Free Switch by Janelle Stalder Page B

Dinah’s sister. For one, I wouldn’t want her here should they happen to see each other. And for another, I care too much for Di to do that behind her back.”
    Guilt and shame slammed into Roman. Had he not been thinking about Bridgette constantly since last night? What did that say about him?
    “Well, well, well,” Ludwig said slowly, grinning from ear to ear. “Does someone have a crush on someone’s sister?”
    “What? No,” Roman denied instantly.
    “Don’t lie to me. I can see it written all over your face.”
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Roman held, pushing past him. “I’ll go get Lottey and we’ll meet you in your rooms in five.” Ludwig’s laughter followed him down the hall.
    “Better make sure she doesn’t read your mind,” Ludwig yelled. Roman ignored him.

    Dinah pulled on her boots with a sigh. Just as she had lay down on her bed for the night, Roman appeared at her door insisting she join them for a meeting. Who meets at two in the morning? She needed sleep. Trying to push into a bunch of heavily guarded minds had wiped her out. If she didn’t get rest soon, she really was going to have a migraine.
    She closed and locked her door, heading down the hall, her steps muted by the plush carpet. There were other soldiers milling about, but most of them ignored her. All except one, who sped up to fall into step with her. Dinah looked over questioningly.
    “Hey, Dinah,” he said easily.
    She knew this one. What was his name again? She stared at him, trying to remember. Bobby? Christian? Jacob?
    “Xavier,” he offered.
    Way off. “I know that,” she lied. “What’s up, Xavier?”
    “Just wondered if you wanted to join me and some of the other guys tomorrow night? We’re going to celebrate Ludwig’s birthday.”
    Shit. It was Ludwig’s birthday tomorrow. Also now a national holiday. There was no end to that man’s vanity. She stopped abruptly, Xavier tripping to follow suit. “You’re asking me to go out with you and a group of people?” she asked, clarifying.
    “Yeah,” he nodded.
    How strange, she thought. This was the first time any of the men had invited her along. She literally had no idea what to say. They stared at each other awkwardly, until he cleared his throat, offering her a weak smile.
    “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” he said. “Just know the invitation is out there.” She nodded. He turned and headed back the way they had come. Dinah looked at the red carpet beneath her feet, realizing how remarkably strange her life really was. Someone asks her to hang out one night and she’s shocked into silence. When she was younger she was always going out with her friends. Now she did absolutely nothing. It was sad really, if she let herself dwell on it, but she didn’t. Shaking off those thoughts, she started walking again, deciding there was no way she was going out with Bobby and his friends.
    “Come in,” Ludwig called out after she knocked. Dinah stepped into the room to find him and Roman sitting before a blazing fire. She had no idea what this building was used for before the war, but whatever it was, she found this room very strange. She didn’t think Ludwig had changed it at all. The walls were a dark burgundy with white paneled trim. Massive windows looked down on the street, draped in curtains of forest green. The floors were a deep brown hardwood, as were the floor-to-ceiling bookcases lining one wall. Everything was dark and manly, right down to the large, wingback leather chairs they sat in. Through the door to her right was his bedroom, but she had never been in there and didn’t ever plan to.
    “Sit down, dearest.” Ludwig motioned to a seat across from him.
    “Did Roman tell you?” she asked as she took the seat.
    “Not yet, he was waiting for you. What happened tonight?”
    “I was blocked out,” she told him.
    “Blocked out? By all of them?” he said, disbelievingly.
    She nodded. “I don’t know how, but