Storm

Chapter Fourteen

It took about a half hour before we heard the sound of engines.

In that time, January had managed to clean up half of our completely destroyed motel room. By that, I mean she shoved things out of the way so it'd be easier for us to walk about. She'd said she was doing it to calm her nerves.

I needed something to calm myself down, too.

Kyan seemed to be the only okay one of the three of us. He didn't seem to be freaked out in the slightest.

In a way, I guess, my nervousness would help me. If I didn't stay alert, I worried they'd somehow convince me to come back to their camp. I wasn't going to make the mistake of trusting them again.

Even though that worked with Asten.

But for now, we're going to pretend that didn't work and not trust these people at all.

I made a checklist in my head. Return to camp. Don't trust them. Find Asten. Don't trust these people AT ALL. Get as far away from the camp as possible and never look back.

I wanted to add an "ask why?" bullet point, but I knew that asking wouldn't do me any good. It would probably just confuse me.

The engines stopped rumbling and my heart stopped beating. Not literally, but it felt like it had. Kyan was the first of our group to actually stand up and approach the door.

I wasn't sure who I'd find on the other side. If it was Sean and the other few people who had been in my original mission group, I didn't know what I would do. I think I was especially mad at them because I'd already been on a mission with them. A part of me had truly trusted them.

I also didn't want it to be Rose. Although I hadn't talked to her much (or seen her much - apparently she was constantly out on missions), she'd also somewhat gained my trust. Didn't want another situation.

And by situation, I meant Mace.

But we didn't talk about him anymore. We avoided the topic as much as possible to avoid any more heartache. Especially for January.

The door opened and in walked five or six strangers. Good. That would make things easier.

The guy standing at the front of the group seemed a little surprised by January and I, but he didn't say anything in particular. I almost wanted him to. Just so I could tell him something I'd probably regret later.

"You guys ready?" Kyan asked, looking behind himself at the two of us. January was sitting on the bed, her expression filled with worry. I was concerned she wouldn't actually get up and go.

I moved first, then held out a hand towards her. She took it. I took a deep breath and followed Kyan and the others out the door, hoping we weren't walking into another trap.

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Our ride back was uneventful. Yet, the second we got out and walked into camp, I could feel every person's eyes on us as we walked by them. 

"Can't they be a little less conspicuous with the staring?" January mumbled next to me. Her eyebrows were still drawn in concern.

"I guess not...we're not supposed to be here," I replied. All of them were probably wondering how on Earth the two people they'd sold off were back already. And not in chains.

We were lead to the big main tent that I'd already been in on multiple occasions. Inside were very few people. And by that, just Claire and two other people who I knew to be high up in ranking. The group that had brought us to the tent immediately ditched us.

Great.

Alone in a giant room with the lady who'd probably ordered for our demise.

Claire, shockingly, did not seem all too shocked to see us there. She'd obviously been warned ahead of time. I was kind of glad. I didn't want to see her gaping about us still being okay and back at the camp.

"It's nice to see you three okay," she said, leaving the two others to come meet us halfway. She was smiling, which really bothered me. It was like she didn't even know what had happened.

"And you," Kyan managed to say, nodding his head a bit. If I'd spoken, I probably would've cursed her out, right there.

"Of course. We're very sorry for what happened on the mission. Fortunately, you're all back now, and that's all that matters." I would almost believe that she truly didn't know what had happened on the mission, if it weren't for her obvious tension. She was expertly dancing about the problem at hand, as if too afraid to get too close and set us off.

There was a bit of an awkward pause, where I was very tempted to say something.

"If you three need anything, come find me. Feel free to take food from the storage tent. I know you are probably hungry." That was probably the understatement of the year.

I knew that her words were meant to be taken as a dismissal, but I wasn't done yet.

"Before we go, can I ask you something?" I tried not to come off as too hostile. Based on the look Kyan gave me, I don't think I succeeded.

"Go ahead," she said, a little more sternly.

"Where can I find Asten? I just want to say hi before cleaning up." I also hadn't seen him on the way in, which was suspicious. If anyone were to come looking for us, it would be him.

And hopefully, he hadn't left to do just that.

The look on her face sent a spike of fear through my heart. "He didn't tell you?" she asked, and my interest was suddenly piqued.

"Tell us what?"

"He was sent on a mission this morning..." She was still frowning, though.

There was still something I was missing. "Where is he?"

She let out a sigh, as if preparing herself to give bad news. "We sent him to spy on the people of the Equator."