Timber

Chapter Eighteen: Conversations & Nightmares

Hazel paused at the threshold, already wincing.

The room resembled the aftermath of a tornado. Not that she would know what those were like.

Sheets tangled across the floor, pillows flung like weapons, drawers halfway open.

"Oh, yeah... about that," Hazel sent Silus an apologetic grimace.

Silus stepped inside, eyebrows high as he surveyed the wreckage. He picked up a blanket. "You looked under our sheets?"

"What in the world happened here?" Leo was planted in the doorway, ogling the bedlam until his eyes landed on her. She didn't bother pretending. Instead, she motioned for him to come inside.

Leo didn't move at first. Just looked between them and the shredded décor.

"We need to talk."

He finally stepped forward, "Start explaining."

Hazel shut the door behind him as she glanced at Silus, then back to Leo. "The suture kit. The one you gave us. It's gone."

Leo's posture solidified.

"I forgot about it," she went on, pushing a heap of blankets off the edge of the bed with her boot. "Didn't think about it until right before we left for the Pantheon. I came back to grab it, but it wasn't in the bathroom. It wasn't anywhere."

She paused, noting the change in Leo's expression. His face, which had been a canvas of confusion, had shifted to something more mysterious.

"I tore the whole place apart," she said, motioning to the wreckage. "Clearly. Still no kit."

Leo's eyes drifted across the overturned furniture and clothing heaps. He didn't comment, just stood there, taking it in.

Storm gray eyes bore into hers for too long. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

Because I am," she said, sharper than intended.

Silus cut in beside her. "Why would we lie about this? We're the ones with everything to lose."

Leo's gaze didn't budge. "I should've known better," he muttered, more to himself than to them. "I should have been more cautious about trusting district people."

"Leo, please, you have to believe us," she pleaded. "We wouldn't risk getting caught like this."

"Why wouldn't you take any advantage you can get?" His voice was quiet, but bitter. "You're running out of time, aren't you? You're wrong. I've the most to lose. If they find out the kit came from me, they'll cut out my tongue."

Silus's voice was steady. "That's not who we are. Yeah, we're district, but that doesn't mean we'd throw you to the wolves. Our father raised us better than that."

Leo eyed them a moment longer, weighing something invisible.

"We'll see," he said as he marched from the room, securing them inside.

Hazel slumped on the edge of the bed, the silk of her emerald dress bunched under her hands.

Outside the door, the shuffle of boots and a short murmur told her the shift change had started. Fresh guards.

"What are we going to do?" She scanned the mess again. "Someone must have taken it."

Silus began smoothing out the blanket on his bed and shoved his mattress back into place. "Who else even knew about the kit?" He tossed a pillow into place. "Besides us and Leo?"

Hazel rubbed her face, careful not to smudge whatever makeup still clung to her skin. Her mind chased circles. "Unless he took it back when we weren't here," she muttered. "And now he's just pretending like he didn't. And now he's just playing some sort of game with us?"