Gena Showalter - Young Adult Alien Huntress 2 by Blacklisted

Author:Blacklisted [Blacklisted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-12T20:46:53+00:00

“I’ll deny it if I want.” I stubbornly lifted my chin. “I didn’t hate you. I was disappointed in you and shocked. But even then, I had a hard time reconciling what you were saying about yourself to the boy I’d built up in my head. I mean, look at the way you took care of me.” His eyes widened in surprise and he shook his head as if he couldn’t quite believe I’d said that out loud. “You truly amaze me, Camille Robins.” He meant it; I could hear the truth in his voice. No boy had ever said anything like that to me. A few that I had dated had told me I was pretty—to get into my pants. But to be told that I amazed someone? And said in a tone that dripped of reverence and awe, and not to get into my pants? Never.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He backed up a few steps, turned, and braced his hands on the wall.

The back of his shirt was ripped and I could see fat red welts peeking out from beneath the torn material.

“They whipped you?” I gasped out.

He didn’t face me. Didn’t answer me. Just continued his story as if we’d never veered off track. “I met Cara about a month after I’d been accepted into the camp. We hit it off right away and started dating.”

I hadn’t asked, but I’d wanted to know. Badly. So I allowed him to ignore my query without protest.

“We had a pretty intense relationship for a year and spent every spare minute together.

And when we weren’t together, we were thinking about each other.” He turned around and stared at the wall opposite him, as if he wasn’t speaking to me but to whoever was listening to our conversation. “I loved her.”

“You were eighteen?” My age now.

Erik nodded. “Yep.”

My dad would say a kid that young couldn’t possibly love with such passion, that teenagers had no concept of “true” devotion. A crush, he’d say. A passing fancy. You’ll wake up tomorrow and realize you never really cared about that guy, Dad always said when he’d caught me sighing over Erik’s picture.

Dad was wrong.

I hadn’t gotten over my crush on Erik. I felt as intense about him now as I had then. My dad didn’t understand—or perhaps he didn’t want to admit—that teenagers experience emotions as violently as adults. Perhaps more so, since the feelings are new to us and we haven’t yet learned how to deal with them.

When Erik said he’d loved Cara, I believed him. The truth was there in his expression, glowing brightly. He’d loved her, had probably wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Would probably have died for her.

To have a boy love you that much, well, it had to be empowering. I was jealous, I admit it.

I didn’t like Cara, and didn’t think she deserved him.

“What happened?” I asked quietly.

He gave a bitter laugh. “The day I was caught with Onadyn happened. Apparently A.I.R.

had suspected my involvement with the drug.

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