I scoff. He’s too cocky for his own good.
“Stay safe, little psycho,” I say.
“You, too, sunshine.”
“Don’t call me that,” I grumble.
“Why? You let En?—”
I elbow Spider.Hard. Silencing him before anyone else can hear him. Ender rarely calls me that and never in public. But of course, Spider knows; he knows everything.
Spider grins, relishing my attention. He doesn’t care if I’m smiling or cursing at him. Just so long as I deign to converse with him, he’s happy.
The damn fool.
“You’re with me,” Ender says.
“No, I’m not,” I say. “I’ll search with Rei or Spider.”
“That wasn’t a suggestion, Warrick.”
Ender marches ahead of me, abruptly ending the conversation.
“When are you going to stop treating me like a baby?” I ask. “Why do I always have to stick with you when no one else does? Is it because I have no powers?”
“Shut up,” he snaps. “I’m trying to focus.”
We’re in an old transit tunnel. The ceiling arches low, ribbed with soot and white cobwebs. Old cabs sit abandoned along the platform, their silver paint dulled beneath the thick film of dust. Windshields are webbed with cracks, and wires hang like dead vines from above. The empty seats are torn and shredded, tuffs of sponge peeking from the cracked red leather.
The control compartment still has a meter frozen mid-fare, as if the driver meant to come back and never did.
“Are we looking for rats down here?” I ask. “Because that’s the only thing we’ll find.”
“I suppose you could call them that.”
“Why do you hate the rebels so much?” I ask curiously.
His head whips around, staring at me like I asked a dangerous question.
A beam hanging high tilts down, barreling towards the ground. Ender shoves me, cupping my head with his big palm. The iron misses my skull by mere inches.
“Thanks,” I mumble.
I take a step forward and trip over a loose cable. Ender grabs my elbow, steadying me.
“What the hell is wrong with you today?” he asks.
“Maybe you should not have kissed me and made things awkward,” I burst out.
He looks to the sky, as if he is gathering his patience.
“Focus,” Ender bites. “Maybe if you capture a rebel. I’ll reward you with arealkiss. Since you’re so down bad for it.”
He brushes past me, taking the lead. He kicks aside debris, clearing a path for me to walk safely. I march behind him, annoyed and perhaps slightly touched that he is looking out for me in his own brutish way.
“I amnotdown bad for it!” I say.
“Then why do you keep talking about it?” he asks. “And you told Knox, really?”
