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“I need a damn second,” I snapped. Before he could respond, I threw myself inside my bedroom, my back to the door.

Fuck them.

Their secrets. Their lies. Their avoidance of the truth. I was beyond furious. They had betrayed me, and the scars cut deep.

“You look pissed,” a voice said, and my head snapped up. Elena stood in the room, absently grabbing duffle bags out of the top shelf in the closet. Her blond hair was braided back from her stupidly pretty face, and she wore a baggy tee-shirt and ripped jeans.

“I am pissed,” I said, before I could stop myself. It was very easy to overlook the fact that Elena hated me with a passion. Sometimes, she almost seemed to be...nice. I knew that she was jealous of my relationship with the guys. She loved them, and it pained her that they never felt the same way. Her hostility towards me was somewhat understandable, if not completely uncalled for. You couldn’t pick and choose who you loved. It just happened, a natural part of human nature.

“They told you?” she guessed, and I bristled. It may have seemed petty, but I didn’t like the imperiousness in her tone as if she thought she knew them and the reasoning behind their actions better than I did.

“Yeah,” I said, deciding to play civil. “They told me. I just don’t understandhow. How are they privy to such classified information? How do they know everything they do?”

It just didn’t make any sense. Even if they were “agents”, something I wasn’t entirely sure I believed, they wouldn’t be told such important classified information. I doubted every FBI and CIA agent knew what was happening with the world and why.

Elena’s voice was almost mocking when she spoke next.

“It’s because of Fallon’s daddy,” she cooed.

“Fallon’s daddy?” I repeated. I really didn’t like those two words coming out of her mouth: Fallon and Daddy.

“Well not technically his dad, but his uncle.” Elena turned back towards the closet, scanning the numerous bags adorning the shelf. “He’s the Secretary of Defense.”

I blinked, unsure if I had heard her right. Secretary of Defense? Fallon’s uncle?

If that was true, then it explained a lot.

And if that was true, I was going to skin Fallon alive.

I understood the need for secrecy, but after everything we had been through, why hadn’t they told me? My anger was primarily directed at the group leader. It was his secret and his secret alone. Like any coveted object, he chose what he wanted to do with it. Apparently, I wasn’t trusted enough to be in the know of such a life-changing secret.

But Elena was.

“What are you doing anyways?” I asked, attempting to divert my attention off of Fallon and onto something else. Anything else.

Elena smirked.

“Supply run,” she said. “We’re heading to the mall a town over to gather supplies before we leave for California.”

Two members of Elena’s team, Sam and Lilly, had a boyfriend in that state. The girls were desperate to get their man back, and the team had reluctantly agreed to follow.

“Supplies? Can I come?”

I knew the guys would be pissed, but that only added fuel to the fire. But I couldn’t just wait around until we decided to leave for Atlanta. I felt utterly helpless and inept. I wanted to prove myself to not only the guys, but to myself.

I would be worthy of their trust. Of that, I would make sure.

“Are you sure your babysitters will allow you to go? This isn’t a twenty person assignment. You won’t be able to bring them all.”

My lip thinned.

“I don’t have a babysitter, and I don’t need their permission,” I snapped. Was I being irrational? Most definitely. Did I care? Not in the least.

I was hurting, and the only solution I could come up with was to prove myself. The team had to know I wasn’t just a pretty face. I have always been a fighter. I would kick nuts and take names.

“Well then…” Elena stepped forward, two bags slung over either arm. “Welcome to the team.”

* * *