He spun from me and took off, leaving me doubling my usual pace to catch up. It seemed that our room was the last in a skinny, cul-de-sac hallway, both sides packed with the same curtained alcoves as ours. The butchered doorways were all evenly spaced and it looked like the whole place was made out of the same rock as my shared room, right down to the purplish-blue light, licking its edges.
"This place is massive," I said, passing through our second cavern. It had to have been at least two stories high, and long enough to leave the fittest man breathless. Unlike the first massive cave, this one had eight corridors sprouting from it, not counting the one we'd just come from.
"This one's the biggest."
I looked up, surprised to see a smooth white ceiling, completely sealed off.
"I'm not asking where we are," I knew that question was utterly pointless, "but did you guys build this place or what?"
"Most of the caves were already here when we came, but we've done a lot of work too. Turning tunnels into hallways, adding new rooms, carving out space where we needed more, that kind of thing. "
"And the white?"
He shrugged. "Paint."
"And you’ve got UV bulbs mixed in with your regulars, giving the place it's blue glow," I said, the pieces clicking into place as I ran my hand along the wall of another hallway. Man made this time.
"Every third bulb. Don't you guys do that on the outside?"
"Most people can't afford UV bulbs, not with the mercury shortage, and when they can they're hard to find. The majority of us just use normal bulbs for protection. That's what we did until we hooked up with Aaron and the others."
The mines that provided us with our most needed minerals had sat flush against the mountains of the Diarna, and had been the first places attacked and utterly decimated by the shades.
"I didn't know they were that hard to come by out there," he said, stopping outside a red curtain. This whole wing had red curtains for doors.
"You mean you guys don't have a shortage?"
He shook his head. "We have a small mine at one of our other nests. The toxicity keeps the population small, but they get the job done. Aaron, you in?"
"Burney? What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay -"
He pulled the cloth aside and swallowed his words. "What did I tell you?"
"It was bring her or hurt her and I didn't know which you'd rather," Aaron's mini me answered, unfazed by his anger.
"Fine. Get in. Not you Burney. You wait outside."
"Aaron!"
His furious gaze turned on me at the sound of my voice. "What?"
"You know it’s my fault I'm here, not his."
"And?"
"And he shouldn't get punished for something I made him do! Let him get some food or something. He can come back and get me when he's done."
"Fine." His answer was stony, the word slipped between grit teeth, but at least he'd agreed. Burney gave me a fleeting look of confused thanks then floored it back the way we'd came.
Aaron stepped aside and let me into his room.
"So you two are related huh?"
"What gave it away?"
"Is he another cousin?"
"Brother."
I nodded and slipped my hands into my front pockets. Now that I was here, everything I'd planned on saying had fled my brain and nothing else seemed to matter besides the fact that I was here, standing so close to him I could almost reach out and touch him.
He scratched at the stubble on his chin then walked over to the other side of the room, stopping beside a hand carved table. He pushed in one of the two chairs and closed the open book gracing its polished surface before turning back to face me.
"Is this room yours?" I ventured, not knowing what else to start with.
"No."
"Whose is it?"
"My mothers."
Right. “Where is she?”
"Dead."
"Sorry," I said, moving over to sit on the edge of the raised bed. It was the first one I'd seen off the floor and the first one big enough to fit more than one person. It has also been slept in. "You’re staying here?”
“Yes. Why are you here?"
So much for pleasantries. "Why didn't you tell me you were a Scorcher?"
"It was none of your business."
"Were you ever going to tell me?"
"No."
“Why not?"
He folded his arms. "Because it was none of your business."
"And Lills wasn't yours, but you still forced it from me!"
"I didn't make you do anything."
"No? It was tell you or have you leave us! What kind of choice is that?"
"We wouldn't have left you."
"You said you would!"
"I was angry."
"You're always angry!"
"I'd just killed Stuart!"
I paused a moment, giving myself a fraction of a second to gather myself and cool my frustration before it got too out of hand between us. "Is Dave one too?"
"Yes."
"But he's..."
"Nothing like me?"
I bit my bottom lip, afraid of my next question. "He's not using her, is he?"
"He loves her."
"That doesn't mean he's not using her."
"He'd hurt himself before he ever hurt Lillith."
"What about you? Are you going to hurt us? Use us as a bargaining tool for whatever nut job plan you've got in the works?"
