The Academy by CJ Daly

Author:CJ Daly [Daly, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BrandyLight Ink
Published: 2019-07-01T05:00:00+00:00

GOING BACK TO CALI

Finding myself back in the sumptuous confines of Academy Headquarters

should have been a relief after living in a luxury drought. I did have

a new appreciation for the fragrant greenery and manicured lawns.

The eye-popping arrangements of flowers, discreet koi ponds, and babbling

waterfalls all titillated the senses.

The dry, flat plains of Eastern New Mexico were among the most barren

and dismal places I’d ever seen. Not that I’d spent a lot of time in the middle

of nowhere amongst the economically challenged. I’d been living a privileged,

closed-off life for so long I felt like a blind man whose sight had been restored.

I wondered how tough things were for people when they couldn’t even bother

to fix a broken-down fence or replace a petered-out AC unit in the heat of

summer.

Like Ranger, I should’ve been eager to leave the tedious, small town

whose epicenter vacillated between a super-store and the high school football

stadium. I distinctly remembered feeling so irritated at him for messing with

my mission by scaring off Kate that I’d been ready to go toe-to-toe with a

superior.

But I wasn’t mad now.

This alarmed me even more. I glanced at the clock ticking down the

time above the security door. The Connelly-Mission Meeting would begin in

about two minutes, two seconds, if we were to begin on time. Which I’d bet

the Connelly ranch we would. The Academy was a precision timepiece—the

mysterious whirs and ticks of the machine moving in perfect synchronicity,

despite any vibrating disturbances from the outside world.

The feeling I’d been fighting for the last couple of weeks was one I

wasn’t accustomed to here—warmth, that’s what it was. I wasn’t able to

• 263 •

fully articulate what it was until I’d registered its absence. I thought of Kate, Civilian Connelly, as I would refer to her in the meeting. Her luscious face

came to mind, as it so often did now. A smile tempted my lips when I thought

of the fascinating blush of color that always seemed to be coming or going

whenever she was around me. Then chastised myself for the hundredth time

in two weeks—I couldn’t afford to get attached. It wouldn’t be healthy for

her; it wouldn’t be healthy for me.

I should just try harder to give the damn Academy what they wanted. It’s

not like the boy wasn’t an eager recruit. I grimaced when I thought of Kate’s

lashing words. Andrew was too young to know what he was getting himself

into . . . and The Academy liked to keep it that way.

I contemplated further on our last terrible encounter, replaying the action

sequence as it was reflected on her lively face: the stubborn set of her jaw as

she waited for me, defiance shooting from her eyes as she confronted me with

her suspicions, the crimson flush creeping up her neckline and settling on her

face as I verbally assaulted her. Finally, I felt a sick twist in my gut, as I recalled her wet, miserable eyes and crumpled face drained of color.

Causing an innocent girl to cry was bad enough, but seeing the defeat

etched into her fresh face was something I couldn’t live with.

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