Page 31

I said nothing. My vision blurred as I became lost in thought.

The Dissenters had to win. I knew my reasons why Raúl needed to be stopped, and I also knew why I wasn’t going to stick around to see it done.

And I knew Sasha’s reasons—she fought for power.

I understood Matias’s loyalty to the cause and Chelsea’s.

As orphans, they were children of this rebellion, raised by the Dissenters, making the rebels their only chance of survival.

And I understood the Calvernons and their decision too.

Wealth and power propelled them. But…I never understood Edith.

Edith had both her parents, a billion siblings, and a quaint little farm away from the city.

Why did Edith join the cause? What was her reason?

“Hey, Edith? Can I ask you something?” I turned to face her.

“What’s up?”

“Why did you become a Dissenter?” I didn’t expect the laughter to leave her face, or the somber look of grief to fill her eyes. She grew silent, eyes flickering as emotion passed through her. Did I say something wrong? “Edith?”

She put her spoon down and she sat up straighter in her chair, her gaze drifting off me as her hands settled in her lap. For the first time ever, I saw the glint of tears in her eyes. “I have my own reasons, okay?”

I swallowed. There was more here, a lot more. And the fact that Edith didn’t want to talk to me about it had me worried. “Edith, come on. I’m your friend, remember? What aren’t you telling me?”

A grimace took over her face as the glimmer of a single tear streaked down her cheek. She stayed quiet, though, giving me the impression that she was calculating, weighing it out, deciding whether she wanted to divulge her secrets.

“Please,” I whispered. The irony that I was pushing her to tell me her secret when I had no intention of telling her mine was not lost on me. And I felt a little guilty about it.

She looked at me, the corners of her lips slipping into a frown before she cleared her throat.

“A while ago, I lost my sister. She—” her voice cracked.

She cleared her throat once more and tried again.

“She was older than me, and our family didn’t have a lot of money.

So she enlisted in the army to help support us.

I wanted to join with her, but I was too young.

” A weak smile came across her lips. “I always looked up to her, you know?”

A sinking filling slowly filled my belly. She took a deep breath as the smile faded from her face and the seriousness returned.

“Giza came to our home personally to tell us the news. He said that she had been on assignment, and her team was discovered by the REG. They were caught, and”—the furrow in Edith’s brows deepened, looking almost as though she was in pain—“and she disappeared.” She pressed her lips together as she turned to look out the window.

Oh no .

After a minute, Edith blew out a breath, still staring out the window.

“My parents begged me not to enroll. But I was determined to find her. I enlisted, thinking maybe she was trapped somewhere, maybe I could find her, but…it was stupid. Stupid hope that she would still be alive.” She faced me then, gaze growing fierce and hard.

“So now I’m in it to find the asshole that killed her.

And I’ll stay until that person gets what they deserve. ”

My heart ached for her, for what she lost. I knew how much I would give up, how much I had already sacrificed for Jacob. “I’m so sorry, Edith.”

She sniffed, quickly wiping away the moisture from her cheek. “Yeah, me too. Liddy was an amazing sister.”

I gave her a somber smile, which she returned before looking out the window. So, even Edith was driven by one of the four motivators Sasha told me about. Edith was in it for revenge.

“Well, will you look at that?”

“What?” I followed her gaze outside the window to see what she caught sight of.

“Looks like the huntress is on the prowl.”

My brows knitted together. “What the hell does that—” My jaw dropped. There, in front of me, was Wes. And with him was, “Blondie.”

“Blonde and bitchy.”

“You know her?” I kept my eyes on them, watching as Blondie’s hair flowed in the breeze. She kept tapping Wes’s chest, her silent giggles giving everything away while revealing nothing.

“Oh yeah, I do. That’s Calista. She’s got major attitude problems and is total bad news. You’ve met her before?”

“Only once.” I never took my eyes off of them, glued to the flirtations playing out in front of me while my stomach did somersaults, tossing my ice cream.

“Take my advice: stay away from her. That girl is trouble.”

“Like Chelsea?”

“Chelsea was willing to save your ass. This girl is more likely to backstab you and pluck your eyes out. Don’t mess with her, okay?”

I gave Edith a quick glance, but she was still glued to the show outside. And I couldn’t blame her. Because when I looked back out the window, I saw Calista wrap her arms around Wes’s neck, lips dangerously close to his.

And then she leaned in to kiss him.