Red as the Dawn

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

(/Mare/)

We rode into Gray Town in a single truck under the cover of night. The stars were blotted out by the heavy clouds of pollution above our heads, and I tried not to imagine the boat ride when I had first set my eyes on the terrible place we were about to enter. It wafted across me though like a haze, and all I could think about was Maven's hand wrapped around my own as he promised to never hurt me, to never let anyone else hurt me, to never lose me. Next to me, Cal leaned toward me and whispered in my ear, "remember everything we've gone over and you should be fine, I won't let anything happen to you."

I glanced at him gratefully, my hand sliding around his wrist and squeezing softly, as I whispered, "I've got your back too."

We shared a careful glance, one that was filled with the same promise. I remembered vividly the same look passing between us as we prepared to enter the Bowl of Bones. My stomach turned as I saw the flash of Cal's protective nature enter his eyes as he slipped his wrist out of my grip slightly so that his fingers were interwoven with mine. He squeezed softly, as he remembered too, before pulling his hand out of mine and turning to face the opposite bench again.

A young solider sat across from us, his hands shaking as he tried to hide them in his lap. Cal watched him for the span of the few heart beats before inquiring, "nervous?"

His eyes snapped up to meet Cal's and with a grimace he nodded weakly, his eyes pulling away suddenly. With a smile at his action, Cal titled his head to the side and reassured, "if it's any consolation, I'm nervous too."

"I thought Silver's didn't get nervous." He replied, his eyes turning to bore into Cal again. Shrugging at his assessment, Cal turned to look out at the fleeting woods, his eyes hardening as he whispered, "I thought so too."

The truck's wheels caught traction with something other than dirt, and the tires screeched as they landed on asphalt. Next to me, Cal set his hand on my knee and leaned toward me, his lips almost brushing the tip of my ear as he whispered, "stay close to me, I have a bad feeling about this."

My skin burned as he pulled away and I glanced out at the dark, empty streets, grateful for the cool air that rushed into the truck and cooled my burning cheeks. The heat that rolled off of Cal was stunning. It wrapped around me, but didn't stifle, didn't smoother, it seemed to support me. Just being near him was enough to make me feel safe, I didn't need him to tell me anything else. I wondered if he felt the same way, if just being near me was enough to chase away all of his doubts.

Glancing at his face sideways, I couldn't discern anything different. His jaw was set tightly, and his eyes stared straight ahead, as if he were already running through scenarios and the possible outcomes. A soldier through and through, it didn't seem like he would ever be the type to be nervous, even before we were pushed into the arena, he didn't seem the least bit affected by our fate. Even now, after we had argued about going on the mission for twenty minutes, he was determined to succeed.

The truck pulled to a stop, and the silence of the city around us pressed in. We had pulled into a small alley space, where unsteady buildings rose up around us like disgruntled shadows. The soldiers peeled out into the darkness like scarlet shadows, and stood at position, eyeing the empty street. Farley rose from behind us, already pulling her mask on. It managed to cover most of her face, but the tip of her scar that poked through made it look like she was sneering. She glanced down at me and Cal, taking in our proximity, and I'm sure the lack of fear. She frowned and then reaching into her pocket, pulled out a scarlet colored scarf and tossed it at Cal. He caught it and unfolding it, he glanced at it suspiciously before looking up at her with a raised brow.