"KYSON"
"Brother takes quite a lot of interest in that Rosen."
"He must be getting information out but still keep an eye on him." Answered his father.
Sigh. Why is he like his mother?
Weak.
Pathetic.
"Are you tired, Father?" I waited till he'd respond, as the signals just aren't working in this fucking room.
"Kyson, listen to me carefully. You try to get close to that Rosen too, as you know that your brother has a soft heart."
The sole reason why I'm better than him in every aspect.
"Yes, Father, I understand."
"LOGAN"
"My son, come on. Give me some good news."
I sighed.
"He isn't saying a word. Still nothing."
"Are you sure?"
"I even tried checking his phone, but there's nothing useful there."
I took a slow breath.
I really needed to control my anger and not explode at him, even though he was doing a remarkable job of testing my patience.
"Keep trying," Father said. "And get me something. We need to find his weakness."
Here we go again.
"We need to destroy him for what his father did to our district. He needs to pay. That entire district needs to pay."
The same old speech. When was he going to understand that repeating it over and over again wasn't going to make me work any faster?
"Father," I said, already losing what little patience I had left, "I've told you that I'll let you know when I find something. You'll be the first person to know. Got it?"
I was already angry at myself. I didn't need him driving me further toward insanity.
Before he could continue, I ended the call. For a few seconds, I just stared at my phone.
Then my thoughts went straight back to her.
For a moment, I had thought she had finally accepted me.
That hug. The way she had stayed there.
For one brief moment, it had felt as though she had stopped seeing me as the enemy.
Then she had pushed me away. Just like that, the moment was gone.
Why did she keep rejecting me?
I had seen it. I was sure of it.
There was something in her eyes whenever she looked at me. Something that appeared for only a moment before disappearing again, as though she forced herself to bury it.
Why?
Was it because of the difference between our districts?
Or was it because of Rosen?
My jaw tightened at the thought of him.
If becoming the next ruler and taking the throne could somehow make her mine, I would do it.
But Rosen was still a problem.
A very irritating problem.
If I ever got my hands on that guy... I'd have a hard time controlling myself.
The thought of him being close to her made something ugly twist inside me.
But then another thought followed.
Would she choose him over me?
The answer bothered me more than it should have.
She kept pulling away from me. Every time I thought I had managed to get closer, she would remind herself that I belonged to District One.
That I was her enemy.
And yet, I couldn't forget the way she had felt in my arms.
For once, she hadn't looked like she was preparing to run.
She had felt safe. At least, for a moment.
That was enough to give me hope.
I leaned back and closed my eyes.
"Why can't you just let me in?" I muttered.
Because no matter how many times she rejected me...
I knew I wasn't ready to give up on her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wanted to sleep.
More than anything, I wanted to close my eyes and forget everything that had happened.
So why didn't I stop him?
That question kept circling around my head like it had rented the place.
Now I desperately wanted to sleep, but my stupid brain had apparently decided that tonight was the perfect time to remain fully awake and lecture me.
Stay away from Logan Hawk.
Yes, thank you, brain. Very helpful.
It kept reminding me that we were enemies. And enemies were supposed to hate each other. Not hug each other. Not feel safe around each other. And definitely not let each other kiss them.
You should hate him from the very core of your heart, Rose.
Exactly.
So why had I frozen? Why hadn't I pushed him away immediately?
I groaned and buried my face into the pillow.
To distract myself, I picked up my phone and started playing games. One game turned into another and another until my eyes finally began to feel heavy.
At least exhaustion had won the battle my brain refused to lose.
I eventually fell asleep.
I woke up to the sound of someone coughing loudly. Who the hell was that?
I stayed still for a moment.
Wait.
I was dressed like a complete mess. What if it was him? What would he think about me?
Huh?
Wait, why did I care? Let him think whatever he wanted. It wasn't my problem.
I kept my eyes closed and decided to say something, but instead of words, a huge yawn escaped my mouth.
"Wake up. I brought you some dinner."
I froze.
That voice didn't belong to the General.
