Emberlight

19. Secret Pet Ferret

Feya

Odin whisked Feya to the dining hall where the other Embers gathered, and paired her up with a pallid Kelsey. He apologised to her, something about needing to scour the borders, but would stay if she needed him. She shook her head, and he was gone.

"What's going on?" Kelsey asked when the room filled up with enough chatter to mask their conversation.

"Tristan can't be seen here anymore," she said. "He got hurt bad, but Adeyemi's dead, so now Tristan has to be dead too. What are we supposed to do?"

A burning sensation swept across her wrist. When she looked down, a cursive message lingered on her wrist before fading away.

I've escaped the bunker. Gotta stay low. T.

"Looks like he's taking care of himself," Kelsey whispered to Feya as the others dispersed away from her. It took a moment before she rolled her eyes. Her lips were a thin line as she added, "Don't forget to mourn. It will look weird if you're not upset about it."

"I didn't think about that! I can't lie to everyone."

"I don't like it either, but suck it up. People knew how you felt so it's not like you can hide."

Feya watched as the other Embers kept their distance from her, filing out of the room as if she were a lone rock dividing a stream. She buried her head in Kelsey's shoulder, wishing them all away.

The hour grated by slowly, until Oliana marched to the head of the room and declared Tristan and Adeyemi deceased. She bid her leave from the bunker to deal with the 'repercussions'. Tristan's parents would need talking to, and Ash officials had to be informed—it was almost convincing, until Feya remembered the way his skin healed over, perfect and scarless.

A whooshing noise announced Odin's return. She accidently locked eyes with him as he confirmed the borders were clear, and knew he wouldn't be like the others. He would want to help, but she didn't want to lie to him. She had to get away.

A whoosh noise sounded and she braced herself, unsure how to handle Odin, unsure how to lie. She would never get to her room in time to hide, but thankfully Kelsey said, "Give her some space, will you?"

#

She heard nothing from 'T' until two days later.

'Fine but can't talk. T.'

It glowed across her skin, all mysterious and powerful, like it had with Adeyemi and Martel, but it fell short of comforting. Where was he? Did he need help? She planned to ask him these questions as soon as she worked out how to return the messages, and she could only accomplish that once everyone stopped treating her like the mourning survivor she was supposed to be. Even Martel had dismissed her without letting her speak a word to him.

So yet again, Feya had been accosted in the hallway, this time by Isadora, who somehow uncrossed her arms long enough to embrace Feya in a hug. Apparently Feya had looked 'ready to burst'. She'd really been ready to run again.

"He's dead. How could this be a thing?" Feya said, cringing slightly, not that it mattered. They all expected her to be miserable so that's what they saw.

"I'm sorry, I've come to tell you Oliana has returned. She won't let you rest for long." Isadora rubbed Feya's shoulder a bit too fast, as if trying to start a fire. "But for now, let it all out."

Feya swallowed down a sigh. She thought she had already let it out.

"I need some time alone," Feya said, pulling away. She walked the ten steps to Tristan's bedroom and closed the door behind her.