Free Eden by Kate Wrath Page A

say 'I told you so.'"
    I frown at him, pushing myself away from the wall to move
past them.  "I'm not sure why Lily was ever friends with you."
    Kobee just snorts.  "Yeah.  Neither was she."
    When I glance back at him, there's a spark of satisfaction
in his eyes.  I walk to one of the lounging chairs, sprawl into it, close my
eyes, and proceed to ignore them.  But two minutes pass with my eyes closed and
not a single footstep leads away.  I'm pretty sure they're not that quiet on
their feet.  As I pry my eyes open, I register voices and footsteps coming up
the terrace stairs.  Spec and Celine.  It would seem they spend a lot of time
together.
    They make it to the top and get sucked in to Kobee's little
huddle.  For a moment, they're all murmuring voices.  Great.
    Celine glances away from them, at me, and I catch her eye. 
She freezes.  A little dent of consternation appears in her lovely forehead. 
She heaves a big sigh and saunters over to me as if she doesn't have a care in
the world.
    I move my feet so she can sit on the end of my chair.  She
hesitates, but sits.
    "So," I say, making my voice as light as possible,
"I take it we're friends."
    Amusement twitches at the corners of her mouth—or is it
something else?  "Lily was my friend."
    I study her face for a moment—she's so unbelievably pretty. 
She's good at hiding things, too.  Mostly nonreactive.  Mostly.
    "I see.”  I narrow my eyes.  "And you're angry. 
You're pissed at her for doing what she did."
    Her chin jerks back, lips pressing together.  She looks
away.  For the tiniest instant, a trace of sorrow moves across her features. 
Then it's gone.  She's completely calm as she turns her eyes on me,
expressionlessly.  "Do you remember me at all?  Do you feel anything when
you look at me?"
    My gaze falls into my lap, and the answer comes out in a
whisper.  "I feel sorry."
    She sighs, then her fingers are curling around mine.  When I
look up, her eyes are still full of reservations, but there's something else—some
kind of offering.  "I've missed you," she says.  "...Not just
since you left us.  I missed you when you went into that dark place and you
wouldn't let me come with you."
    Her words bring tears to my eyes—maybe not for myself, but
for her, and for Lily.  For the first time, I feel that I want to stay here. 
Not to find answers or kill Sentries.  Not to save Outpost Three, or even
Oscar.  Just to stay.  To love.  To be loved.
    Maybe this place really is home.
    But when Celine registers my tears, she jerks her fingers
away.  She puts her head in her hands and closes her eyes.  Her breaths are
slow and deep.  Measured.  She's trying not to cry.
    "I really am sorry," I say, leaning forward. 
"I'm sure Lily... I'm sure she—"
    Celine's face swings up and her gaze hits me.  Now she's
amused.  Her eyes dart toward the guys, then back to me.  The corner of her
mouth curls up as she leans in.  "You can't be talking like that if you
mean to convince anybody."  Again, her gaze wanders toward Kobee's
huddle.  "There's no her," she murmurs.  "Just you."
    My sigh gives away my frustration, but I guess my new policy
is not to hide anything.  "You have no idea," I mutter.  "Some
days it feels like there are ten people in my head."
    That earns me a laugh.  She looks like she's about to say
something, but the guys are walking toward us.
    "Whatever the deal is between you and Jason," Spec
says, cutting to the point, "it's best to...."  His eyes move off
behind me.
    Footsteps are moving toward us from the bottom of the
stairs.  I cringe visibly before I gather the courage to turn and look.
    Apollon.  It's just Apollon.  He meets my gaze and comes to
join us, but says nothing.
    I suck in a deep breath of air, waiting for the blood rush
to settle.  I swallow and look up at him.  "You did it?"
    He glances around at the faces in the group and nods, his
eyes coming back to me.
    I want to rip the words from him, demand