Free The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) by Krystle Jones Page A

five year stretch before you get to gold.”
     
    I took in the three gold chevrons on Aden’s sleeve. “Then you must have been a vampire for, what, a decade or so?”
     
    He looked at me sidelong, smiling slyly. “Maybe. Or perhaps I’m just really good at what I do.”
     
    A few heads turned, all teenage males, but for the most part no one paid me any attention. I wondered if I should be worried about someone recognizing me (if Aden and Paris said they knew me from the media, than why shouldn’t other vampires know my face?), but nobody showed any sign of recognition when they gave me the “once over.”
     
    The tension in my shoulders eased a little. Maybe I’m not as famous as I thought.
     
    Whenever Aden passed someone in a black uniform, they would turn and salute, and he would nod at them before they returned to whatever it was they were doing.
     
    As we walked, the interior curiously shifted. This part of the base was fairly pretty and surprisingly stylish for a military outfit. The walls were a deep brown, with gold-gilded lamps hanging from the spackled ceiling. The heels of our boots clicked along polished marble floors of swirling caramel and cream.
     
    “ Stay close,” Aden said, and I jogged a bit to catch up as he turned a corner. He walked straight toward a set of double doors – a plaque that read MESS HALL hung beside them – and opened one, spilling noise into the hall and motioning me inside.
     
    I walked through, muttering “thank you” for the held door, and found myself standing in what appeared to be a fancy, restaurant-style cafeteria. Polished black booths and tables – all lined in red cushioning – were set up around the circular room. Several cash registers and buffets were situated on my right. It was pretty packed, and everyone was chatting and relaxing while enjoying their meals together. It looked like any other cafeteria I’d ever been in, only more nicely furnished.
     
    Aden turned to face me, and discreetly unpinned my name badge, slipping it into his pants pocket. “Better for you to remain Jane Doe for this interaction,” he said quietly. “Let me do the talking. This way.” He directed me to a corner booth, where a pixie petite girl with peach-colored skin and curly blond hair pulled up in pigtails sat talking to a tall, muscular man with a bulky frame and dark skin. He had his back to me; I couldn’t see his face, only that he had long hair tied back into several long, thick braids. The girl had on a red uniform, so I knew she was some sort of technical staff, while the boy was clearly marked a soldier by his black outfit.
     
    Aden’s right. Color coding does help. At least I now know which ones will pose the greatest threat.
     
    The girl slurped on her soda can, babbling excitedly to her friend each time she took a breath. His broad shoulders shook with laughter as she made a funny face, emphasizing whatever point she had been making with quick hand gestures. Watching her, I wondered how someone could possess that much energy. It seemed exhausting.
     
    Aden walked right up to the table and cleared his throat. The girl stopped mid-sentence to gape up at me, her baby doll face lit with childlike curiosity. I couldn’t see the boy’s reaction, though I caught him leaning past Aden to catch a glimpse of me.
     
    “ Guys,” Aden said, “this is Sergeant –”
     
    “ Sloane? ”
     
    The boy’s soft, airy voice was strikingly familiar in my head. My gaze snapped to his, and we stared at each other for a few seconds, our faces mirroring one another’s shock and disbelief.
     
    It took me several seconds to find my tongue. “Rook?” I whispered.
     
    He looked exactly as I remembered. Every detail was the same as it had been the night I lost my brother – and I thought, Rook – to the vampire. As the goalie for my brother’s hockey team – of which, Orion was the captain of – Rook had always been athletic and toned, but not the tank he had