***
A storm comes through; the thunder shakes the house, and the lightning turns the world white and violet.
We sit in the lounge with the food that Canto went out and brought. We’re all on the floor. Mei is sitting in Leaf’s lap, chewing on the chicken skewer that Reed had handed to her. Leaf keeps handing her more pieces of food that he feeds to her like she’s a little bird, with each mouthful she eats, a wild thrum pulses in his chest as if he’s so pleased she took it that he can’t help but express his pleasure aloud.
Reed sits opposite her, and it almost looks like he chose that spot just so he can map her facial expressions.
Canto and Ronit sit together. The pair of them are on alert; I’m trying to ignore it, but I can feel it in every movement, see the furtive way they watch the doors and windows. I want to scream at them that nothing is going to happen, that we are the biggest, the baddest, that we can stop anything.
I glance down and look at the black tattoo on my wrist. It’s so crisp now, the lines are perfect, and it stands out even if I might wish I couldn’t see it.
“What would you do if you didn’t have to do this?” Mei asks, interrupting my broody thoughts.
“You mean if we could stay here and not work for Diablos?” Canto asks.
“Yes.”
“Well, I would absolutely go explore until I found the perfect place to build a home.”
“Would you live near the beach?”
“Yes, but away from the city.”
We all agree with Canto. All except Reed, who looks away like our answers hurt him. I think I understand what’s wrong with him. If I’m right, then he is missing our oceans, and to be honest, I miss them, too. But it was our prison, not our home.
Wasn’t it?
“What would you do if you could understand this world and not be hunted?” I ask her.
“Well, I want to explore and see all the different places in this world. Maybe find somewhere that is home…that’s safe.”
It’s such an unexpected answer, in that it mirrors ours so perfectly, that I just stare at her, finding myself falling into this possible potential future.
“I’ll help you.”
The smile she gives me is one I’ve never seen before, but I hope to all that lives in the ocean I get to see again.
Chapter 28
Mei
The place Diablos sent us to is a small town near the beach. It’s full of tourists and happy people rushing around, laughing, eating, exploring. At first, nothing seems out of place.
“I’ve got it,” Brio says after an hour of us wandering around.
“Well, spit it out.”
Brio grabs my arm and moves me closer to him. A couple of people go walking past, laughing about something they saw on the TV.
“There are no old people.”
I snap to attention because thatisstrange.
“This is a retirement town. People come here to retire. Sure, it gets tourists, but the locals should be a generation that are older, and there are none here,” Brio says under his breath.
“You’re right. Oh, that’s so obvious now that you’ve pointed it out.” I inhale, drawing the mix of scents into me. “They were here. I can smell them.”
“Is this where we go and talk to the humans and see if we can convince them to give us information?” Lirin whines.
