Reverence: A Faith-Based Dystopian Novel (The Reverence Trilogy, Book 1) by Raena Rood

Author:Raena Rood [Rood, Raena]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: One Foundation Publishing
Published: 2022-08-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

“Who wants to go dancing?”

Outside the entrance of The Riverfront, Emma bounced on her heels, unable to contain her excitement. Downing several glasses of wine with her meal had loosened Emma’s inhibitions, and she’d spent the last part of the dinner clinging to Alaric.

Kira locked eyes with her best friend and raised her eyebrows, trying to convey how much she didn’t want the evening to continue. Hadn’t Emma just sat through the same awful date as her? Why would she want to keep it going?

“Actually, I’m tired,” Kira said, forcing a yawn. “Plus, it’s a Wednesday night, Em. There won’t be many people at The Grotto. Let’s just go home.”

“Kayla’s right,” Dayton agreed, slurring the two words into one. He’d finished four more tumblers of whiskey during dinner, and by the third glass, Kira had stopped telling him her name wasn’t Kayla. “It’s getting late. Might as well call it a night.”

“Call it a night?” Alaric punched him in the arm. “You serious?”

Ignoring him, Dayton turned to Kira. “This was fun,” he said, without a hint of sincerity in his voice. “Let’s hang out again, m’kay?”

“Not too soon, though.” Kira slid her arms inside the leather jacket. She couldn’t wait to get home now that the horrible date had reached its conclusion.

Dayton watched as she shrugged the jacket over her shoulders, but made no effort to help her put it on. He patted his pockets. “Must’ve left my wallet inside. Better track it down. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Emma waved at him. “Bye, Dayton!”

As the Patrol soldier disappeared inside the restaurant, Alaric smirked at Kira. “Just so you know, he’s going inside to pick up that hostess.”

Kira couldn’t bring herself to meet Alaric’s eyes. “I’m sure he is, and I wish them all the happiness in the world.” She turned to Emma. “You ready to go home?”

“No!” Emma stomped her foot like an impetuous child, her cheeks flushed from the alcohol. “I don’t want to go home yet. It’s too early.”

“Relax. We don’t need her, babe.” Alaric slung a possessive arm around Emma’s shoulders, and she snuggled into his embrace, placing one hand on his flat stomach as if they’d been a couple for years. “Nothing’s stopping us from having a good time.”

No way.

Kira wasn’t about to let Emma go off by herself with the Patrol soldier. Forcing a good-natured smile onto her face, she grabbed Emma by the hands. “Come on. Tomorrow’s a workday. If you go dancing, you’ll drink too much, and you’ll be hungover for work.”

“Oooh, maybe they’ll fire me!” Emma laughed. “Wouldn’t that be just terrible? Gosh, I’m really going to miss hanging out with the soon-to-be corpses at the Compulsory Clinic.”

The words hit her like a slap.

Emma knew about Kira’s mother.

She knew.

“Em. I’m not kidding. We’re going home.”

Emma’s smile vanished, and she wrenched her hands out of Kira’s. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting weird all night, like you’re too good for us. You never even gave Dayton a chance. I’m sorry, Kira, but you can be a real snob sometimes.

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