The Spirit Guardians Book 4: Liberated

Chapter 19

Conny zipped duffel bag shut and neatly made his bed. He glanced at the door in the distance, finding it hard to believe that he would be going back to the cabin for a bit. He had grown to enjoy his time in the military ranks, but he was excited to spend Christmas with the others, despite all the drama they had supposedly endured.

The rest of the living quarters was mostly gone as people flooded out to spend the holidays with their family. Conny had said good-bye to a few of his friends the night before. His gaze lingered toward the doorway, as if he expected someone to appear.

He let out a sigh and lugged his bag over his shoulder. Hadn't last night already counted for good-byes? Conny would only be gone for a little over a week. There was no need for further farewells.

The winter air nipped at his coat as he stepped outside onto the cold snow. He could see Cherie's car parked in the distance, waiting to pick him up. A puff of warm air escaped from Conny's mouth as he began moving toward the car. His feet crunched softly against the snow, and he thought warmly of the snowball fights he would endure once he got back home. At least, that's what he hoped for.

"Hey, Haddad!" came a call from behind him.

Conny spun around, noticing Carly standing near the door to the facility in a big dark purple coat. The cold air had turned her pale cheeks rosy, and the faintest bits of snowflakes dotted her dark hair. Her hand was firmly gripped around the handle of her luggage.

"Were you going to take off without saying good-bye?" she called from up the hill.

Conny smirked and dropped his bag, trudging back up the hill to greet her. She had her hands in her pockets, and her legs were pressed tightly together as she stood out in the cold.

"Sorry. I thought you'd already taken off," he admitted, pausing in front of her.

Carly scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. Use those excuses," she said, lightly punching his arm. "Guess I'm the last of the bunch to leave, huh?"

"Do you need a ride?" Conny asked.

She shook her head, her brown ponytail bouncing in the air. "My uncle is coming to pick me up. He won't be long. Have a good Christmas."

"Thanks, you too," Conny murmured, his gaze dropping down to his feet.

"I guess we should rest up before we get ready to kick some ass in the new year, huh?" Carly thought. Her eyes scanned him from head to toe. "You look like you're freezing."

"It's okay. I'm just about to get in the car," Conny stated, his gaze turning to where Cherie's car was stalled. He realized it would be wise to end the conversation soon before Cherie got too annoyed from waiting.

"Here," Carly said, untangling a thick gray scarf from her neck. She loosely draped it around Conny's neck as he stood there, stiff.

"It's okay! I'm about to leave!" Conny assured her, trying to rip it away.

"You can give it back to me when we get back. Merry Christmas," Carly said, leaning forward to hug him. Conny held back a sound of surprise and lightly wrapped his arms around her in return. He pulled away quicker than he would have liked and spun around.

"See you!" he called, pulling the scarf close to his face in attempt to hide the red gathering in his cheeks. He retrieved his bag and quickly walked down to Cherie's car. He threw his bag in the back and climbed into the front, sighing at the warm air blowing against him.

"Who were you talking to?" Cherie asked.

"Huh?" Conny replied, forgetting for a moment that he was in plain sight of Cherie's car. "Oh, a friend."