His chest rumbles as he takes a step forward, but he catches himself like he always does, keeping his distance. Finally convinced there’s no one else around, I start walking to the side rather than running, knowing better than to stand here and talk. Shots draw attention, more dragons. I want to be invisible, not at the center of a spectacle.
They start following me, easily keeping pace as we weave between the trees before I come across a stronger oak with branches that extend over the top of a hill. It would be smarter, giving me two ways to escape if someone finds me. Content with my next step, I finally get off of my feet, resting my back against it with a groan and scratch at my arms and neck.
Kinsley sits beside me, but the other two stay on alert and I hate how it makes me feel that much safer. I can’t rely on them to protect me forever and it’s far too addicting of an impulse to keep flirting with.
More relaxed, my panic induced reactions catch up to me and I jump to my feet, horrified. They react, instantly defensive and searching for the threat as I cross the distance between us. I peel Kahl’s hand away from his bloody shoulder, feeling like shit.
“I didn’t realize it was you or I wouldn’t of-“
He cuts me off, enveloping me in a tight embrace and resting his chin on the top of my head. My cheek is pressed against his chest, heart racing despite his typically calm façade.
“Fuck, Saige,” he mumbles, not letting me go and completely ignoring his bloody shoulder. “What were you thinking?”
I blink a few times in surprise before reality sets in and I start to pull away, but I’ll at least admit to myself that it’s a halfhearted attempt. “You guys need to go, he’ll be after me and-“ but Kinsley interrupts me this time.
“He isn’t a threat anymore.” His voice is hard, more so than I’m used to hearing from the lighthearted man. He’s all pranks and jokes, smiles upon smiles. Hearing his voice nearly devoid of emotion kills me more than it should.
“You killed him?”
I’m not mortified by the prospect, just stunned they’d go that far. It’s expected when running in the Gauntlet, a way of culling numbers disguised as a race, but there are still laws. You kill someone without it being self-defense, you’re going to end up arrested.
“He tried to shoot you,” Kaiden snarls. “Pathetic shot, but the way he was chasing after you? Would’ve landed one sooner or later.”
Kinsley pulls a flashlight out of his pocket and Kahl reluctantly lets me go so they can look me over, finding me worse for wear despite the fact it’s only been a day since we parted ways. “You don’t look so good,” he points out and I bite my cheek.
“Jeeze, tell me what you really think,” I murmur, feeling embarrassed under the rapt attention I shouldn’t want, yet do.
Kahl sits, dragging me down with him and leaning back against the rough tree bark. “Your leg isn’t healed yet.” He narrows his eyes at me in accusation, like he’s blaming me for ruining all of his hard patch work.
“It’s fine, you should worry more about your shoulder getting infected,” I argue, despite the bone deep ache in my leg. “I can’t keep letting myself get spoiled or it will be that much harder to adapt. You know, like those animals raised in captivity that don’t know how to find food when dumped back where they came from.” I try to keep the resentment out of my voice, but I don’t think I manage it, despite the fact my anger isn’t directed towards them in the slightest, just the situation.
Kaiden crouches down in front of me, tossing a heavy duffel bag onto my lap and I whoosh out a breath from the weight. His face is hard, which isn’t unusual, but he seems more closed off than usual. “Then you might want to make your supplies last.”
I unzip it, prepackaged food, clothes, and a gun waiting for me. I look up at him, my stomach flip-flopping. “You guys tracked me down just to load me up with some supplies? Not to try and bring me back?”
There’s a heavy silence I can’t interpret, unsure what I’m actually hoping to hear. Kinsley finally breaks it, “You’re not our prisoner, Saige. We aren’t going to drag you back to somewhere you don’t want to be. We just want to make sure you’re okay.” He notices me scratching and tentatively pulls my hand away. “Though we should have brought some meds, because I think you’re allergic to something in that field.”
Cursing now that he pointed it out, I take a look at my arms. I’m covered in hives and it’s only getting worse the longer we sit here. Without fear pressing down on me to keep the edge off, and attention brought to it, the welts practically spread while I’m stuck watching.
“Come on,” Kahl sighs. “Let’s go find a river.”
Abandoning my perfect resting spot, I don’t object. They went way out of their way just to load me up with some supplies, and if I’m being honest with myself, I want to soak up just a little more time with them. Tomorrow is going to come far too soon and I’ll have to convince them that they really need to go back before I get them all killed.
Over an hour later we finally find a river and I freeze, anxiety taking a firm hold. Kinsley seems to know where my mind is at, keeping his voice low and soothing.
“We’ll turn our backs and make sure no one is hanging around, okay?”
I nod, swallowing, and try to remind myself that I don’t have any reason to be afraid. Kaiden steps in front of me, face contorted in anger that I know isn’t directed at me, that it’s at the men back in that lab. He puts a closed pocket knife in my hand, sharper and sturdier than the one I stole.
“Stay next to the bank and keep it within reach. It’ll make you feel less exposed.”
Jerking my head in another sharp nod, I root around in the bag for a change of clothes so I can wash these at the same time. If they’re going to hang around for a few hours, I might as well take advantage of the time.
Stripping, I carry my clothes and a bottle of dish soap into the water. I toss them back on a rock on the shore to start drying before going back to quickly scrub myself raw. Wringing as much water from my hair as possible, I swipe off my skin, not having a towel. I tie the sweatpants to keep them from sliding off, the oversized shirt clinging to my damp skin.
It takes me less than a second to know its Kaiden’s, his scent clinging to the fabric. I can’t even describe it, like men’s cologne mixed with a sense of comfort, if that’s even a thing. It just smells reassuring and safe, making me want to curl up surrounded by them.
Goddamn it, stop. You’re making this harder than it has to be, you can’t think like that.
