“I guess not.” I actually really liked talking to Eddie. He wasn’t like the other kids at the Institute. He was really nice.
The sun touched my skin as we exited the caves, and Eddie let go of my arm. “The bus is just ahead. Be careful in the mines, Charlie. I don’t want to have to rescue you again.”
I laughed. “Not unless there’s another cave-in. Thanks for helping me out.”
“No problem,” Eddie said kindly. “I suspect I’ll see you around.”
The sound of a diesel engine starting up met my ears, followed by angered voices.
“He’s still down there!” Ez shouted.
“We can’t leave without him!” Chancey demanded.
“Shit, those are my friends,” I told Eddie. “Come on.”
I started hurrying toward the sound of the bus. “It’s okay, guys! I’m here!”
Ez gasped. “Ancestors, Charlie! I can’t believe you’re back. They had us moving rocks for hours!”
I could hear it in Ez’s shallow breaths that he’d overworked himself. Fuck the guards. That’s why I’d left the cave-in site in the first place.
“We carved out a crawl space, but you were gone,” Chancey explained. “They ordered us back to the bus.”
“And you’ll get on it. Now!” one of the guards growled.
Someone grabbed me by the collar and shoved me forward. “Now that you’re back, we can return to the Institute.”
Hell, they’d been searching for me for hours and didn’t give a damn that I was alive. All they cared about was protocol.
The guards shoved us onto the bus, and the doors squeaked shut. I ended up in a seat next to Ez. His arm touched mine. I noticed he was really sweaty.
“How’d you get out?” he asked in a low whisper.
“Eddie helped me out,” I told them.
“I did not!” a growl came from across the aisle.
“Not you, dipshit!” I snapped at Edwin. “TheotherEddie.”
“Um… what other Eddie?” Chancey asked. “No one else was down in the mines, Charlie. We’ve all been at the cave-in this whole time.”
I scrunched up my brow. “But he…”
Technically, Eddie had neversaidhe was from the Institute. He never said he wasn’t, either, and I had assumed. Maybe he lived in Shade Hills.
Why was he down there in the first place, then?
“Never mind,” I said.
Chancey clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, you’re back now, and that’s all that matters. You still up for your fight against Deuce tonight?”
My stomach dropped. Hell, that was tonight. I’d almost forgotten about it. This was the biggest fight of the semester— the club’s two best fighters pitted against one another. I hadn’t lost a fight— and neither had Deuce. I couldn’t miss it.
I was fatigued and dehydrated, but I had no choice. “Yeah, I’m gonna fight.”
* * *
The crowd cheered wildly from outside the locker room. I’d spent the better part of the afternoon trying to pump up my strength after my mishap in the mines. I was feeling much better after I ate, but nerves knotted in my stomach. I’d never let Chancey see it, though.