Which meant I had no choice but to open my eyes. Slowly, painfully, I forced my heavy, drooping eyelids apart.
And immediately regretted it.
Another Hawk. The one I disliked, apparently.
Kyson.
Wonderful.
Of all the people who could have entered my room, why did it have to be him?
Fine. Let's be harsh.
"Why are you bringing me food?"
"You didn't come for dinner," Kyson replied. "So I thought, why not bring it here?"
How thoughtful.
Since when had he become so considerate?
He was smiling at me. He smiled. At me.
He. Gave. Me. A. Smile.
That alone was suspicious enough.
"Thanks," I said flatly. "You can leave now."
I had no interest in pretending that I wanted to know him better.
Cough.
I froze again.
That cough. This one sounded familiar.
Of course it did.
The general was standing at the door.
Perfect.
Just perfect.
His eyes immediately moved toward Kyson.
"Why are you here?"
"I came to give him food, General."
Kyson looked back at me, almost as if he expected me to confirm that he had done some great act of kindness.
And the way he said General...
Yeah. There was something in it.
A slight edge. Almost disrespectful. Maybe even a taunt.
But then again... Not my problem.
I had already decided whose side I was taking in this particular situation.
"And he's leaving." The words left my mouth before I could think twice.
Kyson turned toward me.
His smile faded slightly.
I leaned back against the bed and looked at him with the clearest expression I could manage.
Did I stutter?
"I brought him food," Kyson said, almost defensively.
"And I said thank you." I pointed toward the door. "Now you can leave."
The room went quiet.
For a second, I wondered whether I had gone too far.
Then I looked at the General.
Nope. Absolutely not.
I had chosen violence.
Social violence, but still violence. And there I went again, reminding him that he had already been told to leave. Politely, of course. For the time being. Well, someone had to make sure he understood.
Then I noticed something.
What a coincidence.
The general was also carrying a plate of food.
Probably for me.
At least, I hoped so.
Because I was starving.
Kyson finally left after placing his plate on the bed beside me.
And as soon as he was gone, the general walked over and placed his own plate next to it. Then came the highlight of the evening.
"Eat the one I brought."
That was it.
No explanation.
No argument.
Just an order.
And then he left.
I stared at the two plates.
Well. That certainly made my decision easy.
I quickly got out of bed, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. The food was practically calling my name. I wasn't usually much of a foodie, but at that moment? I felt like I could eat an entire feast.
I sat back down and immediately started eating the food the General had brought. I didn't trust Kyson even an inch. As for the General...
I stopped.
Since when had I started trusting him?
No. I shouldn't think like that.
He couldn't be trusted either.
Maybe this was exactly what he wanted. Maybe all this kindness, the food, the concern, everything, was just his way of making me lower my guard and trust him.
I couldn't forget who he was. I also couldn't forget that he was still hiding my identity, even if he didn't know the complete truth yet.
Rose, don't be stupid.
I knew trusting him was dangerous. And I knew I shouldn't let myself get used to his presence. It wouldn't happen again. Next time, I would be more careful.
But for now...
Just this once. Let me enjoy the food.
After finishing every last bite, I finally got out of bed and began searching for another uniform.
I found one.
But the moment I looked at it properly, I frowned. This wasn't mine.
There was no way it was.
Mine had ripped knees and was covered in mud after that ordeal. Not to mention the other questionable things that had happened to it. There was absolutely no way it could have returned looking this clean.
Then I checked the name.
And froze. My Bro.
Well. For the time being, that was apparently my name too. So this uniform belonged to Rosen. Which meant someone had either brought the brand-new one here or had gone through it.
I already had a pretty good idea who that someone was. I stared at the uniform for a few seconds before sighing.
"Of course."
Tomorrow, I would wear it.
And hopefully, tomorrow would be a good day. A peaceful day. A day with absolutely no running, no punishments, no interrogations, no surprise kisses, no emotional conversations, and preferably...
As little contact with Logan Hawk as possible.
I nodded to myself. Yes. That sounded like a perfectly reasonable plan. As little contact as possible.
Knowing my luck, though, I had a feeling.