The Last Mission of the Living (The Last Bastion #2)(50)

“You see things others don’t. It’s a little disturbing,” she said half-jokingly.

“Lindsey, are you in danger?”

“No. Not directly.”

“Am I?”

Lindsey pressed her lips together and weighed her options. “In about an hour the whole city will know what I’m about to tell you. That’s when the press conference will occur outside of the SWD Facility. The SWD will tell the Bastion we’re on the verge of starvation because of President Cabot’s inept handling of our reserves. Then it will be announced that using the resources gathered from the valley, the SWD is sending troops out to gather food from the dead world.”

“How do you know this?” Torran stared at her with alarm.

Tears filling her eyes, she said, “I know things because I can’t stand not to know what’s happening.”

“You hacked into the SWD. You saw their plans. You saw that I’m on the roster,” Torran muttered, then said, “Shit.”

“Torran...” Lindsey couldn’t find words anymore. She cared about him. He understood her and already felt like a dear friend. In her imagination, she could see him hanging out with her, Ryan, and Maria. He would have fit in so flawlessly. Why had it taken so long for them to find each other? Now he was leaving on a mission Lindsey wanted to fail.

“Can you show me?”

“I shouldn’t show you any of it,” Lindsey retorted. “I shouldn’t have even seen it.”

“But you did. Because that’s what you do. You see what others don’t. It’s what you’ve done with me, you know. You see things others don’t.” His voice was clipped, his expression pained, but he wasn’t being cruel. “I suspected you were some sort of spy or hacker. That computer always running behind your eyes.”

Pressing her lips together, she finally nodded. Sitting at her computer, she disconnected it from the grid. Pulling out her small pad, she accessed the hidden files and relayed the information to the bigger screen. She only showed him the stolen speech and the roster. She didn’t show him the secret intel on Maria and Dwayne.

Leaning over her, Torran studied both of the open documents on the screen. After several long minutes, he finally said, “Okay.”

“It’s not okay.”

Torran pointed at several abbreviations at the bottom of the roster. “Experimental stealth armor. They think they have a way to protect us.”

“Torran...”

“So, that increases our chances right there...”

“Torran!”

Lindsey tilted her head so she could see his face. Eyes wide, his dread was clear.

“What do you want me to say? That I won’t go? Because I have to go. It’s what people like you and me always do, Lindsey. Even if we might die. We go and do what we need to do.”

Standing, she wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his chest. His arms went around her and he laid his cheek against the top of her head.

“We just met...” he said, and left the words drop away.

Lindsey couldn’t speak. She was torn between wanting his mission to fail and having him return. Caught between her love for Maria and her growing attachment to Torran, she was distraught.

“You didn’t want to tell me,” he said at last.

“No, I did. I just... I want to trust you, Torran. But if the SWD internal security found out—”

“They won’t. I won’t tell a soul,” Torran swore. Releasing her, he took her by the arms and stared down at her. “I promise that.”

“When I went to find you, I just... I was going on emotion.” Staring at the emblem of the SWD on the collar of his black uniform, she hated that she was stuck once again at the center of the battle between people who cared more for retaining power than helping the citizens of the Bastion. “I wanted to be near you before you found out and it all changed. I know we just met a few weeks ago and haven’t spent a lot of time together, but we share so much in common. You actually seem to get my weirdness.”

“You’re amazing,” Torran protested. “You’re such a good friend. A good soldier. So clever. So amazingly talented.” He waved a hand at the computer screen. “And I’m glad I’m finding out from you. It makes it more... bearable.”

Touching his cheek, the sorrow she felt within her startled her with its depth. Maybe she was more attached to him than she allowed herself to believe. Rising up onto her toes, she kissed him tenderly. Torran responded with a soft brush of his lips against hers. Peering into her eyes, he must have seen what she felt: boundaries falling. The kiss that followed was searing with emotion and passion. It was far more intense and consuming than the kisses they had shared the night before. Lips and tongues meeting in torrid passion, they clung to each other as if the world would tear them apart.

With a sob in her throat, Lindsey realized it was tearing them apart.

“I had it all wrong,” she whispered against his lips, her fingers gripping the collar of his jacket.

“How?” he asked, a tiny frown between his eyebrows.

“It’s not that life is so short we shouldn’t risk getting attached... it’s that life’s so short we should take every risk no matter how terrifying.”

“They’ll call me in tomorrow morning,” he said in a quiet voice.