Read Online Falling by Kailin Gow - Free Book Online Page A

feeling that he’d send us off on the mission right then if he had his way.
    Eventually though, we’re ready to go. That means yet another private plane ride, and we take the helicopters to a small airfield where our jet can take off. There’s a small group of us going; less than a dozen, composed almost entirely of Faders in their late thirties and beyond. Mostly beyond. When I shoot a questioning look Lionel’s way and glance over to them, he seems to get the message.
    “They are our master instructors,” Lionel says. “As I believe I mentioned before, many of those at Location Two are simply trainees, and so are not ready for combat.”
    The master instructors are certainly ready. They load enough assorted weapons onto the plane to take on a small army. I hope we won’t have to. I go aboard with Jack and take my seat, keeping as close to him as I can. Since the plane is a private one, there’s plenty of room, but why would I want to be anywhere else?
    We get airborne, winging our way across the ocean to set up the rescue. How many trips like this have I taken in the last day or two? Still, all I have to do for now is sit there and relax, so maybe it won’t be so bad.
    Grayson is out towards the front of the plane, working with one of the experienced Faders on combat moves. The moves themselves are simple things, from upward palm strikes to the jaw to chopping moves attacking the throat, but the speed with which the instructor makes Grayson work makes it all far more complex. When they drop to the floor of the aircraft, working on grappling moves, it’s hard to even keep up with what’s going on.
    Maybe I should ask them for a few tips on fighting too, yet right now, I can’t bring myself to move away from Jack. Right here, we can just be alone together. I reach out a hand to cover his, the way I used to when it was just Jack Simple and Celeste Channing, the young couple so deeply in love around the New York fashion scene.
    I know we should be careful. I know Jack has told me that much. I even know that I don’t want to flaunt our relationship around Grayson. Yet none of that matters right now. Even Grayson doesn’t matter, because half the time now, it’s not like he’s the same Grayson he was before. Maybe, thanks to the memory device, he isn’t.
    One of the female Faders steps in to take over training Grayson, and she quickly has him in knots, tripping him and moving him to awkward submission holds with ease. She laughs while she does it though, and Grayson laughs too. It’s only then that I realize that they’re flirting as they go along. Flirting, right in the middle of their training session. And even though she’s one of the younger instructors, she’s still far older than Grayson. Far too old for Grayson. She’s not even that pretty. Not really.
    I look at the way I’m thinking, and I realize that I’m jealous. Pointlessly, irrationally jealous. I shouldn’t be. I’m sitting here with Jack, holding onto him, being close to him. Jack’s my boyfriend now, and Grayson… well, he’s just someone who used to be my boyfriend. Except that it doesn’t feel quite that simple. I think the problem is the way we broke up. Or rather, the way we didn’t break up. We never made a clean break of the relationship, so I can’t help feeling a little connected to Grayson.
    Still, I put it aside as the trip goes on. We make our way over the Atlantic, and beyond, into land where farms stretch out below us in seemingly endless spaces. Jack eventually has to go talk to Lionel about what they have planned when we land. I’m not alone for long though, because Grayson takes his place. He’s sweating from the workout he’s had, and I’m reminded of all those times we went out running together. It seems that Grayson is too.
    “Look out there, Celes,” he says. “All that open space. Do you remember running together after school, just practicing?”
    I nod. “Do you?” I have to know that. How much does