Page 35 of Poet & Protector

“I’ll see you then,” he said, offering a tentative smile.

I nodded again, then pivoted and left the garden as quickly as I could without breaking into a run.

Seven

The Mountain School

Thursday

MASON

Thursday morning dawned to a sky full of dark clouds heavy with rain. By lunch time it was pouring and showed no sign of letting up.

I paused beside Nev’s desk when our Creative Writing class ended. “So, not the greatest weather.”

“That depends on how you feel about rain,” he replied.

God. He was always so obtuse.

“I meant for our meeting,” I said. “Unless you have waterproof paper and ink and don’t mind getting soaked, that clearing won’t work.”

“We can meet somewhere else,” he said, surprising me.

I assumed he’d want to cancel.

“Where?”

“The Burnout,” he replied. Lowering his voice, he added, “The other part of the Burnout.”

Now I was even more surprised. The Bunker was always open to its community, but I’d never considered going there to do homework.

“Is that okay?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I nodded. “Of course.”

“Then I’ll see you there.”

I’d gone straight from school to the bar instead of waiting until our meeting time. If I was going to do English homework at the Bunker, I might as well do my other assignments there, too.

Unlike when I’d been there at the usual time late last night, this afternoon the Bunker was empty except for Caleb and Tom. The owner was mopping the floor and Caleb was cleaning the bar area.

I hesitated at the bottom of the stairs. Tom said this place was always open, but it looked pretty closed. I was considering turning around and going back up the stairs when Caleb called out to me.

“Don’t be shy, Mason. Come on in. Sit wherever you want.”

I found a spot where two couches faced each other with a wide coffee table between them. I sat on the couch that faced the stairs; I didn’t want Nev sneaking up on me. He’d been in the Bunker last night, too. We didn’t speak, but for the first time he’d acknowledged me, giving a slight nod when I arrived.

I was uneasy about working together today. Yesterday in the garden had been an absolute rollercoaster. I’d gone from thinking we were finally getting along, to being terrified our bet had gone so wildly out of control we were going to kiss, to deciding we were going to kill each other instead, and then realizing I didn’t understand anything about Nev at all. His revelations about Efron Bane and Sabine shook me to the core.

All my assumptions about the Banes were shattered. What I thought was their trademark arrogance was more likely the armor they wore because they were constantly under threat, not from the Searchers, but from their own master. Efron was truly twisted and my heart broke for Sabine and the other young Banes. If any of my packmates were in her situation, I didn’t know what I would do.

I’d left the garden emotionally battered, not to mention deeply confused by the whole kissing situation, but also feeling like I had a much better sense of why Nev treated me the way he did. At the same time, I didn’t think any of that would change the dynamic between us. If anything, I expected all the tension from our last encounter would make him even more distant.

Caleb came over. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” I told him. “I was going to hang out to do my homework here if that’s okay. I don’t want to get in the way if you’re busy.”

I didn’t mention that Nev would be joining me. He and Caleb were close. Maybe they’d already talked about it.