Page 22 of Coldwire
KIEREN MURRAY HAS SILENCED NOTIFICATIONS.
I blink. What?
LIA: bruh.
YOUR MESSAGE HAS BEEN DELIVERED QUIETLY.
LIA: you’re the one who messaged me first
YOUR MESSAGE HAS BEEN DELIVERED QUIETLY.
LIA: is this some sort of sick power play?
SEEN AT 10:27PM.
Unbelievable.
Beyond the chat box I have overlaid at half transparency, the night stretches an eerie image. The trees sway in the dark. The moon mimics its current shape downcountry, waning into a crescent. This part of campus is deserted—since final exam postings were made, we’re all fretting about our upcoming performance, about the last weeks we have as cadets before being sent off to graduation and into the wide unknown world. Cold wind seeps through the lines of my window. I can’t suppress the shiver that sweeps down my spine.
I flick away the chat box and close my blinds. I’ll pack the rest of my suitcase tomorrow.
5EIRALE
I come to with a start.
My last few seconds of consciousness trickle back. Nik Grant admitting that he framed me. Nik Grant flippantly explaining that he’s made Atahua believe I committed treason so I would accompany him on this mission with my innocence as incentive.
My attempt to choke him out.
I wince, shifting in my seat. The helicopter is still flying, though there’s a bout of turbulence shaking the walls. My limbs have gone numb. They’ve strapped me down. It’s my fault: I wasn’t paying attention to the girl circling around and stabbing a sedative into my shoulder before I could get my fingers on Nik’s throat. Without a suit, I’m left vulnerable to all their annoying needles and tranquilizers.
“You all right?” she asks now. She doesn’t meet my eyes, her legs pulled up where she sits across the aircraft aisle.
“I’ll kill you,” I say blandly. “What does Miz stand for?Misery?”
“I wish,” Miz says. “It’s Mizuna, actually.”
I scan her features. Short dark hair, cropped at her chin. Thin, small nose with a piercing looped through her septum. Brown eyes beneath her clear glasses, no hint of makeup.
“You’re not Medan.”
“No. A ward like you, but otherwise Pyaish.”
The helicopter shudders again, teetering harshly to its side. We must be flying over the ocean with these winds, and low, too. It’s hard to parse when the machines run so quietly, the whirring blades barely audible other than a slight tremble along the ceiling. By the dryness of my mouth, the sedative has been worming its way through my system for hours, keeping me held under. My arms are still bound, but at some point they removed federal’s cuffs in exchange for rope. A line of red glows on my wrists, tender to the touch.
Miz gestures to my bindings. “We can get those cut off you if you promise you won’t attack Nik again.”
“I promise.”
She hesitates. Her gaze finally lifts, though it’s exceedingly cautious. It almost seems like she’s afraid of being within my line of sight in case I drip poison through mere eye contact.
“Are you lying?”
“Yes, I’m lying. What do you think this is?” I try to stomp my foot, but the seat straps are holding down my thighs. My leg lifts a minuscule amount before it plods on the metal floors with a lackluster sound.
Miz tuts and shakes her head. She looks away again, tilting back against the wall.
“You need to tell your insurgent team leader to reconsider your plan,” I say firmly. “I am not the best NileCorp has to offer. I’m not even the best that the Button City base has to offer. Teryn Moore was there—why would you take me instead?”
