Wings of the Walker - CoraLee June Page 0,233

tall and four feet wide. Although it was the camp's makeshift prison, Jules made it look like she was living in a palace. With her sleek hair and rosy cheeks, you wouldn’t have known that, yesterday, she killed a man and, today, killed me. She was too relaxed, too unaffected. Aside from where Tallis and Mia were concerned, she was always unaffected.

“I didn’t actually see him. I have a contact in the Resistance that visits him regularly. She was able to bring me a note and the pill.”

I tried to ignore the ebbing jealousy that rocked through me like a punch to the chest. My mind lingered on the idea that a woman was visiting Maverick regularly. It sounded like they had a system of sorts, but I couldn't help but consider he'd moved on during our time apart.

"What did the note say?" I asked.

"It was a short description of the medicine he concocted and how to use it."

"What else has he said? Do you talk to them often? What happened to Jacob?"

“I’ll explain it all at the meeting.”

Behind me, Huxley and Patrick arrived, each wearing matching scowls. “Happy to see you’re okay. Kinda pissed we were the last to know,” Huxley growled at me before giving Kemper a pointed stare.

“Ash needed a bath, and I went to accompany her,” Kemper replied nonchalantly, but I heard the teasing edge in his tone, taunting the twins with the implications of his statement. Patrick’s lip quirked up in a smirk.

“I can’t even blame you, Kemp.”

I looked over my shoulder at Huxley and nodded, wordlessly indicating for him to let her out of solitary. I wanted to get to this meeting as quickly as possible. He took his time finding the key in his pocket. And before he could slide the metal into the lock, I shot my hand out and clamped down on his wrist, stopping him.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Jules asked. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, ready to strike. I'd come to understand Jules well during our short time together. She enjoyed conflict.

“Why go through all those theatrics? You could have explained. You didn’t have to knock me over and shove a pill down my throat.”

I watched as Jules crossed her thin arms over her chest and looked between Huxley, Patrick, and Kemper. “For starters, while you’ve been hiding away here in the deadlands, I’ve been fighting for my brothers’ lives. I joined the Resistance and helped come up with a plan. This is paradise compared to what I've been through. Maybe I was angry. Maybe I wanted a little revenge. Maybe I’ve become desensitized to death.”

I squinted my eyes in confusion. What did she expect from me? “I wasn’t trying to abandon anyone,” I said. “I had no choice.”

“There is always a choice. And you didn’t just abandon my brothers, you abandoned me.”

“I never abandoned you, Jules. I was grieving you. I thought you were dead.”

Her black pupils widened in surprise as if the concept had never occurred to her. She was so quick to assume that people would leave, she couldn’t comprehend that I had spent the last five months feeling devastated over the unknown. Jules was another person I'd lost before I ever really got her. We were at the beginning stages of a friendship and not knowing felt better than acceptance.

She coughed back whatever emotion was bubbling up in her chest before speaking. “Well. I’m alive. And fine. Your grief wasn’t necessary. It takes more than rejection to kill me.” I didn’t miss the double meaning in her words. “And now I need your help. So let me out of here so we can move forward.”

I released Huxley’s wrist so that he could let her out of solitary. And once the cage doors opened, she glided out with a frown. Passing me with her confident posture, she made her way towards the main campfire.

“Oh, and Ash?” she called out over her shoulder. “I should be honest with you. I didn’t sit you down to talk to you because I knew there was a very slim chance that it could kill you. Maverick didn’t know who the pill was for. We told him it was for another immune Companion. He has been against you using it because some people have adverse reactions. Some never wake up.”

I sucked in a breath as Huxley went still. His muscles tensed and shook, and I sensed that one of his episodes was imminent. “I was clinging to my anger because