Page 204 of Deadfall

Arkady turned her scowl on Nyx. “I don’t know you, but shut the fuck up.”

Nyx grinned and waved his fingers. “Hi, I’m Nyx.”

“I don’t care,” Arkady growled.

Nyx nudged Atlas. “I like her.”

Arkady turned back to Knight. “Where’s Cal? Or did you run—”

“I’m right here, Arkady.” Cal cut her off as he stepped forward to Knight’s side. At Arkady’s words, Knight’s smirk wavered and something strange flickered in his eyes. The tension was suddenly heavy between the three of them.

“Causing a scene—how typical,” Cal said in a tone that caught me by surprise with how icy it was.

“Okay,” I stepped up and put an arm around my sister’s shoulders. “Don’t know why I didn’t expect this,” I muttered. “Let’s go get you settled, Sis.”

Arkady let me guide her away from the scene of what definitely would have been an impending crime. My older sister was about as subtle as a grenade. We made it as far as my team’s tent before she exploded.

“That asshole!” She paced the small aisle between bunks muttering to herself.

“Care to share with the class?” I asked dryly. “I work with these people, Ark. You have to play nice.” I winced as she whirled on me, immediately knowing I’d chosen the wrong words.

“I don’t need to do anything,” she growled.

I leaned against one of the bunks and crossed my arms. I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything. I was used to her antics and I knew she wasn’t angry with me.

“Why didn’t you tell me you knew Knight?” She demanded.

I shook my head. “Seriously? Should I have run the roster by you so you could make sure you hadn’t slept with any of them? Jesus, Ark.”

“Hm, that’s a great idea. Next time I’m cross-referencing,” she muttered.

At my pursed lips and disapproving stare, she scowled. “What? Are you judging me?”

I huffed, my brow furrowed. “Of course not. I don’t care about that. If you’re worried about being in close proximity to him—”

“I’m not,” she snapped.

“It should be fairly easy to avoid him,” I continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “You two don’t have to work together. He’s on explosives with me. You don’t have to fly him anywhere.”

Arkady scoffed and muttered a few more obscenities before she settled her hands on her hips and changed the subject with a sigh.

“Was your girl out there? I hope I didn’t scare her—”

I scoffed. “That’s impossible.”

“Oh? Has my little bro finally met his match?” Arkady’s grin slowly reappeared.

“Yeah, I think so, she’s—” Before I could find adequate words, and put a stop to the mushy look that was transforming Arkady’s face, Seven pushed the tent flap aside.

“There’s my favorite pilot!” Seven exclaimed. “I thought I heard you come in. Causing trouble already?”

“Sev!” Arkady embraced him hard. “You know it—oh wow—” She cut off mid-sentence because behind Seven was Emersyn, watching the exchange with stoic interest.

I could practically see Arkady processing everything from Seven’s hand holding Emersyn’s, to the way the three of us clocked each other in the tent. A slow smile spread across her face and then she was on Emersyn, folding her into a hug. Emersyn was stiff for a moment before she dropped Seven’s hand to give Arkady a tentative hug back.

“I’m sorry,” Arkady gushed. “I’m a hugger. I should have asked.”

She stepped away, not looking sorry at all. “God, she’s gorgeous,” she said to me, then turned back to Emersyn. “I’m Arkady. Griff’s older, wiser, and better looking sister.”