Page 44

Nadia

“Shit, Na-na,” Shayne says, turning to me with a grin. “Look at you, Boss Bitch!”

My mouth falls open as I step close, staring at my name written next to Chief Nursing Officer .

“No way,” I whisper, staring at it, thinking that it must be some mistake. But then I blush and step back, knowing that Dr. Arbroth doesn’t make mistakes – not in situations like this. I shrug, glancing at my friends. “Nepotism strikes again, I guess.”

“Or you’re just good at this,” Grace says, laughing and putting her arm around me, proud.

I don’t even look up at Cole, knowing what his expression will be. Also knowing I’m not going to be able to handle it.

“I’m on probation ,” I murmur, shaking my head. “It shouldn’t be allowed.”

“No rules in times of war,” Shay says, pitching her voice all gruff like a grizzled soldier. Then she continues dragging her fingertip down the row of names, giving a little shout when she finds her name there. “Yay! Intake and triage! But…”

She frowns, getting to the end of the list, turning to Grace.

“You’re not…”

Grace shrugs. “I’ll be in the other tent then.”

“But Gracie,” Shay says, her shoulders slumping. “I want you here with us! Nadia, do something! You’re in charge!”

I laugh, putting my hands up. “Arbroth is fastidious , Shay. If she separated us, she did it for a reason. I’m not going to be the one to call her on it.”

“Cole!” Shayne says, turning to him next, a whine in her voice. “Pull your Prince card!”

“I save that for free dessert,” Cole says, grimacing. I grin, knowing that he absolutely gets more than that for being a Prince. Still, he shakes his head. “Sorry, Shay.”

“It’s fine!” Grace says, laughing and moving towards the other tent. We follow as she checks the other list, which has no line of nurses waiting to find their assignments. “See? I’m sutures, minor wounds, and bandages. Perfect.”

“Fine,” Shay says with a sigh, giving in to the reality of our orders. She turns to Cole, tilting her head back to look at him. “What’s your job?”

Cole sighs and pats his gun fondly. “Guard.”

Shay rolls her eyes, wanting more information than that, but she barely gets to start a question before we’re interrupted by my father, who walks over, glaring between us. “Don’t you ladies have jobs ?”

“Cole’s not a lady,” Shay says, displeased at the interruption.

Dad gives her a withering little glare, displeased in turn, and Shay gives him her best smile, fully unintimidated. But then she waves, turning to give Grace a hug before we send her off.

“You need to get inside, Nadia,” dad says, raising his eyebrow at me. “You have work to do.”

“Yes, sir,” I say. Still, I don’t move.

Dad rolls his eyes and heads into the wolf tent, indulging my stubborn behavior.

I take a moment to look up at Cole. “You good?”

“I’m fine,” Cole says, looking down at me, the corner of his lips curling just the tiniest bit. “Are you?”

I nod, meaning it. “Catch you for dinner?”

He gives a brisk nod and then turns, heading off to wherever the wolves meet to talk about whatever the hell it is they talk about. Guarding the world, I imagine, is a major topic of conversation. Snarling. Being tough. I don’t know – whatever.

Still, I can’t help but smirk as I watch him walk away. He’s just so…tall. And his shoulders are so nice and wide –

“Enough ogling our not-boyfriends,” Shayne whispers, sing-song, slipping her arm in mine.

I sigh, breaking my gaze and turning towards the tent. “I wasn’t –“

“Mmmhmm,” Shay says, laughing, grinning at me. “I believe you.”

I just roll my eyes, leaning against her. “Come on, crazy,” I murmur. “Let’s get to work.”

Together we head into the tent.

Cole

As soon as I turn away from Nadia, my expression drops into a scowl. I stride forward, my gaze sweeping everywhere.

Where the hell is she? What is she doing here?

But I don’t have to look very long or hard for Rose.

Instead – as I should have suspected – she’s waiting for me.

“Hey, Cole,” Rose says, her words only a little self-satisfied as I turn down the row of guard tents. She smirks, standing directly in front of my tent – or at least, what was my tent. I haven’t slept in there in a long time.

I don’t reply, instead walking slowly forward until I stand right in front of her, so close she has to look up at me. She shakes her head, her lips pressing together, frustrated.

“Look, I was sent here, okay?”

“Rose, you were sent away from here –“

“Yeah, I know,” she growls, baring her teeth at me, pressing her fingertips against my chest and giving me a little shove, her message to back off perfectly clear. “You asshole. What the hell were you thinking, asking your dad to remove me in disgrace ?”

“Don’t be dramatic, Rose,” I murmur, looking around, wanting somewhere more private to do this. “There was no disgrace.”

“Look, I don’t want to get into this,” she snaps.

I turn abruptly back to look down at her. Since when does Rose not want to get into a big, messy fight about the details?

That’s like…her favorite form of foreplay.

“Your father sent me back after I demonstrated a great deal of individual self-direction and patriotism,” she says, slow and pleased with herself. “So, if you’ll just let me show you what I discovered –“

“You know I’m going to check this, right?” I snap, shaking my head.

