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  Peregrine had designed nano-transmitters that would be inserted into their skin. The tattoos would disguise them. On the outside, they’d be school friends who got matching tattoos to celebrate graduating the academy and beginning OTS.

  On the inside, they’d have a way for them to always track one another, so long as they had a properly tuned receiver and were within range.

  “I’m ready,” Fam said. “Do you want an anesthetic?”

  “No, I must foolishly gain the respect of my friends by taking the painful route.” She wasn’t lying.

  Hawk guffawed and Raptor smiled, then said, “Scrap, that means I’ll have to do it that way, too, or risk being seen as a wimp.”

  Hawk gave him a friendly but hard slap on the back. “Don’t worry, frat boy. We already see you that way.”

  They all laughed, except Peregrine, who did her half-smile thing.

  “Be still,” Fam ordered.

  Fallon stopped laughing.

  After her, Raptor got his tattoo in the same place. Hawk opted to get his on the left side of his chest, while Peregrine chose her left shoulder blade.

  “What do I owe you?” Hawk asked when they were done.

  “A thousand cubics. Or you could hang onto the money and just owe me a favor.”

  Hawk grinned. “I’ll pay the money. It’ll be cheaper in the long run.”

  Funny how much more easily he smiled and laughed when in a place like this, away from the campus.

  The academy must have been very, very hard on him. So far, he hadn’t opened up about that. Maybe someday he would.

  Hawk transferred the cubics via an infoboard, and they were done. “Should we go grab a drink? Blue Nine’s just a few blocks that way.” He jerked his thumb to the left.

  “It’s a little early,” Peregrine observed. “We haven’t even had dinner.”

  “So order some Bennite food delivered to us at Blue Nine. I’ll spring for pretzel knots,” Hawk suggested.

  “I suppose that’s all right.” Peregrine flipped her ponytail back over her shoulder.

  As they walked, Raptor joked, “Now that we have matching tattoos, we have to be best friends forever. We can go shopping together, do each other’s hair, and snuggle while watching holo-vids.”

  Hawk closed his eyes in a long-suffering look of chagrin, slowly shaking his head from side to side. “Dude. No.”

  Fallon laughed. She loved Raptor’s sense of humor. Though they’d graduated, they hadn’t yet ended their romantic relationship. They’d need to, though. Soon.

  Eventually.

  Along the way, Peregrine handed them simple silver bracelets. “Here. Wear these at all times. They have the receivers in them. I’ll show you how to use them later.”

  Emiko’s was the smallest, and it fit her wrist just right.

  Raptor put his on, shrugged, and let his arm fall to his side. “I’m stylish enough to make this work.” He nodded toward Hawk. “Don’t know about that guy, though.”

  Hawk smirked at him. “I have more style in my big toe than you do in your whole body.”

  He put on his bracelet, shook it at Raptor, and said, “Hah.”

  At Blue Nine, they drank, ate Bennite stew and pretzels, and talked. Then they drank and talked some more. They spent the rest of the day there, and on into the night. They didn’t talk about their first lives or their feelings or their hopes and dreams. Mostly, they told impossible stories, made jokes, and laughed.

  But they said what mattered. Without using the actual words, they told one another that they were a team, that they would look out for each other, and that they would face whatever came next together.

  “Blood and bone!” Hawk said, raising his recently refilled mug.

  The rest of them raised their glasses to his.

  “Blood and bone!”

  Message from the author

  Thank you for reading!

  If you enjoyed this story and can spare a minute or two to leave a review on Amazon, I’d be grateful. It makes a big difference.

  If you’re ready for more Chains of Command, here’s the link to Blood and Bone. Avian unit is headed to OTS, and there’s bound to be trouble.

  Be sure to visit www.ZenDiPietro.com and sign up for Zen’s newsletter so you’ll never miss a new release or sale. Stay tuned for more adventures!

  I hope to hear from you!

  In gratitude,

  Zen DiPietro

  About the Author

  Zen DiPietro is a lifelong bookworm, dreamer, and writer. Perhaps most importantly, a Browncoat Trekkie Whovian. Also red-haired, left-handed, and a vegetarian geek. Absolutely terrible at conforming. A recovering gamer, but we won’t talk about that. Particular loves include badass heroines, British accents, and the smell of Band-Aids.

  www.ZenDiPietro.com.

  Dragonfire Station Universe

  Original Series (complete)

  Dragonfire Station Book 1: Translucid

  Dragonfire Station Book 2: Fragments

  Dragonfire Station Book 3: Coalescence

  Intersections (Dragonfire Station Short Stories)

  Mercenary Warfare series (complete)

  Selling Out

  Blood Money

  Hell to Pay

  Calculated Risk

  Going for Broke

  Chains of Command

  New Blood

  Blood and Bone

  Cut to the Bone

  Out for Blood

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