The Skin Thief

Chapter 104

"Ivy?"

I jump as Marcus turns to me. I swallow, trying not to be sick.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

I nod my head and force on a tight smile. He narrows his eyes but returns to his conversation with the officer. Tears well up in my eyes, and my heart thunders in my chest. A cold sweat breaks out across my skin at the same time as an uncomfortable, sweltering heat rushes through me.

I had known that this time was coming. But in my head, it was always so far away. It was always a worry for the future. The words go around in circles in my head.

I have to kill Marcus.

For a second, I wonder what would happen if I confessed to him and asked to just run away from it all. What if we disappeared into the Fifth Realm and left the wars behind?

My lips quiver as I imagine the possibility of a future with him. Now that my time with him is about to be over in the worst, most permanent way, I desperately want to escape it all. Why must this burden fall on my shoulders? Why do I have to be the one to do this? And why does my heart flutter with excited butterflies at the thought of Marcus and I having a future together?

Anger surges through me, and my breathing quickens. It takes all of my strength not to let those scalding hot tears fall as in my mind, I curse Cobalt, Mr Day and the Prime Minister for making me do this. How could they make me seduce someone like Marcus, spend time with him, get to know him on a deeper level, and share my body with him, only for them to callously order me to put a bullet in him?

I hate them.

I shouldn't hate them. They are just trying to protect my home. Marcus is the enemy. Killing him is my duty. By killing him, I'll be saving countless lives of my people. This should be an easy thing to do.

But it isn't. Why doesn't the thought of killing this man hurt so much?

"Thank you, Sir. We'll leave in two weeks," Marcus says. The two men shake hands before Marcus turns back to me. He frowns again upon seeing my face.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks, his voice so awfully gentle.

"I'm fine. It's all starting to kick in now," I say, my voice a little hoarse. Marcus nods his head in agreement, and we leave the room.

"Where are we going?" I ask, my voice dry.

"To our room," he says, smiling.

"Our?" I ask.

He chuckles. "I pulled some strings. In case you haven't noticed, I'm quite important," he jokes. I force out a laugh. "On a serious note, they desperately need me, or more specifically, my abilities. So they have to keep me happy. I was already going to get a cushy private room anyway, so why not demand that my partner join me?"

"Are the other recruits not going to be upset that I get to have a nice private room with my other half whilst they have to share dorms and be separated from their significant others?" I ask.

"Well, you aren't going into a unit yet, so you won't be serving with anyone here. You'll just be training with them for the next two weeks before you and I leave, and they remain for further training."

"Where are we going?"

"You know the base we went to when we visited the Second Realm?" he asks.

I nod my head.

"We're going to be based out of there for a little while."

"Didn't the base on the other side get destroyed by the bombs?" I ask.