False Gods | The Prime Archives #3 ✓

seventeen

After the game, Stella helped Daku take Susie to the infirmary. Victoria stayed behind with the recruits to give them their assessments. Everyone was slated to get decent marks—except for Ironwhip. While his team might have won, his aggression surely had to be monitored going forward.

It was clear he had a competitive streak. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but he needed to keep it in check if he wanted to be a part of the team. Stella didn't have any room for lone wolves on her squad.

"She going to be okay?" Stella asked one of the nurses in the infirmary. She was stood next to the hospital bed Susie sat on. A bandage was wrapped around the girl's shoulder.

"She'll be just fine," the nurse replied. They gestured thankfully at Daku. "He managed to prevent any muscle or ligament damage. Her shoulder did get dislocated, but we managed to put it back in place."

Susie's cheeks reddened as she glanced at the boy from New Zealand. "Thanks, Kiwi. I owe you one."

He flashed her his pearly white teeth while rubbing the back of his neck. "No prob, Suz. And don't you worry about Darren. I'll get the bastard back for you."

"It's fine, honestly," Susie quickly said. "I'm sure he didn't mean it."

Daku snorted. "Course he meant it. Guy's a psychopath."

"Please, don't mess with him." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "He's crazy."

Stella sent him a scolding glance. "Hey, now. Be nice. Darren is not a psychopath. A little overzealous, maybe, but he's not a psycho."

"If you say so..."

"I'll be sure to talk with him about his behavior later," she told the two young Primes. She gave the nurse on call a nod before moving toward the exit of the infirmary. "I've got to go now, but I'll see you two at dinner later."

Daku and Susie waved her goodbye. Smiling, she left the room.

The two of them were some of her favorite recruits. They might not have had the flashiest abilities—with Daku being a healer and Susie's power allowing her to nullify another Prime's for a short time—but they were solid combatants and good team players. Not to mention, the crushes they had on each other allowed her to live her love life vicariously through them.

They had yet to make a move, but she knew it would happen eventually. The pair did everything together. And she saw the way they looked at each other. It reminded her of how she and Chase once were.

Her expression soured as she slowed up in the hallway she had been passing through. She eventually came to a full stop, pissing off a few of the people who had been walking behind her. Though, they were pretty much non-existent to her at the moment. Everything around her had all but faded into obscurity. Her memories had taken over.

That was never a good thing.

Pleasant memories of her time spent with Chase invaded her mind like a parasite, leeching away on her spirit and siphoning off her happiness. Her shoulders slumped as a deep frown marred her lips.

Oh, Chase...

Things had been going so well for them before the PRA. She remembered their first Christmas together at The Acropolis and how he bought her a custom nightlight that displayed yellow stars on her ceiling because he knew she was afraid of the dark. She remembered how he held her during scary movies and how he kissed her under the moonlight whenever they snuck outside during quiet hours.

Tears welled in her eyes.

She also remembered the times she stayed awake at night, desperately hoping he—and those who left with him—would come around and join her side. They never did. It broke her heart into a tiny million pieces; only now had she begun to put them back together. But, like an incomplete puzzle, it wasn't quite the picture she knew it to be.