Page 5 of Ravage
“She saw us,” Vera confesses. She closes the distance between her and Gordon and fists his shirt. “She knows.”
He grabs her wrists and pulls them away. “Then fix it. Or I will.”
Vera sets her determined gaze on me. “Look, Rae. This isn’t what you think it is.”
I look between them. What do I think this is?
Extra training? Or is it like how I sneak to the guys’ room at night to spend time with them? But the crash. The moaning. Were they…?
Vera had been offering to give me advice on boys and kissing, and I wondered how she knew about all of that. I never saw her hanging out with the boys in her class.
Unease churns in my gut at the direction of my thoughts. She’s only a year older than me at seventeen. And Gordon…well, he’s got to be at least twice my age in his thirties, if not pushing his forties because of the silvering of his dark hair.
“What is it, then?” I ask hesitantly.
She takes a breath and then lays it all out. “When we were doing our one-on-one sessions for training, we started talking about the goals of Gifted Enterprise and what we’re going to be doing in the future. He told me about all the horrible things happening in the world today and how we’re going to stop it. We’ll be saving lives once we’ve mastered our gifts. We just need to try harder and do what we’re told.”
She shoots me a look, as if she thinks I haven’t been trying with my gift. I give her one right back because I freaking do try. Hers doesn’t hurt her like mine does.
“I asked him to give me more training so I could start helping more. I don’t want to waste any more time when we could be helping. So, we started spending more time together, figuring out more things I could do with my gift and…well…”
It’s weird seeing her so embarrassed. Vera’s always strong and confident. Nothing rattles her. I looked up to her when she and Dane first arrived, before she was moved up into different classes from us.
“What?” I push, the unease getting heavier the more she continues. But I have to know what’s going on. For her. For Dane.
Vera looks to Gordon before her gaze snaps resolutely to mine. “I kissed him. He stopped it, of course, and told me why we couldn’t. We tried to stay away from each other for a while, but we couldn’t do it. We fell in love.”
I bite my lip to keep my face from showing the discomfort and ick that I’m feeling. I can’t pin down the reason, but something doesn’t sit right.
Gordon’s watching me with a neutral expression. I can almost see the wheels turning through his stare, but I have no inkling as to what it’s about or how he feels about this admission.
“Does Dane know?”
Vera shakes her head and grabs my hands. “No, and he can’t know.”
“But—”
“Please. He won’t understand.”
“Ver, I still don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to,” she snaps back. My eyebrows shoot up with surprise at her tone, and she softens it before she continues, “This isn’t about you or Dane. It’s about me finding someone and not wanting anyone else to get in the way of that. You get that, right? I see how you are with my brother and his friends. They may be a bunch of blind idiots, but I know you have feelings for all of them.”
I press my lips together and don’t answer.
She nods like I’ve agreed with her. “Exactly. None of my business. I need you to keep this quiet for me. I’ll be eighteen soon and then it won’t be such a big deal to everyone. I’ll also be done with training and classes here and I’ll get my clearance to leave the island.”
Her turning eighteen doesn’t make me feel better about any of this.
Can I keep this from Dane when I have such a bad feeling in my gut?
I consider it for half a second before I know that I can’t do that. But I can at least give her the chance to do it herself first.
“You have to tell Dane.”
“I will. After I turn—”
“No,” I cut in. “Tomorrow. He deserves to know what’s going on with his sister.”
