That too. He grinned at me, then looked down to type another message. But seriously, it’s shitty of him to get angry at you about those pictures. Madison told me that Julian was probably going to be mad that we were hanging out at all. We sort of had a fight about it.
My eyebrows shot up. You had a fight with Madison?
Yeah. I told her that she made it seem like you were to blame if Julian got jealous. She said she hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. I think she felt bad, just FYI.
There was a pause before his next message.
But I think I got mad at her because she made it seem normal. Like it was OK that Julian got jealous.
He typed for a long time, so long that I might have thought he was doing something else if it weren’t for the dots beneath his last message. Finally he made an annoyed sound and tossed the phone aside.
He scooted to the edge of his bed, closer to me, and then reached out, bracing his hands against the bottom of my bunk. I pushed my phone aside and leaned closer to him.
“I just want you to know that it’s not normal.” His voice was so quiet that I had to scoot closer, until our faces were only inches apart. “I don’t know if you need to hear that. I’m not even sure if I’m overreacting or not. But the jealousy and the short temper and the way he acted the other day when you snuck into the MDG garage—it feels bad.”
His gaze held mine, his expression serious. I couldn’t breathe.
“So if you need someone to say it, I’m saying it,” he whispered. “It’s not normal.”
37
“Hey, guys. Wake up. WAKE UP.”
I blinked at the sound of Noah’s voice and rose up on my elbow. Gray early morning light flooded the room, and Noah stood in the doorway. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he still wore the same bloodied uniform he’d had on last night.
“Grayson was arrested,” he said. “And the hostel is kicking us out. Get dressed and pack your bags.”
“Wait, what?” Patrick stood, squinting in the light. “Grayson was arrested?”
“The cops caught him trying to break into a warehouse we thought was owned by MDG. It wasn’t.”
“Madison?” Edan asked.
“She’s downstairs. We were on the other side of the building when the police came. We managed to sneak away. But seriously, guys, they’re kicking us out, like, now. Get dressed.”
I climbed out of bed. “Where are we going to go?”
But Noah had already disappeared.
We all ran to the restrooms and changed as fast as we could. No one else was bothering with a uniform, so I threw on jeans and a T-shirt and stuffed everything else I owned into my backpack. I slung it over my shoulder with my weapons pack, my gaze snagging on Edan’s as I straightened. He quickly looked away and walked out the door.
OK. It was all I said last night, after he leaned over into my bunk and whispered that Julian’s jealousy wasn’t normal. I couldn’t think of any other response. Between Edan calling out Julian’s jealousy and my worries about his involvement with MDG, I was pretty sure that I couldn’t speak without bursting into tears.
I took a shaky breath as I walked out of the room and downstairs.
It was chaos. Recruits were packed into the lobby and streaming out onto the sidewalk. Madison was yelling at a red-faced man at the reception desk.
Noah appeared in front of me, his expression dark. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
I followed him out of the lobby and onto the street. Recruits were all around us—I spotted Edan and Dorsey a few paces away—and Noah lowered his voice when he spoke.
“Did you see Julian last night? After we left, I mean.”
I shook my head. “No, why?”
“He caught up with us before we left. Grayson told him where we were going.”
I looked at him expectantly. “So . . .”
Anger flitted across Noah’s tired face. “So no one else knew. The tip we were following, it was from Saira’s team, and she came with us. Julian stopped us to find out where we were going, and then the cops show up? Do you think that’s a coincidence?”
My stomach clenched. “Why would Julian do that? Why would he want Grayson arrested?”
“Yeah. That’s my question exactly.”
The hostel door swung open, and a dozen angry recruits streamed out, dragging their luggage behind them.
Noah watched them go. “Someone put pressure on the company that owns the hostel to toss us out. Doesn’t Julian’s family own some hotels? Do we know which ones?”
“I . . . I don’t know,” I stuttered.
“Speaking of,” Noah muttered. He jerked his chin at something behind me.
Julian was walking across the street, hands stuffed into his coat, gaze downcast.
“Maybe you should talk to him.” Noah pressed the palms of both hands to his eyes. “I don’t have the patience for Julian today, and he’ll never admit to anything if I scream at him.”
My chest tightened. “Yeah, go back inside. I’ll talk to him. I really don’t think he had anything to do with this.” The words sounded like a lie.
Noah lowered his hands and gave me a suspicious look. “I hope you’re right.” He pulled the door open and disappeared into the hostel.
Julian crossed to my side of the street. He hadn’t spotted me yet. He was walking very fast, making a beeline for something. I followed his gaze. Edan and Dorsey.
Edan noticed him first, turning with a slightly pained expression. “Hey, Jul—”
Julian punched him in the face.
I gasped as Edan went down. Dorsey dove in between the two of them, but Julian was already taking a step back. He pointed a furious finger down at Edan.
“I know exactly what you’re doing, and it needs to stop,” Julian spat. Edan, still on the ground, blood pouring from his nose, was clearly baffled. “Don’t talk to her, don’t look at