"You know I wouldn't."
"But I don’t know that! I don’t know anything about you!”
“You know I’ll keep you safe.”
“Safe?” I snorted. “Safe isn’t bringing us to your lunatic friends who can lock Lills up and use her as leverage!"
"Watch your mouth."
He said it low, but his tone screamed with warning.
"What's the point? You've already told them everything!" I snapped, halving the distance between us.
"No, I haven't."
"I bet you couldn't wait to get us here and flaunt your find."
"That's not why I brought you."
"Then why!"
"Because you needed help and this was the only place I could get it!"
"Our money means that much to you?"
"You were hurt and it was my fault!"
"Well I'm fine!"
"I didn't know that then! None of us did!"
"What is it with you?" I whispered, my voice losing its momentum. "One minute you’re running to my aid and the next you’re ripping my head off."
"Fayle, don't."
I felt my chest tighten. "Why not?"
"Because you won't like what you hear."
"Try me."
His jaw clenched, but he didn't answer. I shook my head, completely frustrated with him. Did he seriously think he could brush me off that easily?
"Why didn't you move your arm?"
The memory of us waking up skin on skin with his arm wrapped around me would be burnt into the forefront of his brain.
"I didn't want to wake you."
"Why?"
"Because you don't sleep when we're gone."
He knew about that? "Then why did you put it there in the first place?"
"I don't know!" he snapped, springing the last of the stretch between us.
He stopped just short of me, grabbing hold of my jaw between the bruising fingers of his right hand. I didn't move, I didn't even flinch. If he'd wanted to crush my skull like I knew he could, he would've done it the instant he'd touched me.
"All I know is that you drive me insane. I want you and it makes me sick. I have a job to do and it doesn't involve you!"
"You don't think I feel the same way?" I hissed back. "You don't think I'm not an anxious mess the entire time you're gone and hating myself for it? I should be focused on Lillith and finding Nick, not whether or not you're going to make it back to me in one piece!"
He stared at me a moment then yanked me forward, his frustrated lips incredibly soft compared to the stubble that clawed my face. His fingertips slid across my jaw to the base of my neck, and then he was gone, gripping the edge of his mothers table on the far side of the room, keeping his rigid back to me.
I touched my fingers to my lips, stunned that kissed me, shattered that he'd pulled away.
"I'm... I’m gonna go."
"Fayle -"
"Don't," I said, cutting him off. He could keep his pathetic excuses to himself.
Aaron was a voice of influence down here and nothing short of a celebrity, which was the reason behind this stupid party. Dave had received a similar welcome to his cousin and since everyone could see his infatuation with Lills, she too had been cautiously accepted. It was me that they had a problem with, and it wasn't just the dirty looks or the twitching fingers wishing they could skin me alive that gave it away.It was Aaron's obvious avoidance and the frustration that radiated from him every time he looked in my direction. I was pretty sure the only reason I was even at this infuriating waste of time was because of Lills. And Burney.I could accept the Scorchers general dislike of me. They needed someone other than their beloved Aaron to blame for putting their home at risk of exposure, and him slapping me with a permanent babysitter had done nothing to soothe their nerves over the situation. What I couldn't understand was
"So what's the deal with you and Aaron?" Lillith demanded.It was the third time she'd tried this line of questioning in as many days, and so far I'd managed to avoid both it and her."Nothing."Burney snorted and I shot him a dirty look."What? We all know it started when I took you to see him.""It did?" Lills asked, latching onto the new information."They were yelling at each other from the moment we got there.""They're always doing that," She said, dismissing it with a shrug."Are you serious? No wonder he's been crabby since he got back."I raised an eyebrow. "You mean he's not usually so... pig headed?"I'd noticed his decline in mood on the outside, it was hard to miss, but I thought that was just our restless lifestyle taking its toll on him like it had on the rest of us."Nope. Well, he's always had a temper, but not like this. What were
His eyes flew open, but he didn't say anything.I took that as a sign to go ahead and unfold the edge of the damp cloth, dabbing at the blood on his split lip."He hit hard, huh?."He nodded, still silent as he watched me find another clean spot on the hand towel."You're lucky he missed your nose. I would've needed more than this to clean that up."He ran his tongue over his swollen lip as he watched me inspect the damage to his shoulder. I winced. The wrist sized welt was purple, verging on black with its budding bruise."This whole not yelling at me thing is a little unnerving," I whispered, folding up the cloth and putting it back on his shoulder. I stood in front of him a minute longer then sat beside him, giving up on talking."What are you doing here?" He finally asked, his voice thick from his fat lip."Lills said I needed to apologise to you.""For what?"I waved a hand
