Page 11 of The Fall Before Flight

My arms fly to my naked chest as I spin toward the bed, where Nix is sprawled in all his pasty, heroin-chicness.

“Get the hell out, Nix.”

His thin eyebrows rise. “I want to talk to you.”

I cross the room to my dresser and open a drawer. Pulling out a tank top, I tug it on, then face the bed with a scowl.

“Serious invasion of privacy, asshole.”

Nix sits up and swings his legs to the floor. “We don’t have privacy and you know it.” His brown eyes roll toward the ceiling. “The cabins are probably wired for sound, if not video. High-tech nano shit. In the lights or something.”

The thought brings equal parts disgust and curiosity. If he’s right, does it mean Dr. Chastain watches the feeds? I sleep naked and rarely with a sheet.

Nix laughs, an oddly lighthearted sound. I’ve never heard him laugh before.

“What?” I frown.

He points at me. “You like the thought of being under surveillance.”

I force my shoulders to relax as I walk into the tiny kitchen for a glass of water. “I don’t really care. We’re already lab rats. What’s another breach of our so-called rights?” Turning with my water in hand, I snap, “What do you want?”

His laughter fades into a sigh. “I want you to do me a favor.”

I’m instantly intrigued. “Do tell, both the favor and what’s in it for me.”

Nix drags a hand through his floppy brown hair, expression worried. “I want you to keep an eye on Kinsey when I’m gone. In return, I’ll give you a part in a movie when you get out.”

I hide my surprise by taking a sip of water, then take another one while I collect my thoughts. “First of all, I don’t want to be in one of your crap movies. Second, does this mean you’re leaving? Never mind, obviously you are. And third, Kinsey hates me and I’m not her biggest fan, either, so what makes you think I’d have anything to do with her?”

“Because even though you’re a crazy bitch, I think you’re an honest one.”

If only he knew.

“You had a different opinion in group yesterday.”

“Yeah, but that was before.”

My eyes narrow. “I’m five seconds past being over this conversation.”

For the first time, Nix looks straight at me, like I’m an actual person instead of an extra in his life. “You really don’t give a shit about anything, do you?”

“Nope, I don’t.”

Instead of giving up, he pulls out the big guns. And big guns they are. “Then you probably won’t care that Dr. Chastain pays nightly visits to Kinsey’s cabin.”

Something akin to dread washes over me, followed by a dollop of disbelief, and finally the acidic burn of jealousy.

Unbelievable.

I make a show of unplugging my ears. “I must have heatstroke, because I think you just told me Doc and Kinsey are getting it on.”

Nix’s nostrils flare. “I did.”

It’s not true.

Definitely not true.

Is it true?

---