“That kind of human-lover talk is going to get you dropped real quick!”
“What the hell is ‘dropped’?” She made an annoyed sound. “You are all—”
“Whoa.” I grabbed her wrist before she could say something that would get back to Micah. I didn’t know what “dropped” meant, either, but I couldn’t imagine it was good. Reboots around them stared worriedly, and I was reminded of the scared look the girl had given me when I stood up to Micah. He was obviously implementing some pretty serious punishments.
“You need to get your Reboot under control,” Kyle snapped at me, his massive chest heaving up and down.
Anger flared in my chest, mixing with my lingering frustrations with Callum. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize Addie was under my control.”
She snorted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand as Kyle glared at me. The area around us quieted, and he stared at me a beat longer before stomping away.
“That was awesome,” Addie said.
“You’re being a pain in the ass.”
She laughed, following me to the dinner table. “How so?”
“I think you’re supposed to be more discreet in your human-love. Not to mention the fact that I’ve seen Jules watching you since you called her out about the birth-control thing.”
“I can’t help it if the chick’s crazy.”
I gave her an annoyed look and she sighed. “All right, I’m sorry. I’ll be more discreet.” She grinned as I speared a piece of meat and plopped it on my plate. “Look how well you got me under control.”
I almost laughed, but the weight sitting on my chest wouldn’t allow it.
Her eyes flicked over my face, concern in her expression. “You okay?”
“Fine.” I ducked my head and headed for an empty spot on the ground. She sat down next to me, and a few Reboots to our right watched us. Isaac was with them, as well as the new Reboot. Her dark hair was pulled back and she looked like she hadn’t slept in two days. She noticed my gaze and a smile barely tugged at her mouth. She nodded. I returned my attention to my food, unsure what to make of that.
“Can I ask where you stand with helping the humans?” Addie whispered.
“I’d rather not,” I said flatly. “But I do agree with warning Tony and Desmond. Callum is trying, tonight.”
“That’s awesome. I thought he might be.” She glanced at me. “But you’re not angry? My dad risked his life to get us to the reservation. And then it’s run by a crazy guy who wants us to have a bunch of babies and kill everyone. It sucks.”
“You’re really pissed about that baby thing, huh?”
“It’s total crap. I haven’t been having sex at all because I’m worried they snuck in at night and took it out without me knowing.”
Amusement played on the edges of Addie’s lips and I laughed. “That seems a little extreme.”
“They’re all total nut jobs, so I wouldn’t put it past them. Have you checked yours? Did Micah harass you to take it out?”
I shook my head. “No. Not that it matters.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve never . . .”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Never? Not even with Callum?”
“No.” I brushed my fingers over my shirt where my scar was. I’d thought about having sex with Callum, more than once since we’d been at the reservation. I’d been thinking about what he said, about how he wanted to see my scars if we had sex, and how maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. They were just scars, after all.
A lump formed in my throat again when it occurred to me that it might not happen at all now. I quickly pushed the thought away.
“Why not?” Addie asked.
“I’m, you know . . . weird.”
She laughed harder than I would have expected. “You really are.” Her smile faded to a more serious expression. “Is everything okay? With Callum?”
“Fine,” I said, taking a bite of meat and avoiding her eyes.
“He’s crazy about you, you know,” she said softly, like I hadn’t just told her things were fine. “I see other girls looking at him sometimes, and he doesn’t even notice. He only sees you.”
I blinked as tears threatened to spill over and cleared my throat.
“Sorry,” Addie said. She waved her hand and gave me a sympathetic look. “None of my business.”
I ate a bite of meat and dropped my fork on my plate. Part of me wanted to escape to my tent, but the other part of me liked having someone to talk to again. I hadn’t even realized that was something I liked about Ever until she was gone.
“You and Micah spend a lot of time together,” Addie said quietly.
“I guess.”
“Has he told you his plans?”
“Not really. He doesn’t trust me. He creeps me out and I’m pretty sure he knows it.”
Addie snorted. “Yeah. I don’t think I could keep it together the way you do. I’d go off on him.” She gestured to something behind me. “But he lets you into his tent. And he keeps his plans in there, doesn’t he? Schematics of all the facilities?”
I nodded slowly. “That’s what he told me.”
“Maybe you could grab them one day? Like when we’re about to leave? I think it would be helpful.”
I gripped my fork and started moving the remains of my meat around the plate. “Maybe,” I said softly. I didn’t want to talk about Micah’s plans to kill the humans, or my role in stopping it. It made me think about Callum.
Addie sighed like she was disappointed. I felt like telling her to join the club.
A figure blocked the heat of the fire and I looked up to see Isaac standing in front of us. He was rubbing his fingers over one arm like he was nervous, and he cleared his throat before kneeling in front me.
“It occurred to us”—Isaac tilted his head to the group of Reboots he’d been sitting with—“that there will be a bunch of new Reboots after we kill all the humans.”
I blinked at him, not sure what to make of that statement.
“They’ll wake up just like we did, with their families gone and a bunch of crazy-ass people wanting to be their best friends,” he whispered.
I almost laughed, but Isaac’s expression was serious. Addie and I exchanged a look, her face full of hope.
Isaac leaned a little closer to me. “So if the Austin Reboots are going to do something to stop it, we’re with you.”