I woke, surprised to find a blanket draped across my shoulders and a body beside me on the bed."I didn't think you were coming back.""I wanted Lills to have her time with Dave," I whispered, terrified of moving and scaring him away. "Burney went to his own room. I figured it would be okay since I'd be here the whole time.""I know, I saw him.""You didn't get mad at him did you?""No."I nodded. "Thanks for the blanket.""You looked cold."I lifted my chin and met his eyes. "For someone who hates secrets, you've got a lot.""Fayle -""It's okay, I'm not asking you to talk about it."He studied my eyes a moment, weighing up his next words. "I promised myself I wouldn't move on until I found her and freed her, and then you...""Messed with your plans?""Yes.""Is that why you stayed with us? In case we found her whilst searching for Nick?""We knew th
"You idiot! What the hell were you thinking?"I flinched, the shouts filtering in from the hall hurting my already pounding head."It was Stan who said to do it!""And if Stan told you to put a gun to her head and fill it with led, would you do that too?""I was making sure I took her weight, but she caught me off guard!""It's Fayle!" Aaron roared, as if that were explanation enough."Would you two shut up?" I groaned. It felt like every word they said was a kick to the side of my head.Aaron bridged the remaining distance between us and came to a squat beside me. "How's your ribs?""Fine.""Your shoulder?""Still burnt.""Your head?""Better if you'd lower your damn voice."He shook his head. "There'll be no more practices with Stan. Got it?""What! No. Stan said -""I don't care what Stan said, I'm telling you no and never again!""Don
"Come on Burney," I whispered, nudging him with my foot. "Wake up.""Seriously?""I need to pee."He pulled his blanket over his head. "Then go pee.""And if Aaron sees me?""He won't. No one will. Why? Because everybody's asleep!""Shhhh! You'll wake the love birds."He grunted."Come on, I really need to go," I whined, nudging him harder."Then go!" He hissed back, lowering his blanket to glare at me."Fine, but I'm not covering for you if I get caught!"He muttered something that sounded like a curse, but he didn’t get up. I shook my head, stifling a smile as I slipped from the room. I liked having Burney by my side, but being alone was nice. Really nice. I took my time walking the corridors to the largest cavern then turned right, heading past the dining hall and down to the very end.The water caves were made up of three separate rooms suspended over a fa
"I couldn't confirm it, but I have few doubts.""No! It can’t be. Lillith would know if he'd been taken!""Has she... Dreamed or whatever it is she does since you've been here?"I sank down onto the step beside him. "No." Which meant it had been what? Close to three weeks without checking? How could we have gone so long without doing something to look for him?"So there's a chance it's him," Aaron prodded.I nodded, feeling like someone had reached in and yanked my heart from my chest. "Why do you think it’s him?""One of the things he had on him when he was caught was a silver locket with a picture of twin girls inside. I was told they were about thirteen years old, with white hair and purple eyes."I wiped a stray tear from my cheek. "That's the last picture we had taken of us before..." Before I'd hacked my hair to my shoulders and did my best to forget who I was and what I could do. "The locket was Lills. She gave it to him fo
"Are you alright?""I'm fine. I just want this over with," I whispered back, keeping my eyes forward and locked on a twitching Aaron. I'd never seen him nervous before, and it was putting me on edge. My eyes flicked to the orange curtain that parted, allowing the beloved councillors to step through. "Here we go," Lillith breathed, taking my hand. I squeezed it, faining confidence. She still had no idea what we were doing here and I hadn't had the heart to tell her. As for the part about Nick... That secret would stay with me for as long as I could keep it. Forever if I had the choice. The five councillors, two women and three men walked in and took their places on the curved row of chairs facing us. They looked like normal, every day people, with grey in their hair and lines at their eyes. They were dressed in formal robes, stark white with a deep hood folded back over their shoulders. A blazing torch of orange fire had been stitched over their hearts, its colour