Page 34

Well, fuck.

I keep my face neutral as I stay outside their circle. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, and I am genuinely sorry. I guess that explains his absence. I just… don’t have the energy to care. Over the last few minutes, I’ve realized that taking London away was the right call, and so was tying her up in the cabin so they don’t have access to her.

I’ve become the enemy; they blame me for something that was inevitable.

“Why should we tell you anything?” James asks while Thomas grimaces, clearly having turned his loyalty elsewhere. And honestly, that’s fine by me. One less person I have to give a shit about. “And how much food do you have left, Micah?”

I catch Jade’s eyes, the vacant stare she’s giving me. Then she blinks at me twice, which perks my attention.

She’s trying to tell me something.

I focus on the guys, trying not to expose her. It’s time to leave. I won’t get shit from them, not unless I give them something in return. “Well, this was fun. I guess I’ll be seeing you.” I turn my back to them and start walking away with the full intention of circling back to meet Jade, assuming that’s what she was trying to tell me.

“I mean it, Micah,” James yells at me, and I do my best to ignore him, even though I hate empty threats. “Go back to wherever the fuck you and London are hiding and stay away from here. Or better yet, bring London back here, and you fuck off.”

I freeze, my adrenaline spiking. It’s not the reaction they want from me right now. And here I thought I was being nice. Ever so slowly, and probably more theatrically than needed, I turn around and step toward them.

My voice increases an octave, and I suppress the lurch in my stomach. “Listen to me real fucking carefully. I don’t give a fuck about Nigel, Ezra, or any of you. I plan to find them. You can count on that. But if you breathe London’s name again or threaten to take her away from me one more time, I will fucking kill you.” I direct my gaze to Thomas so he can properly comprehend as well. They all jump to their feet at my threats. “I will kill you, too, buddy. You won’t win over her. None of you will.” Thomas visibly tenses, and I jerk my head toward Serena and Jade. “I won’t touch the girls, but if you’re dead, I can’t see them lasting too long out here, so why don’t you back the fuck down.”

Serena’s breath hitches, and she covers her mouth. Jade glares at me, shaking her head and placing a comforting arm around Serena.

The flicker in James’s eyes is the exact emotion I was trying to evoke. Even Thomas stands down, and I draw my eyes to his stumpy wrist, reminding him that I have no qualms about doing what I need to do when pressed. He knows me well enough to believe I’m not fucking around. He’s scared, and right now, I need them to be scared of me. I don’t want them to do anything stupid, like coming to find us.

“I’ll be seeing you,” I say as I walk away for real this time.

I should feel guilty for leaving them and for leaving London the way I did.

But I fucking don’t.

If London had come with me, she would have ended up staying here. She denies it, but I’ve watched her unravel day by day, and she’s better off with me, even if she doesn’t believe it.

I plan on going back to her as soon as possible and making it up to her. She might be mad for a little while, but she won’t be able to resist me once I get my hands on her again.

“Was threatening us really necessary?” Jade asks dryly, without turning around, as I approach her by the river about five minutes away from the others. She must have heard me coming despite my stealth. Her senses are keener than I was expecting. She might look weak, but every single survivor is strong in their own way. Given they are still alive, I can’t underestimate any of them.

She’s peering down the creek and into the dark forest beyond, her gaze meeting the unknown, as if she thinks there is a darker enemy than me lurking somewhere out there. The air carries a chill, and my stomach squeezes as the earliest part of dusk hits the sky, knowing nightfall is only an hour away. Jade kept me fucking waiting.

Cautiously, I pause a few feet behind her, my weapons tucked away in my pack and my hands in my pockets. She still doesn’t bother turning around.

“Yeah, I agree,” I tell her. “That didn’t go well.”

She whips around to face me, her eyebrows pinched together, and I can’t help but smirk.

Her face darkens, and she shoves her finger in my side. “Look at you, laughing. I haven’t seen you even crack a smile the entire time I’ve known you, and you choose this moment to laugh? Nothing about people dying or this situation is funny.”

I pull my hood off in a gesture of neutrality and take a step back, not wanting to admit that her little poke in my ribs hurt a bit. Plus, I did, after all, just threaten to kill all of them, so she’s right to be wary of me. “Let’s keep our hands to ourselves, Jade.” My tone heeds a warning, even though I’m trying to be nice.

She tweaks her head, crossing her arms. “Why? Because you might cut them off?”

Oof. I deserved that.

As she shifts, I get a clear view of her under the layers of clothes she’s wearing. She’s just as thin as everyone else. She’s got this grayish skin tone that has lost all its former brightness, and there is a hint of frostbite on her wind-burned cheeks. I suspect she’s lost a solid twenty pounds since being here, but she’s mentally strong based on the strength in her eyes, although the change in all of us is in our eyes.

“Where have you been, Micah? Can you at least tell me that?”

“No.” I’m especially not telling Jade, as she seems to have a particular bone to pick with me.

She scoffs, and her eyes flash. It’s as if a layer of wildness has seeped into us, blending our boundaries so that we can no longer distinguish where we end and where the wasteland begins. The only difference is that I’ve always been this way.