Free Summer Ruins by Trisha Leigh Page B

with cold fear. We’ve hurt enough humans.
    “Why are there only two beds, if this is where the Elements stay?” Pax asks.
    It strikes me as odd, too. There are four of them, and none of them are couples, as far as I know.
    “They’re not allowed to stay together, the four of them. It’s painful, but they have earned the distrust.” It’s like he’s quoting from a textbook again, and it’s almost creepy the way I can hear Zakej’s voice coming from Deshi’s mouth.
    “Oh. Kind of like us,” I try.
    “No. Not like us. Only three of us have earned distrust.” Deshi levels a serious gaze at me. “Brittany says hello, by the way.”
    With that, he sweeps out of the tent, leaving Pax and Lucas staring at me with open mouths.
    “You told him about the cabin?” Pax’s eyes are huge and filled with worry.
    “It was a last-ditch effort to get him to see our side.”
    “What did you tell him?” Lucas asks, sinking down onto the edge of the bed on the left.
    I would love nothing more than to crawl up next to him, to rest my head on his chest and fall into a deep enough sleep to be able to believe this is all a dream. Then I get a whiff of myself—refuse, dirt, body odor—and decide bed can wait until after a shower. There’s no mirror but the job Zakej did on my lip can’t look much better than what Kendaja did to Lucas, and we both have blood on our faces and dried on our shirts.
    I tug a hand through the snarls in my dark red hair, wincing as a few strands yank loose of my scalp. “I told him everything. About the cabin. About what we can really do.”
    Trusting Deshi is one thing. Assuming these Antal-made tenements aren’t monitored is a different story. Neither of them says a word, all of the emotions I battled in the Underground Core marching across their faces in a line. Doubt. Possibility. Desperation.
    “I don’t know if it made a difference, or if it was the right thing. But we’re alive, and Deshi didn’t tell the Prime or Zakej about… that thing we can do.”
    “It’s okay. It was the right thing to do.” Lucas runs his hands through his own tangled curls, giving me a tired smile.
    “Do you think that’s why he saved us down there? I mean… if he hadn’t showed up when he did, Lucas would be a goner.” Pax shudders.
    The thought hurts my stomach. “I don’t want to think about it. And since the three of us are going to be cooped up here for the foreseeable future, we’ll have plenty of time to talk. Although I do think we should make sure we’re really alone before we do.”
    “Good idea,” Lucas agrees, his eyes sweeping the interior of the tent.
    “I’m going to the cleansing room, and then I’m going to get some sleep. Either of you want to join me?”
    Pax turns a wicked grin my direction. “I’ve already seen that show once, if you’ll recall, but I wouldn’t mind seeing it again.”
    My cheeks flame and my eyes cut toward Lucas. Last season we had a few problems figuring out how the three of us could work as a team, and even though they’ve been mostly resolved, worry that he’ll overreact still tugs at me.
    Lucas only shakes his head. “I do not want to know. We all need a shower.” He gets up off the bed and gives Pax an overdramatic look. “ Separate showers. I don’t want you staring at me, either.”
    Pax laughs, and so do I. Lucas grins. Warmth fills me, even in this place, at the bond that we’ve managed to forge despite the best efforts of the Others and forces outside our control.
    “Meal time! Meal time! You are allotted twenty minutes to consume nourishment before leaving for the work sites!” The screeched announcement makes me ache, too loud and cold after the moment of friendship and easy laughter that just infected the tent.
    Lucas slings an arm around my shoulder, pressing a kiss to my filthy temple, and the three of us step out into our new world.

 
     
    Chapter 11.
     

     
    There are too many people in the makeshift streets and alleys