Mia snorts. “Take Keres for example; he didn’t need to drag her into this. He had to get caught but getting her at the same time? That was cruel.”
I whip my head towards them. “What?”
Mia goes silent, her cheeks burning red as she ducks her head. “Ignore me; I never know when to shut up.”
Rage slithers inside me like a beast, and it takes all my effort to press it down and push it away. I will deal with Bear when I see him.
We pass into the shadows of a massive building, and I look up, startled by a sudden flash of blue, but when I look up, there’s nothing. There is something familiar about it, but my mind is drawn back to their revelation.
“Are you saying Bear was trying to get caught, and he dragged me and Cadel down with him?” I ask, needing it clarified.
If Bear were here right now, I'd probably hit him.
“You being here is safer, anyway. We needed you,” Legion says in a bored voice.
“In the Culling Grounds, with the very people who hate me for escaping them in the first place, who are desperate to have me back, and you all thought dragging me here was a good idea?”
“Not us. Bear,” Legion clarifies. “My opinion was not needed or asked for.”
“I’m starting to really dislike this Resistance leader of yours.”
“We all have periods like that, but in the bigger picture, he’s the lesser of all the evils.”
I walk past a spot and turn back. There’s a single plant growing with purple-black flowers. The leaves are wide and thick; it’s got thorns all up and down its stems, and the colour is a purple-green that is really pretty. It’s oddly out of place, but I feel drawn to it, curious about why it’s here and why only one plant. As I approach it, I get a flash of an image. It’s so strong that I almost cry out.
I’m in Jarek’s arms, screaming, and there’s a skeleton on the ground that I know is Mordecai.
I reel back, breathing hard. At the base of the plant is dirt. There’s no skeleton, but I know he died here. I just know it.
“What is it?” Cadel asks, marching over.
“Nothing,” I gasp. I turn away from the plant, grabbing his wrist and dragging him with me.
“It’s nothing.”
But I look back over my shoulder at the beautiful plant, and I don’t even believe my own lies. I don’t know what I keep seeing, but I feel like I’m going crazy.
Chapter 30
Promise me
The safe house is inside an apartment building. It’s the fifth door on the fifth floor, and when you go in, you can get out across the balcony and drop to the floor below. I can see why they chose it. The view alone will give us enough time to escape, but it’s just a room in the middle of a dozen buildings just like this one. Like hiding a book in a bookcase.
Mordecai curses, and I stand up straight, ready to run, but he comes out leading a red-eyed Taryn. She looks like she hasn’t slept, and when Legion passes her a bottle of water; she grabs at it with a desperation that can’t be feigned.
I look down at the reusable bottles and wonder what we’re going to do when we run out. I haven’t seen any clear sources of water. Or food, for that matter.
But maybe we won’t be alive that long.
Mia and I converge on Taryn, and she grips my hand hard, pulling herself into us, pressed against us. I recognise an omega in distress instantly. I would have thought she’d go to the alphas to soothe her, but she’s decided we are her safety.
I wrap my arms around her, and we carefully get her to the floor. She smells bitter but of flowers I have never encountered before. I check the back of her neck and find a scent suppressor patch. I don’t know how she had some, but I think she’s very lucky she did.
It takes well into the night before she stops shivering and jumping at every sound.
“What happened?” I whisper.
“The sickness spread quickly, like, within half an hour, half of everyone was sick. I tried to find you, but I got caught up with a group who panicked and ran. Fern and Sophie grabbed me and got me out and away, just in time because they came in while we were hiding outside.”
