Breaking Sky(33)



Chase nodded. She could understand vengeance. “I won’t say anything, and I’ll even help you hide it from Sylph. She’s the person who you should be worried about. In exchange, you won’t say anything about my—about Tourn. Do we have a deal?”

His eyes narrowed in a way that made her look away. “You think we need to use something against each other?”

“I think it’s a smart way to play this. We’re opponents.” She paused and made herself look at him again. It was surprisingly hard. “I won’t say a word. And I hope you do the same. No matter how much you want to beat me in the trials.”

Chase started to leave, and he walked after her.

“Is that how someone would beat you?” he asked. She swung around, and the teasing smile he aimed her way was a bit of a surprise. “I was just planning to outfly you.”

She twisted the front point of her hair. “I’d like to see you try, Tristan Router.”

Chase paused at the door. Her plan had been to threaten Tristan and leave him too scared of her to tell anyone about Tourn. Now they were what? Flirting?

“We have class,” she mumbled, surprised she was holding the door open for him and even more surprised that she was apparently inviting him to walk with her.

On the way, she began to talk about the Star. She couldn’t seem to stop herself. “This class is for pilots in all the grade levels. We watch fighter flight tapes from as far back as World War I. It’s cool.”

“How many pilots are there?” Tristan asked. He walked as fast as she did, and she wanted to like him for it. Even Pippin couldn’t keep up with her went she hit optimum hallway speed.

“About a hundred. A tenth of the cadet population. The rest are in specialized training. Engineers, navigators, ground crew, what have you. Flyboys are in the minority. We try to stick together.”

When the conversation slipped away, Chase found herself close to a strange edge.

Ordinarily, she liked being around boys because they made her darker thoughts vanish. But she wasn’t getting that vibe from Tristan. He reminded her of JAFA—of her father’s dismissive words—and yet he was still looking down at her with an easygoing smile. Weird.

They passed through one of the glass tunnels that connected the buildings to the Green. Outside, the snow whirled like the wind was blowing three ways at once. Chase began to patch together a question that ordinarily she wouldn’t bring up—to ask Tristan if he worried about the other shoe dropping. About what might happen if Ri Xiong Di turned its foul intentions on the Star. Or her real question. The big one: did he blame her for what happened to JAFA?

But before she could put it all together, she remembered that tormented look she’d gotten out of him in the hallway, and she couldn’t.

When they entered the Green, a group of her fellow juniors walked by and said hello to Tristan. Nothing to Chase, although one of them chanted her call sign. It had the effect of insinuating that Tristan was now with Chase…of course.

“Aren’t you the star of the Star?” She winced at her lameness. “How do you find the energy?”

“I’m not as popular as you,” Tristan said. “Nyx is a big deal. Everyone knows you.”

“Everyone thinks they know Nyx,” she corrected, a little stumped as to why she’d take the time to set the record straight.

“They like you a helluva lot better than Sylph.”

“That’s not a fair comparison. I’m pretty sure not even Sylph likes Sylph.”

“Maybe not. Although, no one seems to know anything about you. You’re a mystery,” he said. “For example, when I asked people what part of the country you’re from, I got three different answers.”

“That’s because I don’t answer that question. They only know what I want them to know.” Chase lost her amusement, remembering Tristan’s tandem dark look with Tanner. She could only imagine what Tanner would say. Actually, she could imagine exactly what he would say. “I’m the heartbreaker. Is that what you’re hearing?”

“I believe Tanner Won used the term love vampire.”

“Jesus Christ.”

Tristan smiled, not that genial look he tossed to everyone, but a genuine smirk. She liked it a little too much, and it encouraged her to give him just a little more. “It’s a bad habit at this point. I say I want to fool around. The crush in question agrees, but then they want more…”

Chase let him think she meant sex. Most of the time, her hookups did want sex, which she didn’t mess around with. Pregnancy, STDs—no thanks. Of course with Tanner, sex wasn’t what he wanted. “I’m not into more,” she added a little late.

“Tanner said you forgot who he was. Walked right past him like he wasn’t there.” Tristan whistled. “That’s tough stuff. He seems like a worthy sort of guy.”

“He was different.” Chase started to walk slower, feeling herself defocus. She remembered lying on Tanner’s bed and telling him to kiss her, only for him to stare at her with eyes that stirred in warmth. He asked about where she came from. About her family and dreams. It wasn’t until she started to want to answer him that she had to cut him off.

Chase had walked past Tanner in the hall, avoided his smiles, then his scowls, and then his heartbreaking glances. She had fed tears to the shower and ached to explain. Instead, she found the opposite of Tanner: Riot. A boy whose needs were upfront, like the kind of restaurant where the ketchup and mustard are always out on the table.

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