Chapter 24: Chapter 24

"Someone's a little serious today," Thane said, an attempt at teasing. "What's the deal?"

"The deal," I snapped, stabbing the ground with my sword again, "is that I kind of want to step on the System and grind it under my shoe until I can't even tell what it is anymore."

"Whoa." The smirk disappeared from his face. "That's something."

"It's everything," I said through my teeth, staring up at the Incipio sky, where no cloud cover remained. The entire sky was filled with brush strokes of yellow and orange and purple, cascading into a deep shade of indigo on one side. There, the stars had started to break through the veil of sky.

Tears threatened at my eyes, but I fought them away. "I understand what you mean now. About being able to choose who you love. About the System taking that away."

"Ah." He nodded, but uncertainty flashed in his eyes. "Did you . . . ?"

I shook my head. "Two of my friends. The System took them away."