practically hear Sebastian grinding his long incisors in annoyance. A second later, he ended the call and slid the phone back into the case on his leg. Sebastian would text him when things were in place. He was clearly too annoyed to bother calling Carter.
Alone with his thoughts, he was suddenly exhausted. And achy.
Not wanting to get too comfortable and risk falling asleep, he pulled his hoodie off and then a moment later also took off the plain white T-shirt he wore beneath it. It was cool enough in the room to help keep him awake.
He just hoped that Lily didn’t try to sneak out on him. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure he’d win round two.
When he’d known her in the Before, Lily had had a natural suspicious prickliness to her. What she’d been through since then had only reinforced those qualities. He was going to have to work hard to win her over. She wouldn’t easily trust him. That was okay. He had all the time in the world.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lily
Mel was waiting at the door of the storage closet, peering wordlessly through the opening. I wasn’t sure how long she’d been there and how much she’d seen.
She stepped aside to let me enter and I pushed open the door, scanning the tiny space. Well, at least she hadn’t done any more damage while I’d been trying to kill Carter.
Mel stood there, staring at me. For once, I could offer her absolutely no reassurances. I didn’t even have the energy to be sorry.
All I could do was gently shut the door and wedge the chair under the knob, giving us a shred of security. Then, leaning against the bare patch of wall beside the door, I sank to the floor. Pulling my legs to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and dropped my forehead to my knees.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins and now that I wasn’t using all my strength to defend myself, my muscles started trembling. My skin had gone icy cold and my hands shook so hard I almost had trouble holding on to my legs. I wished, desperately, that I hadn’t taken my hoodie off and left it out in the science lab. Or that I had a blanket. Something reassuring and cuddly to cling to.
Mel and I had three blankets, stolen from the dorms in the early days. One was a fuzzy blue polyester job. The other, a thick brown wool. The third, an obscenely cheerful pink quilt. Not the kind someone’s grandmother had lovingly made, but the bed-in-a-bag kind. Of course, Mel had stripped our mattress and neatly folded the blankets so the rounded edges showed.
I didn’t have the energy to bring Carter the blanket I’d promised him. I was cold and shaky. I could have used a blanket myself. Mel just stood there facing the shelves, positioning and repositioning the items with meticulous care.
So I just rested my head, closed my eyes, and waited to warm up on my own. A different kind of sister would guess how freaked out I was right now. She would wrap a blanket around my shoulders and stroke my hair. Maybe even put her arm around me while I cried. But instead of that nurturing sister I fantasized about, I had Mel. When I opened my eyes, I saw that she’d put her Slinky on the floor beside me.
I swallowed back my tears and smiled at her. “Thanks.”
**
By the time fourth meal rolled around, I’d located and repacked almost everything we needed in our backpacks. I wasn’t going to take any more chances. Our bags were once again stuffed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. And we wouldn’t be leaving the room without them. I started with the easy stuff. Our spare socks and underwear, for example, were all small when folded, so they were in the front, at the beginning of each color row. It had been a trick convincing Mel to let me pack them, but after about twenty renditions of “Red rover, red rover,” the underwear and the socks went into the backpacks.
The twelve bags of corn chips were the sole items on the shelf of orange things. The first aid kits should have been simple. The white plastic boxes sat side by side
Alone with his thoughts, he was suddenly exhausted. And achy.
Not wanting to get too comfortable and risk falling asleep, he pulled his hoodie off and then a moment later also took off the plain white T-shirt he wore beneath it. It was cool enough in the room to help keep him awake.
He just hoped that Lily didn’t try to sneak out on him. He wasn’t a hundred percent sure he’d win round two.
When he’d known her in the Before, Lily had had a natural suspicious prickliness to her. What she’d been through since then had only reinforced those qualities. He was going to have to work hard to win her over. She wouldn’t easily trust him. That was okay. He had all the time in the world.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lily
Mel was waiting at the door of the storage closet, peering wordlessly through the opening. I wasn’t sure how long she’d been there and how much she’d seen.
She stepped aside to let me enter and I pushed open the door, scanning the tiny space. Well, at least she hadn’t done any more damage while I’d been trying to kill Carter.
Mel stood there, staring at me. For once, I could offer her absolutely no reassurances. I didn’t even have the energy to be sorry.
All I could do was gently shut the door and wedge the chair under the knob, giving us a shred of security. Then, leaning against the bare patch of wall beside the door, I sank to the floor. Pulling my legs to my chest, I wrapped my arms around them and dropped my forehead to my knees.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins and now that I wasn’t using all my strength to defend myself, my muscles started trembling. My skin had gone icy cold and my hands shook so hard I almost had trouble holding on to my legs. I wished, desperately, that I hadn’t taken my hoodie off and left it out in the science lab. Or that I had a blanket. Something reassuring and cuddly to cling to.
Mel and I had three blankets, stolen from the dorms in the early days. One was a fuzzy blue polyester job. The other, a thick brown wool. The third, an obscenely cheerful pink quilt. Not the kind someone’s grandmother had lovingly made, but the bed-in-a-bag kind. Of course, Mel had stripped our mattress and neatly folded the blankets so the rounded edges showed.
I didn’t have the energy to bring Carter the blanket I’d promised him. I was cold and shaky. I could have used a blanket myself. Mel just stood there facing the shelves, positioning and repositioning the items with meticulous care.
So I just rested my head, closed my eyes, and waited to warm up on my own. A different kind of sister would guess how freaked out I was right now. She would wrap a blanket around my shoulders and stroke my hair. Maybe even put her arm around me while I cried. But instead of that nurturing sister I fantasized about, I had Mel. When I opened my eyes, I saw that she’d put her Slinky on the floor beside me.
I swallowed back my tears and smiled at her. “Thanks.”
**
By the time fourth meal rolled around, I’d located and repacked almost everything we needed in our backpacks. I wasn’t going to take any more chances. Our bags were once again stuffed and ready to go at a moment’s notice. And we wouldn’t be leaving the room without them. I started with the easy stuff. Our spare socks and underwear, for example, were all small when folded, so they were in the front, at the beginning of each color row. It had been a trick convincing Mel to let me pack them, but after about twenty renditions of “Red rover, red rover,” the underwear and the socks went into the backpacks.
The twelve bags of corn chips were the sole items on the shelf of orange things. The first aid kits should have been simple. The white plastic boxes sat side by side
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