Page 27 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)
“Stay quiet,” he whispered, grabbing my arm and shoving me toward the closet.
I didn’t hesitate or give myself the chance to overthink, darting inside before closing the door behind me.
Zade’s footsteps toward the door were loud and measured, almost a leisurely stride if not for his heavy breathing.
I heard the door swing open, then his voice saying, “Hey, Cal. What do you need?”
“Oh nothing, just wanted to say hi,” someone responded. Cal. Who was that? The voice was loud, boisterous even. I had heard it before, but I was struggling to put a face to the name.
“Hi. Listen, I am really busy working on—”
“Not you. Tershetta was the one I wanted to see.”
Silence captured the space, making room for the tension I could hear in Zade’s voice. “Why would she be here?”
“Seeing as I heard her yelling at you, I figure we shouldn’t waste time lying.” A scuffle could be heard, and then steps that sounded almost like skips began heading my way.
“I swear, Dofrel, you better get out of my room.”
Dofrel. Caleb Dofrel. Stars help me, not another core.
The steps stopped just in front of the closet as Dofrel said, “Bite me.”
Then the doors were being ripped open, and I was face to face with the curly-haired, harmonica playing core boy. His hands continued to grip the doors, brown arms flexing in a way that made me think it was intentional.
“Hello, gorgeous, do tell why you’re in Talon’s closet,” he cooed in question.
Ice invaded my blood, freezing me to the spot and chilling me to the point of shivering. Despite my best efforts, I found myself behind a closed door with not one, but two cores.
Zade stood behind Dofrel, a scowl on his reddening face. Had they tricked me somehow? Was that Zade’s goal this whole time?
No, wait, it was my idea to come here.
“So what, you only talk to Talon and Az?” Dofrel huffed, crossing his arms. Had I been silent for a long time? That was probably best. Speaking could get me in trouble.
“No, she doesn’t talk to Az. Now get the fuck out of my room.” Voice nearly a growl, Talon looked more like a beast than a man, and stars if the territorial edge to his tone didn’t annoy me. But I was grateful, in the end, that anyone cared, even if I did regularly question his motives.
“Well every time I’m around the two they seem to be unable to not talk.” With a simple shrug and vague comment, Dofrel had tipped Zade off the edge, causing the latter to ball his fists and straighten his spine. As if he might hit the curly-haired prick.
“I don’t waste my time on ignorant purists with tiny cocks and bad attitudes,” I hissed out, stepping forward slightly. I didn’t need to be the cause of any fights, nor did I want to. Altair and I did not talk anyways.
“Look at that, the real Tershetta has come out to play.”
“That definition includes you, Dofrel. Now get out of my way.”
He merely laughed, his entire body shaking. What was it with these cores and their inability to listen?
“Unlike my fellow cores, I find the idea of purity and total annihilation to be quite dull.” So nonchalant was the man before me, face bored and posture sinking, that I could do nothing but stare at him open-mouthed.
Not even Zade had said such a thing. It was almost scandalous, hearing a core family member denounce purity.
And, while I shouldn’t have believed him, I found myself nodding along as he continued.
“I will say, some of us aren’t so gracious.
In fact, some of us might even have quite horrible plans for you.
So, maybe be careful who you show your back to, okay? ”
“That’s enough, Cal. Get out or I’ll kick you out.
” Blinking, I focused on Zade. I had almost forgotten he was there.
Of all the people in this place, Dofrel was one of the last that I would expect to warn me about Altair.
Not that he needed to, I was already well aware of the dangers that the general’s son presented.
“Fine. Seriously though, Tershetta, be careful. Sometimes pretty things are the most poisonous.” Zade shoved Dofrel toward the door, growling like a rabid dog.
All I could do was stew in Dofrel’s words as I looked down, pretending to nonchalantly pick at my nails.
That was when I saw it. Dried blood, nearly black, beneath my pinky nail.
My mind flashed back to my last match when I had struck Altair—to the moment I had scratched him in the hopes of getting his hands off my throat.
Core blood.
The next day, I stood at attention before Jedidiah Dofrel, the colonel in charge of my company in the Alchemy Division, with none other than Caleb Dofrel himself.
I hadn’t thought much about the fact that most core children would be bred to lead the division their fathers did, but at that moment, I was kicking myself in the ass for it.
Only four of us had been assigned to Colonel Dofrel, but he didn’t seem bothered by the lack of numbers. In fact, he didn’t appear to care about anything other than being stuck with the akhata.
“This won’t be an easy company to succeed in, Trainee Tershetta,” he boomed for what had to have been the third time that morning.
“Understood, Colonel.” Not much else to say.
“I won’t cut you any slack for your lack of knowledge either.”
Interesting, seeing as his son wasn’t the one who noted the poison in our food that second day. Nor had he helped me make the antidote. But, oh, how little the of eadi must know.
“Yes, Colonel.” My chin lifted a quarter of an inch, just the slightest show of dissent.
In retaliation, the colonel smacked me across the face with his whip.
The strike was so hard that my body spun, the dizziness and the pain mingling and bringing me crashing to the ground. My head smacked into the tile, rattling my teeth. “Just so we’re clear, I find you to be a disgusting waste of space.”
A chuckle bubbled up my throat, the stinging burn on my cheeks and lips nothing in comparison to just how utterly fucked I was.
“Get her out of my sight, Caleb,” the colonel muttered, waving his bronzed hand at his son before walking out of the room. “We’re done for today. You three can thank Trainee Tershetta for that.”
“Yes, Father.” Dofrel swept me up, not so much as speaking to me as blood poured over the two of us.