The Brightest Night (Origin #3) - Jennifer L. Armentrout Page 0,157

kind of was so I could, you know, know when to come by.”

“It’s okay, but you can come by when he’s here. You’d like him. He has dumb jokes,” I repeated. Nate didn’t look convinced. “Do you want to come in?”

He seemed to consider that and then took a deep breath before stepping in. He’d kept a wide berth around me as I quietly closed the door. “I, um, got the food you left out for me. Thanks for that.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was worried that a squirrel ran off with it or something.” In the glow of the gas lantern, I thought he’d looked thinner than before, his cheeks hollower.

“That would be one big, scary squirrel.”

“True.”

A faint, uneven smile appeared and then faded. “I came by once before, but there were a lot of people at the house.”

Not wanting to worry him, I nodded. “I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m okay. I’m sorry I missed you,” I added when he looked like he was about to push that. “Did you get the note I left you last time?”

He nodded. “I was going to write back, but I was afraid someone else would find it.”

I wasn’t exactly surprised to hear that. This kid didn’t trust easily. Even right now, he kept looking around the kitchen like he expected someone to jump out of a cabinet. “I’ve been worried about you.”

He blinked. “You have?”

The surprise in his voice was so genuine, it tugged at my heart. “Of course. I didn’t know if you had enough food or water. Is that why you came back?”

“No. I was … I mean, I was hoping you had something that could help, like, disinfect the skin.”

“Like rubbing alcohol or peroxide?” I knew we had both in the bathroom. When Nate nodded, concern replaced the relief. “Is someone hurt?”

“No.” His nose scrunched. “I mean, not really. Not seriously. We have bandages and stuff, but nothing to, you know, clean the skin? And I don’t know much, but I know that cuts and stuff need to be cleaned with something. That’s what my mom used to do when I was hurt.”

“What happened to your mom?” I asked, half expecting I wouldn’t get an answer.

“She’s dead. I didn’t know my father.” He shrugged. “He’s probably dead, too.”

“Did she die in the invasion?”

Rubbing a hand over his chest, he shook his head. “She died a few years before that. We—I mean I was in a group home when the invasion hit. Several of us were, and when people started dying or leaving, we were kind of just there.”

Understanding crept over me. “You mean, you were left there by whoever was running the group home?”

“Yeah, but it really wasn’t any different from someone being there.” Nate gave another nonchalant shrug while anger rushed through me so fiercely, I felt the Source pulse in response. “We all pretty much took care of ourselves.”

“That doesn’t make it okay. No one should be left behind,” I told him, wrangling in my emotions before he saw that I wasn’t exactly human.

“Yeah, well, people were left behind before it all went to shit,” he responded. “People who lived on the streets? They were already left behind.”

He was right, and I told him that. “I know this is hard to believe, but no one in this community is left behind. Everyone is taken care of, and every one chips in one way or another.”

Nate said nothing as he rubbed at his chest.

“Let me grab you some peroxide or something.” I started toward the archway but stopped. “Don’t go anywhere. Please. I’ll be right back.”

He nodded.

I stared at him a moment, almost wishing I could freeze him in place, but that wouldn’t help gain his trust, so I hurried to the bathroom. It was somewhere between finding an old backpack and shoving the bottles of rubbing alcohol and peroxide in it, along with cotton balls and a bottle of pain reliever, when I decided I was going to make him take me to the rest of the kids. I knew it could be dangerous even though there didn’t sound like there were any adults with them, and I also knew Luc would be furious when he found out, but based on how Nate looked now, he couldn’t survive much longer like this. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to convince him, but if there were others, I may have more luck with them. I also needed to know exactly how many kids were out there, fending