OUT OF MIND² ━━ Bellamy Blake

𝐗𝐈𝐕: Wretchedly Divine

     His jaw clenched. Raven laughed.

     "Don't look so angry. A threesome would always be hot, wouldn't it?"

But before Lyra can get far enough into the memory to hear his response ━━ which looks like it'll be good because he's interrupted Raven by shooting to his feet with his fists clenched ━━ Alie interrupts.

"He's contacted the others. You are not safe here anymore."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Noah questions gruffly. "Clarke has the flame. Octavia has the map to Luna."

"I cannot risk losing Lyra as I did Raven," Alie responds coolly. "You hid the second rover in the woods. I need you to go retrieve it — Lyra needs to go to Polis, where we can protect her."

"What're my orders?" Lyra asks.

Alie nods towards the boy. "Distract him."

     Lyra smirks dangerously at him.

     The boy ━━ she still cannot remember his name━━ bristles under her flippant gaze.

     "We've certainly got a history, don't we?" He doesn't say anything, so she takes a step closer to him. "That was a rhetorical question, by the way. I don't remember much. Actually, I don't remember anything at all. . . but that's for the best, isn't it?"

     His eyes narrow. "Get the fuck out of her head, Alie."

"Oh, this isn't Alie. It's me, LJ, Lyra Jupiter, Angel, Spacewalker," says Lyra evenly, a sultry smile spreading across her face. "Does that scare you? Seeing me with some balls? Because Christ on a cracker, I'm soft, aren't I? Crying all the time, always worried about people's precious little feelings. It's pathetic."

"Let her go, Alie," he growls, as if he hasn't gotten the memo that this is Lyra now.

He takes a step forward, but Lyra dances back just as quickly. Fishing a knife from her pocket, she holds it to her wrist with a silly little smile. He stops dead in his tracks, looking horrified.

"That's right. You wouldn't want me to hurt myself, would you?" She asks, cackling at his distress. "What is it that you like about me so much, soldier? My little doe eyes? Or maybe it's my tragic little life — or maybe it's because you feel needed when you're with me. Because your little sister's all grown up now, isn't she? A real killing machine. She doesn't need you — not that she even wants you."

Though he still looks terrified she might hurt herself, he manages to inhale sharply. "I've already played this game. I'm not doing it again."

"But I'm not really giving you a choice," Lyra coos, as if speaking with a child. "So that's why you like me, huh? You like feeling needed. Like you have to protect me. . . not that it's really working out for you."

"LYRA!"

Lyra's head snaps up. Several hundreds of yards away, at the gates of Arkadia, she can make out a blur of silhouettes. She knows at once who they must be: Octavia, Miller, Bryan, and Harper. The four other fighters.

She starts to dig the tip of her knife into her wrist.

"NO!" He shouts at them. His eyes don't leave Lyra once as he jerks out a hand to brace her, as if she's a wild animal. "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!"