ATARAXIA • BELLAMY BLAKE

[ 6 4 ]

The yelling doesn't stop, even after being dragged out of the bedroom.

Even through the wall, we can hear every word of the argument. Niylah's voice cracking with anger, Clarke trying and failing to calm her down.

The room has gone completely still.

Bellamy stands rigid, staring ahead without really looking at anything. I'm still standing by the chair I shoved back before, arms folded tightly as Raven watches us both with that same unreadable expression.

We have to move. That thought keeps circling in my head.

Alie knows where we are now. Every second we stay here is a second wasted. There's no way to know how close she is, to know who is chipped and on their way to us. But there's nothing we can do. Not until Octavia and Monty get back with the rover and the battery for Sinclair.

Raven is smiling to herself now, though she is surprisingly quiet. I guess she doesn't need to say any more. She's already won.

Outside the room, Niylah's voice rises again. "You lied to me!"

Then Clarke's. "Niylah, please. You wouldn't have helped us if you knew the truth."

"You brought him into my home! He slaughtered my people—my father!"

I glance at Bellamy instinctively. His eyes are fixed on the floor now. He hasn't said a word since Niylah burst in, but I feel the tension rolling off him.

Raven does too. And that is probably why, finally, she decides to chime in.

"Was it something I said?" She asks lightly from across the room.

Bellamy's eyes shut briefly, then he's moving. The crate scrapes loudly as he shoves past it and heads straight for the door.

"Bellamy—"

He ignores me completely, throwing the door open hard enough that it slams against the wall before he disappears outside. I stay where I am for half a second too long, staring after him.

Raven lets out a quiet, satisfied hum beside me, then raises a brow. "Touchy."

Feeling the irritation flare hot in my chest at the sound of her voice, I turn away from her and follow after Bellamy.

As soon as I step into the other room, I nearly run straight into Jaime coming from behind the cloth divider Clarke has pulled Niylah behind. He catches himself before he can crash into me, brows pulling together immediately when he sees my face.

"What happened in there?" he asks. "You okay?" There's concern written all over him, but my attention is already somewhere else.

"I'm fine," I say quickly, already moving past him. "Just... stay here."

I don't wait for an answer before heading outside. The second I step out, I hear a clang.

Bellamy kicks a barrel hard enough to send it crashing across the ground. It slams into the fence with a metallic bang, but he barely seems to notice. He turns and drives his fist straight into a rusted metal panel hanging off the side of the building.

Then again. And again. And again.

"Bellamy! What are you doing—"

I rush over and grab his arm before he can hit it a fifth time, trying to pull him back. "She's only saying those things to get to you. Don't let her win."

"No!"

He tears out of my grip so suddenly it catches me off guard, forcing me back a couple steps.

The anger in his voice rings out into the trees. "It's not Raven! It's—"