“Clara,” he said, relief in his voice. He managed a weak smile.
“What happened?” I asked.
“MDG happened,” Laila said, wiping blood off the camera on her chest.
“The tip was good,” Saira said. “They were definitely there. And they were ready. They sent their trained scrabs after us.”
Priya pushed her hair out of her face, leaving a streak of dirt across her cheek. Beside her, Thomas’s eyes were red-rimmed. I realized suddenly that Mia wasn’t with them.
Guilt unfurled in my stomach. I should have been there. Both Julian and I should have been there.
I glanced at him, expecting to see my expression mirrored there, but his face betrayed no emotion.
“Are you sure?” Grayson said to Noah. “You don’t have to come.”
“I want to,” Noah said. He was reattaching his camera to his chest.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Saira had one more lead we didn’t get to today. A really promising one. So I’m headed back there now.”
“Seriously?” Julian snapped. He looked at Noah. “You are not going with him. None of my team is. You all almost just died. Mia did just die.”
Grayson’s jaw clenched. “The fact that they just tried to kill us is even more reason to go. Why are they so desperate to capture scrabs? And keep it a secret? They used smoke bombs again today to ensure we couldn’t get any footage.”
“I’m just worried—” Julian began.
“Oh, now you’re worried about your team?” Noah interrupted. “You deserted us entirely today, but now you’re worried?”
“You know what? Go with him,” Julian said, sweeping his arm out. “Go with Grayson and get yourself killed. I don’t even care.”
“Thanks for the support, Julian,” Madison said dryly. She cut a quick glance at me before looping her arm through Noah’s. “I’m going too.”
“I can go also,” Edan said.
Julian’s hand closed around my wrist, tight and insistent. I shook him off.
“No, that’s all right,” Grayson said, throwing Edan a grateful smile. “I don’t want a bunch of us there for this. We’re going for stealth on this one.”
Julian rolled his eyes. I stared at him, a heavy weight settling at the bottom of my stomach. It was almost as if he was protecting MDG.
“Why don’t you go get that cut cleaned?” Grayson said to Edan. He fixed Julian with a hard stare. “Maybe now’s a good time to check on your team’s injuries?”
“We’re fine,” Priya said quickly, like she didn’t want Julian’s help. “Come on, Edan, I’ll do it. Archer, you have a full first aid kit, don’t you?” He nodded.
I watched them go, followed by the rest of team seven. Grayson left with Noah and Madison. Around us, the crowd thinned as recruits headed to their rooms. I was left with just Julian.
I realized, with a sinking feeling, that I didn’t want to be alone with him. It was only a couple days ago that I’d felt a rush of relief every time I saw him. I’d felt like I belonged with him. Like everything would be OK if Julian was around.
Part of me desperately wanted to push down the sinking feeling in my gut so I could get back to that feeling. I wanted to cling to the sweet, generous version of Julian I knew.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Julian muttered. “I give all the teams another week, max.”
I reeled back, alarmed. “What?”
His face softened when he caught my expression. “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry, OK?”
I stared at him, waiting for more, but he just stepped away.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “Have a good night.”
I watched as he walked through the door and disappeared.
It sounded like he’d already given up on the teams. And coupled with what he’d said about MDG . . . None of it felt right.
Plus Julian hadn’t even seemed upset that his team had such a bad day. He hadn’t asked about any of their injuries.
He’d never shown much concern for them, now that I thought about it. He’d always been worried about me, but he’d never had much interest in the rest of them.
I took a shaky breath as I trudged upstairs and into our room. Priya was smoothing a bandage over the scratches on Edan’s neck. Laila, Patrick, and Dorsey sat on the floor, talking softly.
“You OK?” Priya asked. Silence followed, and I realized with a start that she was talking to me.
“Oh, me? Yeah. I’m fine.”
She seemed skeptical. My face must have given something away.
“How are you guys?” I asked, glancing at Edan. He was also giving me a look like he could read every emotion on my face.
“Tired,” Priya said. She pulled her dirty shirt away from her chest and wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to change and go to bed.”
I grabbed my pajamas and followed her to the bathroom down the hall. The lights were off when we returned. Priya flopped down onto her bunk.
I climbed into mine. Edan was on his stomach, the light of his phone illuminating his face. I had a text from him.
You look like someone killed your puppy.
I winced and typed out a reply. I’ve always hated that expression. Who kills puppies??
He smiled as he read the message. Sorry. You look like someone was very rude to your puppy.
I just feel bad that I wasn’t there with you guys today. It was true, even though it wasn’t why I looked like someone had been rude to my puppy.
It’s not your fault Julian sent you on a different assignment.
I looked up at him and nodded.
Another message from him popped up a minute later. Is everything OK? Julian looked kind of pissed this morning. Was it about those Tumblr pictures?
Yeah, he saw them. I explained, but he was still mad about it.
He hates me, so I’m sure he preferred it when you hated me too.
I didn’t HATE you.
You certainly didn’t like me.
Well the feeling was mutual.
I mostly didn’t like you because you didn’t like me. Everyone likes me. I’m charming and witty.
And
