CHAPTER
13
The night had been calm, and the squad continued on early in the morning. It was colder outside, autumn colors slowly finding their way into the trees.
Ashley was happily chattering about her new experiment, a delayed bomb, which Mey seemed very intrigued by. Nate and Eve casually added some comments in between.
Malakai and Lionel had a silent war between them, which was odd considering Lionel had never shown this side towards someone of higher rank before. It was all a misunderstanding, he had no such feelings for me that Malakai had teased him of, he was simply overprotective, like an older brother for his little sister.
That was how he saw me—always had in all the years we had known each other. I wish it hadn’t been true, I had my own selfish feelings for him.
To avoid getting stuck in the middle, I kept in the rear, being able to see all of them at a glance kept me at ease anyway.
Slowly, Lionel paced himself until he was beside me.
“You okay?” his voice was blank, as if he was trying to not sound too attached. Had Malakai’s words about him worrying plagued his mind?
“Yep,” I said, popping the ‘p’ for more effect.
He glanced over at me. “You still have a fever, don’t you?”
I opened my mouth to protest, but shut it quickly again. There was no point denying it, he had already seen the sweat building up around my hairline. His hand swung out and ripped my bag off my back, before he strapped it over his shoulder.
“Hey, give it back!” I snapped, my hand trying to grab it, but his arm shoved me off.
“I’m fine.”
I sighed. He was using my own words against me now?
My hand reached for him again, but he simply avoided it, grabbing the strap of the bag instead.
“Lionel, talk to me,” I tried, seeing his hands tense.
“Sorry, I got a lot on my mind, okay?” he muttered, not even looking at me.
“Oh, do I need to schedule an appointment?” I asked sarcastically. “When is your head clear?”
His mouth tugged, trying to prevent a smile. “You’re stupid, Ethalyn.”
“No, you’re dumb.”
“Yes,” he answered, way too quickly. “Will you stick around, until I become a bit smarter?”
“Like that would ever happen,” I snorted and he simply smiled at me. “I’m right here, Lionel,” I added, keeping my eyes forward.
His hand closed in on me, grasping around my wrist. “Good, then I’ll be right there with you, always.”
I looked up, eyes wide as I met with his sparkling brown. My pulse raced as my cheeks burned.
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit, shit.
These were the things he couldn’t do, because my heart read it as something completely different.
“Mm,” I simply said.
His hand let go of my wrist, and instead he reached for my cheek, squeezing it teasingly. “You really should rest, the fever is making you all red.”
