arrives at my door on Monday I can feel the difference in the air between us.
I’m still ready to hate him and bicker like the whole world is ending and it’s his freaking fault, but he looks so freaking miserable and sort of like a sad puppy, even I’m not that much of a bitch to be kicking sad puppies.
As we walk across the campus to the dining hall, he stays close to me, his eyes sharp as he takes in all of our surroundings, like he really is guarding me from something. My senses go on high alert right along with him and when my bond reaches out to his, brushing against him for reassurance, he startles and glances down at me. I get it, I’ve kept it on such a tight leash that he’s never felt it before and I curse myself silently for letting it slip past.
His voice is a rough rasp, answering the question I haven’t found the voice to ask yet, “Three more Bonded were taken last night from one of the gated communities about twenty minutes from here. My cousin was one of them.”
Fuck.
My stomach drops so hard that if I had anything in it, I’d probably be puking on his shoes right now.
They’re getting closer to me.
I’ve been meticulous about not letting my gift slip, not even a small burst of power, so I don’t know if it’s a coincidence that they’re inching in on my location, or if that man has found a way to track me without using my gift as the beacon.
I’m too busy freaking the fuck out about the possibilities that Gabe gets us to the dining hall and fills me a plate of eggs before I make my way out of the panic to take the plate from him. It’s rude of me to not offer him condolences but if I open my mouth right now, Lord knows what will actually come out.
Probably me freaking the fuck out and begging for him to let me go, let me run the hell away before we’re all dead and rotting thanks to the Resistance and their never-ending mission for complete dominance.
We sit and eat in silence, Gabe’s plate is almost completely empty before he breaks it. “When you first disappeared… we all thought you were taken. There’d been a lot of clusters in the area and, well, I was too young to know the details but my parents were both on the Council, so I heard enough to be scared for you. Every time we heard about bodies showing up, I thought it was you. Every time there was news about kids showing up brainwashed, fuck, I hoped it was you so we could get you home and save you, and all that time, you were just hanging out in some city, living whatever life you wanted.”
It’s a sad little story but there’s a few very key things he’s gotten wrong. Most of them I can’t correct without causing a freaking shitstorm, but there is one thing I can set straight. “You know I was in the hospital because of a car accident, right? My entire family died in it. I was fourteen and completely alone in the world. I was terrified. It’s not like I just skipped away into the sunset to live a happy and merry life by myself. Maybe you should try to see past your own story for once, and things might go a little better between us both.”
He swallows and glances around the dining hall, but it’s still a ghost town this early in the morning. It’s why we both like it so much I think, neither of us have to worry about who is watching us eat.
“North told my entire family that you’d been spotted in Florida, working in a record shop, and without any markings or ties to the Resistance. He made it clear that all signs pointed to you just running away. How exactly am I supposed to just look past that?”
I shrug. “How would you take it if your whole family died in a single accident? If they were ripped away like that?”
He stares me down and then pushes his plate away from himself. “I don’t have to imagine it. My dad was taken two years ago and we found his mutilated body a week later. My mom stepped down from the council the next day but she’s still never really come home. If you’re asking me to look past my