“We were just sparring, and then—”
“Just the two of you.”
“Well, yeah, he was the only one around, and you said I needed to work—”
“Now it’s my fault?” He let out a humorless laugh.
“No, I didn’t say that. I just—”
“Why wouldn’t you call me and tell me about Edan? Because you felt guilty about it, right?”
“No, I didn’t think it was a big—”
“You would have told me if it wasn’t a big deal. We texted last night, and you didn’t say a word.”
“I said I went to the gym!” A lump had formed in my throat, and the words came out shrill.
“And you conveniently left out the part about who you went with. And your little lunch date after. How would you have felt if there were photos of me and Madison cozying up on the subway? Alone?”
“Not great,” I said quietly. “I’m—I’m sorry. I should have told you that I went with Edan. But it wouldn’t kill you to trust me a little.”
“We’ve barely been dating for a few weeks. You haven’t earned any trust.”
I blinked. I had to earn trust?
His expression softened slightly. “And trust is not my strong suit,” he said, quieter.
“Well, it’s not mine either, but I’m trying.”
He nodded, then closed his eyes for a moment and let out a breath. “Please just don’t hang out with Edan alone again.”
“We’re just friends,” I said.
“You may think that, but I wouldn’t put it past Edan to be working an angle.”
“I think you’ve gotten the wrong impression of Edan,” I said.
He gave me a look that clearly said now was not the time to be discussing Edan’s good qualities.
“I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my girlfriend not go on dates with other guys,” he said.
“Of course I won’t go on dates with other guys,” I said. “But Edan’s my friend.”
“And you really need to hang out, just the two of you? Even though it makes me uncomfortable?”
“Well, no, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but—”
“Then don’t do it. I hate the guy. If you’re using him to torment me, then congratulations, it’s working.”
“God, Julian, no, I would never do that.”
“Then what? Why would the two of you need to hang out alone?”
“No, we don’t,” I said. “I just . . . I mean . . .” I was confused now. I didn’t need to hang out alone with Edan, especially if it upset him this much.
He let out a giant sigh. “Listen, just go do the packages. There’s another recruit waiting back at the hostel with instructions.”
“You’re not coming? I thought we were doing it together.”
“No, I have to meet my parents. I’ll come find you later, though.”
“Julian, I only agreed to do this because I thought you needed my help. If you’re not even going to come, I should probably just go back to the team and—”
“Would you just go back to the hostel?” Julian’s voice was loud, almost a yell, and I took a startled step back. “I got you an easy assignment today. It wouldn’t kill you to show a little appreciation.”
“I—um . . .” My heart was pounding too hard to form words. I grasped my wrist, pressing both arms to my chest.
Julian took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I just need you to go do this assignment, OK? We’ll talk later.”
I nodded mutely. He turned and stomped away.
Julian hadn’t been exaggerating—there really were a lot of packages. It took me most of the day to sort through them all and transport them to the various hostels and hotels around London where the recruits were staying.
Julian texted me just after I’d finished, asking me to meet him in front of his hotel. I found him standing on the sidewalk, hands stuffed in his pocket, a contrite look on his face.
“Hey,” he said softly as I approached.
“Hey.” The word came out as I meant it—suspicious. I’d spent most of the day replaying our conversation in my head, and I wasn’t sure that I actually had anything to be sorry for. Sure, Julian didn’t like Edan, but I still had a right to be friends with him. The fact that Julian didn’t trust me was his problem, not mine.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “For getting mad earlier. I’m having a rough time lately. My parents . . .” He let his voice trail off.
“What about your parents?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s nothing. My dad is just stressed, as usual. And I’m stressed. I can’t convince Grayson to back off of MDG.”
“Why should he?”
“Because he’s going to get himself killed! And probably take a few of you with him.”
“Don’t you want to know what they’re using those trained scrabs for?” I asked. “It’s terrifying, what they’re doing.”
Julian just shrugged, not meeting my gaze. He didn’t seem at all interested in what MDG was doing with trained scrabs.
Across the street, several vans stopped in front of the hostel. Some of the teams were back.
“Do you want to go inside?” Julian asked, jerking his thumb at the hotel. “The hotel restaurant is pretty good.”
“What?” I stared at him with mounting confusion. “No. We should go check on the team.” I pointed to the vans. “Have you heard from Grayson about how their day went yet?”
“No,” Julian said, his gaze fixed somewhere over my shoulder.
Why wouldn’t he want to go check on his team? Why was he so against Grayson investigating MDG? I quickly turned away before my face betrayed my suspicion.
I crossed the street and walked into the hostel, Julian behind me. A wall of noise greeted us.
I froze. Recruits were crowded into the lobby, everyone shouting. One of the women working the front desk was arguing with a team leader, and the other was pressed into a corner, arms crossed over her chest as she frowned at the scene around her. Team seven and UK team thirteen were in the middle of it all, covered in blood and grime.
I pushed through the crowd to them. Edan spotted me first. He had shallow claw marks across his neck and blood that
