»» BOOK #3 of the X-MARKS: Shadows Series «« Valen and her friends have ended their long journey but all isn't as it seems.
In the care of their new hosts they find riches, fame and the watchful eye of Genevieve Vossler, the beautiful and mysteri...
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"It doesn't matter," I said under the warms confines my blanket.
"If it's upsetting you, it does matter!" Momo said, leaning from the sill above my bedroom window.
Outside, the orange rays of the sun were peaking over the hills surrounding the mirrored towers and green valleys of the upper city. It was almost morning, and I had done nothing but toss in my bed, with only the company of my racing thoughts.
"I'm not upset," I lied again.
"Yes, you are," Momo said and grazed the ends of my hair with her tiny plastic hands.
I could hear the sincerity in Momo's voice, an ache that made want to comfort her back. The others were right, I did not know much about computers, but there was something about Momo that always made me feel like she was much more than a machine and more human than most people I had met.
I pulled from under my covers and began to spill my thoughts to her.
•·················※·················•
It was after my lab hours when Mat messaged my room.
Mshadow: Hey...What are you doing after hours?
Vshadow: Having dinner. What else would I do?
Mshadow: Meet me outside in the gardens.
Vshadow: Are you going to tell me what's going on?
Mat?????
Hellllllo?
I should have ended it there, made the fastest trip to the cafeteria, gathered my food and taken the nearest elevator to my dorm, but there would be too many questions left unanswered. It was a temptation I had never learned to just let be.
I clenched my hands as I walked through the cafeteria exit and towards the gardens.
Mat stood at the farthest end of the fountain, behind the streams of bubbling water where the city light couldn't reach. It was so dark I would have almost missed him if he did not walk forward at the sight of me.
"Good you're here," he said, with a grin fixed high on his face.
I felt as stupid as could be. Mat knew I couldn't resist an unanswered question. He knew I would show.
"Now," I said, clenching my fist tighter, "Are you going to tell me why I'm here?"
"Calm down," Mat laughed, "I just need a favor."
"Like what?"
"I need you to," he said and looked over his shoulder into the darkness, "I need you to cover my shift, okay?"
