BEFORE by Dawn Rae Miller Read Free Book Online

I know she’s hoping to be mated with Maz, but to openly kiss him like that? What is she thinking? If they’re caught, there’s no way they’ll end up together. The State will immediately separate them.
    I look around. No one else seems to have noticed and, satisfied Bethina didn’t see, I pop a ripe strawberry in my mouth. Within minutes, I finish my bowl and bring it over to Bethina, who stands at the sink, washing dishes.  
    She takes the dish from me, drops it in the soapy water and swats me on the backside. “You need to do a better job of keeping Beck on task. The two of you are late every morning.”
    I shrug and scamper toward the stairs. 
    “He’s his own person, B,” I say over my shoulder, using the nickname Beck and I gave her as children. “I try, but I can’t control him anymore than you can.”
    She makes a sort of “Phffft,” sound behind me, but doesn’t say anything else as I leave the room. 
    The main floor is empty—Kyra must’ve gone back to her room. I run up the stairs and halfway down the hall, eager to get to the bottom of her strange behavior at breakfast. What she was thinking with that kiss! 
    Kyra’s room is different than Beck’s and mine. Purple flowers, hearts and ruffles cover every corner, and every time I walk in here I give thanks I share with a boy and not three other girls. I’ll gladly take Beck’s mess over living inside a purple nightmare any day.
    On the far side of the room, half-hidden by a frilly bed, Kyra digs around in her closet, her back to me.
    “What’s the big mystery?” I ask.
    Something drops from her hand as she whirls around to face me. “Oh! Heya—you scared me.” She gives a nervous giggle.
    “Sorry.” I flop onto her over-stuffed grape of a bed. “So, you going to tell me or am I going to have to torture you?” 
    She frowns and narrows her eyes, but her voice jokes. “Torture me? You’d like that wouldn’t you?” 
    “Yes, Kyra, I live solely to torture you. It’s my goal in life.” I laugh. “So?”
    She grins and pounces on the bed like a cat. Kyra’s always been my best friend. In fact, my earliest memory isn’t of Beck, but of her and me playing on a tree swing, pushing ourselves higher and higher until she jumped. I remember being awed by the way she soared through the air. 
    “Okay, you promise you won’t say anything?”
    “Of course.”
    She tugs on her left ear. I resist rolling my eyes—sometimes Kyra acts like we’re still little kids.
    And yet, I tug on mine, a gesture which means I understand what she’s about to tell me is for my ears only. Kyra slips off her delicate, blue wristlet and hides it under a pillow. 
    My stomach drops. This can’t be good if she’s removing her wristlet—it means she doesn’t want our conversation overheard. Which means whatever she’s done is worse than I thought.
    Kyra lifts my wrist to take off my wristlet, but it’s not there. I forgot it on my dresser after Beck distracted me earlier.
    “Are you two planning on joining the rest of us? We’re going to be late,” Beck says from the doorway, his eyes teasing me. 
    Kyra sighs dramatically. Lately, everything Beck does annoys her. And she’s not shy about letting us know. 
    “We’ll be done when we’re done,” she snaps. 
    I’m tired of their bickering. Or more correctly, I’m tired of Kyra’s bad attitude about Beck. He usually either ignores her or grins like whatever she says is hilarious. 
    I grab Kyra’s pillow and launch it across the room. It hits Beck in the stomach and he doubles over, feigning injury. “You have the worst timing.”
    He crosses the room, his blond hair bouncing with each step. “You forgot this.” 
    From his pocket, he pulls my blue wristlet. 
    “Thanks,” I say, holding out my hand.
    Instead of giving it to me, Beck wraps it around my wrist. His fingers linger on the underside of my arm, shooting ripples of electricity across my skin. His eyes latch on to mine before