Page 71 of Ordinary Secrets

“I really should go now,” Arella pants as I pepper kisses down her neck.

“Five more seconds,” I beg. I count to five in my head about twenty times before I finally gather enough willpower to let her go. “When can I see you again?”

“I get off at four tomorrow?” She looks up at me all hopeful. It’s cute.

“We’ve got a recording session from three to seven; then we’re probably going out for dinner afterward.”

“How about the next day?”

I sigh deeply. “We have a video shoot all day. I might be done by seven or eight. Would you wanna hang out for a bit after that?”

“Our schedules don’t match up very well, do they?”

“Nope.” I lean in to kiss her, and she opens her mouth for me willingly. “I’ll text you, okay? We’ll figure somethin’ out.”

With a dazed smile, she says, “Mm-kay.”

I take a step backward toward my car. “Sleep well, angel.” That name fits her perfectly. It embodies all of her innocence and beauty in one word.

“You too, Trey,” she says with a wave. “Goodbye.”

My body freezes in mid-step. I swallow hard as my words come out sharply. “Please don’t say that.”

Arella is just getting her door open when she turns to me. “Say what?”

“Goodbye. I’m not fond of that word.”An understatement.

“Oh. Why’s that?”

Because my mother said it to me the last time I ever saw her.I try to sound as nonchalant as possible, acting like all the chaos from that night isn’t suddenly eating me alive. “There’s just... a kind of finality to it, ya know? It makes me feel like I’ll never see you again. I was taught that goodbye means forever.Byeis just for now.”

Arella must see the distress on my face, because she comes to me, plants her hands on either side of my face, and brings me down to meet her lips. Our kiss is short but still satisfying. “Bye for now, then.”

As she releases me, the pain instantly melts away.

21

TREY

I wakeup to my phone buzzing on my nightstand. The name on the screen makes me groan.

When I tell Victor why I haven’t seen Arella for five days, the truth isn’t acceptable. Apparently, I need to drop everything in my life, including my “dead-end career,” and dedicate myself to this mission until it’s finished. He’s delusional if he thinks I’m gonna do that. Finishing my parents’ mission is important, but my band is important too. I can’t just drop them.

“Tell me you have something of value.” Victor growls into my ear. “Something that can give us a direction.”

“Not yet,” I lie.

“Wow, you really are useless.”Click.

Victor can call me whatever he wants, but without a clear answer as to why or how Arella’s parents died the same night mine did, I’m not telling him about it. The last thing I need is another reason for him to hound me, when besides that, all I know is what Victor told me when he assigned me this mission.

“Before your parents were killed,” he said, “they were working on discovering how some rare Ordinaries could be immune to Zordi powers. They pretended to be part of thegovernment and told the research subjects they were needed for a top-secret medical study.

“Every week, the subjects would come to Shadow Ridge to be analyzed, and ZIRDA paid them well for their time—until one day, the Royals found out about the Immunes project and tried to take it over.

“They stormed my house, demanding that I take them to ZIRDA California’s hideout. And when I refused, they sliced my throat and left me for dead.”

Since missions aren’t to be spoken about between agents, Victor doesn’t know anything else beyond that. At least, that’s what he said. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s keeping vital information from me.

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