“I overheard you talking to him about it a few days ago when you were leaving your Risk Management class together.”
“So you stopped what you were doing and came to check on me because I went for a walk?”
“Yeah. That didn’t fit with your plans for the night, so I needed to make sure you were okay.”
“You did?” He sounds surprised.
“Yeah.” I squeeze his hand.
He doesn’t say anything, but his grip on my hand tightens as he falls silent, and I use my phone flashlight to look around and make sure we’re going in the right direction.
It might seem like we’re wandering aimlessly through the woods, but there are subtle trail markers around. You just need to know what they are and where to look for them.
During the day, I can find my way to the cabin without them, but it’s different at night. But even without the markers, I know we’re going in the right direction because of the change in the forest landscape.
The trees are spaced further apart in this area, and the ground is rocky instead of soft. Because the trees are less dense, the canopy of branches above us isn’t as thick as it is closer to campus, so a fair bit of moonlight can filter through and help light our way, and we walk a bit faster now that we don’t have to be as careful.
“How did you get my number?” he asks after a few beats. “To send me the text. I gave you my burner number, but not my real one.”
“Jace looked it up.”
“Yeah, I should have been able to put two and two together on that one. If he can create a tracker that gets activated by watching a single second of an ad, then he can obviously find my phone number.”
“You’re fine,” I tell him and give his hand a little squeeze.
This is the first time I’ve actually held hands with someone since I stopped being a flight risk and didn’t have to hold my mom’s hand every time we left the house.
I always thought it would be weird and uncomfortable, and sweaty, but it’s nice, and I have no desire to let go.
“It’s not much further, just a little bit that way.” I gently guide him to the left.
“I’m so confused,” he says. “One second that guy was pointing a gun at me and I thought I was about to die, and now I’m learning all this stuff and going to a cabin in Rebel territory, and I have no idea how I got here or why any of this happened.”
“I know. And I’ll explain everything when we get there.”
We fall silent again, and after about ten more minutes of walking, we come up on our destination.
“Why do you have this?” he asks as he follows me up the front steps of the cabin. “Like, what do you guys use it for?”
I type the code into the lock and twist the knob to crack the door open. “Mostly for meetings and ceremonies. Sometimes we use it as a safe house if someone needs to hide out.”
“A safe house?” He tosses me an incredulous look. “What the fuck goes on in your frat that people regularly need a safe house to hide out in?”
“A lot,” I tell him. “I’m going to turn the generator on. Will you be okay waiting here for a few minutes?”
He looks around nervously. “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”
I gently let go of his hand, and a weird, cold sensation settles over me at the loss of contact. “I’ll be right back.”
He gives me a weak smile, and I hurry around the side of the cabin and into the small shed with the generator and other supplies in it.
It flashes right up, and I’m back at Damon’s side in less than two minutes.
“You good?” I ask.
He nods.
“Come on. Let’s get inside.”
