“Get real,” she rolls her eyes.

“Then who?” I ask.

“It’s not—it’s no one.”

“
Come on
,” I plead, needing the
gossip. “You know all about our love lives and besides,” I flash
Mae a smile, “sharing is a requirement. Especially when you bust
down my door asking about Walker.”

“You don’t have a door.”

“Spill it.”

She looks down. “It’s…not even a crush. Not
really.”

“You don’t have to tell us if you really
don’t want to,” Mae softens her voice. “But it’s not like we’re
going to tell anyone. This is a circle of trust.”

Pratt scratches the back of her neck, her
focus on the red linen. “We…when we were training last month, we
just spent some time together. Just talking. Mostly training,” she
shrugs with nonchalance. “It’s nothing. Really.”

“But who is it?”

“You know Zeed?” She peeks up, her face
bright red.

The name rings a bell and for some reason, I
associate it with Tucker. Raking my brain for a moment, I think of
all the Zingfinolds I’ve been introduced to, all the way back to
when we first arrived. And then it hits me. “Was he the one that
Tucker had to duel?”

Pratt confirms it with a nod. “He’s only a
couple years older than me. I don’t know. He’s funny. Jokes a lot.
It’s not even—I mean, I’m pretty sure he’s got a girlfriend or
whatever. He’s just…” she’s focused on the linen again, “…fun to
hang around. That’s all.”

“And does anyone else know?”

She looks up. “No. No one. And you
can’t
tell.”

“Of course not. The Rogues would interrogate
him until he left Nerwolix.”

“
Fallon
.”

“I’m not going to say a word, just like the
two of you with Reid.” I turn to Mae and smirk. “Our little girl’s
all grown up.”

“Ha-ha.”

“Zeed seems nice,” Mae nods. “The few times
I’ve talked to him, at least.”

Pratt opens her mouth, but closes it again,
a smile emerging. “I like when it’s just us—when we have our girl
talk. I just wish…” she lets out a breath. “I wish Ariana could
join. She was a lot of fun.”

“I think she wants to. But she’s doing what
she has to. And that requires breaking up with Tucker,
unfortunately.”

“Yeah. Poor Tucker. He’s taking it
hard.”

“Maybe after all this?” Mae suggests.

“Maybe.”

“It’d be hard for them anyway,” Pratt says.
“He has to stay on Nerwolix and she’s the queen. How could it
work?”

“If it’s meant to be,” I shrug.

“And if it’s not?”

I’m not sure how to answer Pratt’s question,
so I don’t. We talk about nothing much after that, just more of the
upcoming invasion and every once in awhile, teasing Pratt about
Zeed. At some point, we all get comfortable, lying down as our
chatter turns to whispers and then, nothing at all.

Nhazual rushes back.

The slain bodies lay sprawled over the
ground, blank eyes open and chests bleeding from puncture wounds.
She moves past them without stopping and drops to the ground,
sinking her golden fingers into the dirt. She needs to find it. She
needs to secure it.