Apolonia

“What the hell are these?” I asked. “Alien pajamas?”

Benji lifted his head and blinked, trying to focus. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.”

“What happened?” I asked, supporting myself with my elbows.

Benji rubbed his eyes with one hand and rested the other on my arm. “You had a significant laceration in one arm and a bullet hole in your thigh. It was clean. Exit wound.”

I looked down. “It doesn’t hurt.”

“Apolonia did something. She had this little…” He was trying to draw it in the air. “Anyway, you don’t even have a scar. Lost a lot of blood though.” He frowned. “I should have caught it. I was sitting right next to you and didn’t even notice you were wounded.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” I said, grunting as he helped me sit up. “Neither did I.”

“I don’t know what the hell is going on. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

He touched my cheek, and I heard Cy clear his throat. He was standing in the doorway with Dr. Z just behind him.

“Glad to see you’re still among the living,” Cy said, walking into the room.

“You, too,” I said, looking past him. “Where’s Tsavi?”

“Here,” she said, walking around Dr. Z in the same clothes as me. “You humans are not as fragile as I thought you would be.”

“You’re not as green as I thought you’d be,” I said with a tired smile.

Benji helped me off the table, and Cy hurried over to help as well.

“I’ve got her,” Benji said.

“I see that,” Cy grumbled, and then he hugged me. “I was worried for a bit.”

“You shouldn’t have been. I’ve told you a million times—”

“And I’ve told you once, you’re not invincible, Rory. Lucky but not invincible.”

“I don’t know,” Tsavi said. “Judging from the extent of the scars she has, I would say she has survived many wars.”

Instinctively, I crossed my arms, first over my chest and then my stomach. It felt like a violation. My scars revealed my past, and the only way I controlled that night was to keep it hidden. I’d only allowed a few people to witness some of my scars but never all of them.

I looked up at Benji, and he offered an understanding small smile. He’d seen them.

“I would not call it luck,” Apolonia said, frowning. “We should get going. Nayara’s communication systems are not functional. Once Hamech learns of the crash, he will burn everything he crosses until he finds me. We should already be on our way. You let her sleep too long.”

“She needed it,” Tsavi said. “Can you walk?”

I let go of Benji. “Can you? Last I saw, you had a head injury.”

Tsavi smiled. “It would take more than that to slow me down. Apolonia should have been a doctor.”

Apolonia offered a small smile. “Then, I would not have been given Nayara.” She touched a wall and looked up, her expression sad.

“When we make contact with your father, we’ll retrieve her, but right now, we need to find a way to reach him,” Cy said.

“What?” Benji said. “Like a broadcast system? There’s a radio station on campus.”

“Too risky,” Dr. Z said. “If Rendlesham starts shooting at us again, we don’t want an innocent student to get in the way.”

“It’s still break. There won’t be many people left on campus,” Benji said.

“Still too risky,” Cy said, looking sheepishly at me. “We’ve already involved one student too many.”

“Amen,” Benji said.

“You involved yourself,” Cy snapped.

“And I’d do it again,” Benji snapped back without hesitation.

“And why is that?” Cy asked. No one missed his accusatory tone.

“What are you getting at? Why don’t you just ask me whatever it is you think you know?” Benji asked.

“How do you just happen to be everywhere at the right time? The fact that you have attached yourself to Rory is questionable in itself. You’re not even remotely her type. You look like the kind that would be chasing Ellie Jones or Laila Dixon.”

I frowned at Cy. “Laila Dixon? From administration?”

Cy shrugged. “She’s more Benji’s type, voluptuous and oblivious.”

Benji took a step toward Cy. Apolonia took a step toward Benji.

“How would you even know my type?” Benji asked in a controlled but defensive tone. “I’m sure you don’t mean to say I’m the suspicious one. You’ve been lying to Rory since you met her!”

That seemed to infuriate Cy more than I’d ever seen. “And what’s your truth?” he said through his teeth.

“I haven’t lied to her,” Benji said.

“What have you omitted?” Cy said, unyielding.

“Omitted? Let’s talk about omission. You don’t lie? Please. Not being honest is lying, Cyrus. Don’t fool yourself.”

Cy’s jaw worked under his skin. “I haven’t lied to you. But he”—he pointed at Benji—“hasn’t told you who he really is. Tell her, Benji, or I will.”

The line between Benji’s eyebrows deepened. He was clearly troubled by Cy’s threat. He looked to me, trying to find the words to say next.

His expression made me nervous, even more so than Cy’s threat.

“I’ve tried to tell him that we can trust you,” I said. When Benji didn’t return my smile, I paused. “You said I could trust you. You meant it…right?”

Benji struggled for a response.

“Benji?” I asked, leaning down until we were eye-to-eye.

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” he said, reaching for me. I took a step back. “If you’d asked, I would have told you. I swear, I’ve tried. I kept waiting to find the right time, and then there just wasn’t a right time.”

No matter how many breaths I took, the air couldn’t satisfy my lungs.

Benji looked desperate. “If you remember our conversation at the café, I was working up to it. I wanted you to know, but how could I tell you? You wouldn’t have believed me, not until you knew the truth about Cy.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

Benji opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He shook his head. “I don’t want you to hate me.”