Black Locust Letters by Nicolette Jinks Read Free Book Online

brighter than the dying bulbs
falling back down to earth, soon those streaks disappeared and
Betty wondered if one failed to ignite, then three bursts shuddered
into brilliant purple, crackling into orange then white. It did not
take long for Betty to lose herself in the flashes and thunder of
the warring colors, the ways they showed themselves in sweeping
arcs of fountains glittering beneath great booms and huge
explosions taking place above like a violent bouquet of flowers
erupting into bloom.
    She
watched in stunned silence until the fireworks intensified, then
receded. At some point, she knew that Tetrametrius was called away,
but she did not realize who had replaced him until she heard
Clarkin's voice.
    “ To
think that the same elements may be used by two different people
for such different effects. Explosives in the field are no less
awing, but so much less beautiful.”
    Betty examined him, taking advantage of a pause in the
fireworks to eat quickly. Between bites, she said,
“Decapitaria?”
    “ I
would rather have told you so myself, in my own time. It is a role
I would rather have left behind, but unfortunately, I am constantly
reminded of my service.”
    She
tried to imagine him in the trenches, with a gun, a knife, a
grenade, anything at all, but she couldn't superimpose the two
images onto each other. Even in the harsh firelight, she could only
see the soft awareness in his eyes. She could only feel that
arousing presence of his, feel the effects his voice and proximity
had on her body—and she was torn between relishing it and fleeing
from it.
    “ Do
I frighten you?” he asked, misinterpreting her silence.
    “ No.
I just can't see you as so much as a soldier, much less anything
higher in the ranks.”
    A
bitter smile twisted his lips. “It is that exactly which they
exploited.”
    The
earth shattered into a series of roars, making Betty jump before
she saw the trails of fireworks soaring through the air: Nine of
them, the finale was beginning. A hand warmed her shoulder, too
firm to be flirtatious, and Betty realized Clarkin had reacted with
his field experience, calm but ready to push his companion down in
case of danger. The thought warmed her instantly, and she hated her
body's betrayal.
    “ I
can take care of myself.”
    Clarkin blinked at her while those fireworks plunged the
night into a cacophony of colors, but didn't take his hand off her
shoulder.
    “ But
you don't have to.”
    “ Who
else is going to take the responsibility?”
    “ Certainly you can depend upon your family?”
    Betty burned her tongue on a bit of hot banana and melted
marshmallow. She seemed to be careless with her food around the
demon. “Too many strings attached.”
    “ You
can't be solely on your own.”
    For
a few seconds, the echoing thunder of a lime green shower let her
escape the inquisition. As it faded to white, she said, “Father is
all I have, and he's a strategist to the core. He's a sociopath.
Best thing I ever did was move out.”
    Clarkin glanced around. “You might be careful who you say
that to. Besides, they wouldn't allow him in the ranks if he wasn't
stable.”
    “ I
don't care who hears. And, he is stable, just not a good man to be
around. How would they determine his mental state? Tests?” She
snorted. “You, me, and certainly him, we all know what the
analyzers look for. You just have to answer the questions without
raising any red flags.”
    As
though to approve of her answer, the sky took up a series of
explosions, rocking the air with concussion waves of noise, echoing
off the cliffs and falling to the forest. Betty shivered. The
fireworks continued, the tempo increasing as more mortars ignited
and the night filled with a riot of booms, thuds, and crackles, the
lights so bright that it burned her retinas and when she closed her
eyes after the last whites had smothered out, she could see the
inverse colors against her eyelids. She shuddered when a cold wind
ran over her skin.
    They
sat in