BORROWED [Watty Awards Finalist/NEWLY EDITED!]

Chapter Eighteen

|Shoot to Kill|

Bunking with four other girls inside a sweltering and crowded tent sucks. Somehow they're all sleeping soundly, while I can barely stand the heat. I guess if I'm to be part of the Syndicate, I will have to adapt.

I roll of my cot and walk over to the front of the tent, unzipping the flaps. The sun has completely risen, making it somewhere in the late morning. I spot Adam a few tents over, talking to Hanna. She stands level with him, giving him a swift kiss on the lips. When he walks away, she looks over at me. I wait for the condescending smile she portrays so well. Instead, her arms climb through the air above her head to stretch. She smiles, making her way toward me.

Great, here she comes.

I try and walk away when she nudges my arm. Her head tilts to one side, waiting for some kind of reaction from me.

"Sleep well last night?" she says in a surly tone.

"No," I say. "I'm sure you couldn't care less, anyway."

"You're right," she says, still smiling. "By the way, today is shooting practice for the people with no prior military training. I'm sure you need all the practice you can get, right?" I gaze back at her, shielding my eyes from the brightness of the sun.

"Afraid I might be a better shot?" I say with a smile.

"Think again, Borrowed."

I point at her, wiggling my finger in the air. "Speaking of the Borrowed, how come you aren't reporting back to Sylas?" Hanna steps closer to me, jabbing her finger onto the center of my chest.

"That's absolutely none of your damn business."

"Oh, wait, maybe you're getting paid vacation? How kind of him."

She laughs. "This isn't a vacation, silly. I'm on a personal mission. And like I said, it's none of your business."

"Really? You sure about that, Hanna?" I look over my shoulder to make sure we aren't being watched. "Why are you really here?"

She sighs, taking a step back. "I'm in love. Can't you tell? I saw those annoyingly big eyes of yours spying on us."

An obnoxious laugh escapes my lips. "I didn't know you were envious of my eyes."

"Laugh all you want," she says, "but my loyalties are with the Syndicate."

I close the space between us. "Then why continue to work for PURE?"

"Sylas is capable of doing some horrible things," she says. "I'm there because I'm Adam's inside source." She doesn't sound too convincing. I watch her walk past me, stopping abruptly.

"You aren't telling him the whole truth. Why?" I say, hoping to break through her thick skull.

Hanna shakes her head, turning toward me. "I can see you won't stop questioning me until you know. Fine, then. Want to know my true reasoning? My little sister is a Borrowed like you. It will be her second cycle next month," she explains softly. "She's only eighteen years old." Hanna sucks in her bottom lip, biting down on it as if to suppress breaking down in front of me.

"Adam would think she is a disgrace, right?" I walk toward her, resting my hand on her left arm. Surprisingly, she doesn't pull away from my touch.

"He's not a bad man," she says with urgency. "Honestly, he has more heart than anyone I've ever known."

"What is he planning?"