The Grim (Ravens #3)

xvii. a warning sign

Their stay at the New Forgotten City lasted only for a night, for once the sun had risen, it was time that they bid goodbye to their old friend Marley Dennis and complete their journey to the camp they'd once run from. Ahead of them were two grueling long days where they would trek along the empty highway where the scenery never seemed to change. At least the road was smooth. It would be much faster that way.

They arrived at Peregrin according to schedule, as they had faced no trouble from any Rogues who lined the road. It would be a lie to say Natalia was pleased with the lack of contact they'd had; she thought the Rogues might bring her answers. Perhaps Emma had returned to the gas station where Miles lived, but subconsciously she knew that she'd have only been left disappointed. Mason said that Megan had gone north after Emma. That meant she went north first, or at least nobody ever heard of her going in the direction from which she came.

Natalia remembered the first moment she arrived at Peregrin so long ago. She was the candidate the Riot had sent down to examine the terrain, the sacrificial lamb, as she had later considered it. To her left she saw the faded sign that once read the camp's name, but had been covered in red spray paint in the early months of its official founding. On her right was the garden, their farmland that they needed to survive. The weeds now were overgrown.

The first time she'd ever come to Peregrin, the camp looked abandoned: locked up and tucked away for so long that dust had settled everywhere. Now, it was empty in a different way. They had left their mark on this land, left their footprints in the dirt. As she entered into the camp itself, she saw how the cabin doors hung wide open, the trash littered around the ground that they never had the chance to clean. They had packed so hastily that night. Packed their bags and walked away without locking the doors behind them. Careless, they had been.

"You okay?" Yasmin whispered, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. Natalia had simply stopped walking at the base of the hill. She remembered standing on the other side, watching in fear as the Ravens—strangers then—descended into a camp they believed to be uninhabited. She and her friends had been there only two days.

"Yeah," she nodded, but her thoughts were distant. Her eyes were glossed over, staring out at the pristine water that had been both their oasis and their poison. "God, it's so empty again."

If anyone responded, she couldn't hear. She was too far gone, too distant, too present in the past to acknowledge the people around her. What a strange feeling, she thought, to see the world you'd once considered a haven to be the very same disaster that almost took your life. The greatest kind of betrayal. How strange, indeed.

------

Although the five Fortress diplomats were thoroughly exhausted upon their arrival in Monarchia, Mai had insisted that they drop their bags at the Herald Street Motel, but spend the rest of the evening in the community.

"This will go better if they think you're making an effort," she had persuaded them. "If they think you're arrogant and unappreciative, then it'll take a lot more to get you the antidote."

"The negotiations have nothing to do with us," Donny had argued. "It's all between Grey and whatever your king's name is."

"You're the representatives," said Mai. "You reflect your people."

"Fine." To everyone's surprise, it was Skylar who agreed. Her skin was pale from the lack of sleep over the past few days, and the stress had taken its visible toll as she had no tolerance for the woods built up before this journey. While there was a familiarity for the three roommates, Skylar and Levi were staring down a brand new demon. "This hellhole has a goddamn Coliseum. We don't want to make a bad impression."