“It looks crystal clear, I’m sure it’s pure,” Theodora exclaims unscientifically, joining Max at the bank.
“Ooh, it’s divine,” she gasps, eyes widening like Bambi.
“What the fuck, pulu? You should let someone else be the guinea pig,” Feniks growls. “You don’t know what’s safe.”
"But I do, Alexis, I do!" she insists, continuing her wide-eyed thing. "I don't know why, but I just do."
Donovan says something cringy about her being perfect.
The way he fusses around Theodora makes me want to vomit. I can’t stop a snarl escaping. “Stop fawning. If she wants dysentery, let her get it. Rather the dud than me.”
The words have barely left my mouth when a shadow looms over me. Ludo doesn’t say a word—he never does—but plants himself between me and the girl like a wall of solid granite.
The bones in my face still remember the impact of that janitor's fist. I look at the massive span of his shoulders and his impassive features. The only man who has ever taken me down at Machete’s is a mute janitor.
He cares nothing for my status, family name, or money. I can see in his eyes the promise to snap my ribs if I hurt the girl.
For that, I have to give him a grudging, whisper of respect.
I take a slow step back, feigning boredom. “Whatever.”
A muscle twitches in my jaw as Max comes over and slings an arm around my shoulders. “Dude, you’ve got serious pissy vibes coming off you. Who shat in your biscuits?” He lets out a groan. “Oh, fuck. Biscuits. Water’s great and all that, but I need to eat—stat. Are you hangry, Cos? Is that your problem?"
I push him off me, annoyed that now the image of food is stuck in my head.
Theodora laughs. “Well, I did water, so maybe I can rustle up some snacks, too?”
She runs towards the nearest tree, followed swiftly by Feniks and Donovan. “Theo, wait,” Feniks hisses.
“Tee-Tee—be careful.”
Fuck Donovan and his nauseating affection.
His eyes widen with love-struck awe as she reaches out a hand. The tree branch magically fills with blossoms. That’s not all. A couple of seconds later, apples appear, hanging heavy from every bough. Grinning, she plucks one off like our very own Eve in this Garden of Eden.
How apropos.
I’m getting more and more certain Theodora Wilson is leading us all to our downfall.
She tosses an apple towards Maximus, a delighted grin on her face. “I don’t know what’s going on,” Theodora irritatingly gushes, “but it feels like this place is imprinted into my body, it’s part of my very essence. I understand it.”
“If you’re so at one with all this, why can’t you tell us where Wes is?” I ask her specifically to puncture her bubble. Wes’s absence is gnawing at me like rats on a corpse.
Her face falls, and I smirk, having accomplished my mission.
“Maybe I can, soon,” she says, biting her lip. “Hopefully?”
“Hope never got anyone anywhere. Hope doesn’t keep your fucking boat afloat.” I look up into the blue sky and realize I have an advantage in this search. Why didn’t I think of it immediately? “I’ll find him.”
“I’ll come,” Max says through a mouth full of apple. “Mission Impossible and all that. Doo, doo, doo, doo…” He starts singing the theme tune. “If I find Wes, maybe Theo will give me some appreciation, if you know what I mean.”
Max shoots me a wink.
Ugh. Please don’t tell me another one is obsessed.
“I don’t think we should split up,” Feniks says, like he hasanysay in my actions. “Having one missing person is enough, what if the two of you get separated as well?”
“I’m sure you’ll all be perfectly happy if I don’t return,” I reply.