“You want to go call your father right now?” Rose asks, jerking her thumb over her shoulder towards her tent, which is settled on the other side of the camp by the mess hall. “I have to show you my computer anyway, so we can kill two birds with one stone.”

I groan, knowing she wouldn’t bluff about this. Then I exhale, pressing my eyes shut, trying to pull myself together, wanting to immediately forbid her from interacting with Nadia at all but knowing that doing so will just put a target on my mate –

“Cole,” Rose says, softer now.

I open my eyes, lifting my head to look at her.

“Could you maybe, just for ten seconds, give me the benefit of the doubt? And realize that I’m not some psycho ex-girlfriend but instead someone who is trying to do something good here? Something to help ?”

My shoulders slump at that. Because maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m overreacting and being a dick.

“Fine,” I say, tossing out a hand toward her tent. “Show me. But keep your fucking shirt on , Rose.”

“No promises,” she mutters, turning and stalking away, knowing I’ll keep up.

“Rose!” I snap, not liking that.

“Oh, get over yourself, Prince!” she calls, shaking her hair back over her shoulder. “And come on. This is important.”

I groan, following my ex towards her tent, hoping this isn’t some kind of trap.

When we step inside, I look around Rose’s tent with interest, noting that she…kind of has a sweet setup.

“Here,” she says, hauling a trunk over to the desk where she’s set up with three monitors that curve around a laptop. She slaps the top of the trunk before she sits down on her tall lab stool, clicking the laptop on. “You can sit here.”

“What…is all this?” I ask, frowning as I do as I’m told, sitting on the trunk and looking at the monitors with interest. I have to admit, I’m relieved that all of this is here and that Rose actually seems like she’s doing something instead of setting some kind of weird seduction trap.

“This is my workspace,” Rose murmurs, typing in her passwords and then opening a few files that flash up on the individual screens. “There,” she says, crossing her arms and lifting her chin toward the images. “Recognize these?”

I lean forward, studying the pictures, instantly recognizing the photos as the Children of Solace town – though they were taken at night and they’re certainly not the clearest pictures she’s ever produced.

“You took these…the second time we went?” I ask, glancing at her. Rose nods. I look back at the images, shaking my head. “I don’t get it, Rose.”

“Yeah, you don’t , Cole,” she snaps, turning toward me on her stool.

I sigh and turn towards her, realizing that it is a trap. Now that she’s lured me in with real evidence, she’s withholding it until I have this fight with her.

“Look, I get that you were pissed at me,” she snaps, her voice tight now in a way that stirs my conscience. “But do you know how embarrassing it was to have the fucking Chancellor call me and tell me that I was being removed from the job?”

I tighten my jaw, not regretting my decision.

“This is my career , Cole –“

“You weren’t acting like it was your career –“

“Don’t throw that at me,” she snarls, leaning forward, glaring. “You know as well as I do that our history and our relationship has crossed a thousand lines over the years. And yes , you were drawing a new boundary, and no, to that point I hadn’t respected it. But having me fired? ”

She leans back, turning her face away, tears starting in her eyes.

I sigh, my shoulders slumping, suddenly wondering if I was too rash. But…I had told her to stop before. And she made threats against my mate!

But…would she honestly have gone through with them? Or was it just the thing that people say when they’re all tied up in a web of emotions and they get overdramatic?

I sigh, not knowing where I stand anymore, hating to see her this upset.

“Look, Rose,” I murmur. “I…did what I thought was right.”

“Well, you weren’t.”

“All right,” I say, trying to find some middle ground here. “If I’m wrong about it, then…I’ll be willing to admit that, once I see it that way. But can we just move on from the personal side of it? What did you bring me here to show me?”

“I came here to show you that I have this job because I’m the best . Which is why your father hired me in the first place - and which is why he re-hired me when I showed him this .”

Her fingers fly over the keyboard, calling up larger versions of the same images. I turn back to the screen.

“Watch,” she says.

I do, keeping my eyes focused on the screen as she selects one image from the dozens displayed and enlarges it.

As I watch, she runs the computer through a series of complicated programs, continually zooming in on the image and enhancing it.

I frown, not getting it, just seeing a bunch of grey and green shapes taking form in the footage…

Until…

I gasp, my eyes going wide as I see what forms on the screen.

“Oh…oh my god,” I whisper, standing to lean closer to the image, absolutely shocked at what I see.

“See?” Rose says, her tone as angry as it is victorious. “My images. My enhancement technology. My work that uncovered this! Me – an investigative journalist with degrees in engineering and visual technology, Cole! I’m not just some girl sent here to take pretty pictures - this mission needs me.”

I turn to her, agape, not even processing the claims she’s making, still absolutely floored by the image. “Is this real?”

Rose raises an eyebrow, begging me to doubt her journalistic integrity.

I move on. “Does my father know about this?”

“Yup,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Your father took one look at it this morning and put me on the first train south.”

I curse, turning towards the entrance flap.

“Cole!”

But I ignore her, pushing outside and striding for General Amir’s office.

I need a phone. Right now.