What Lasts in Us

CHAPTER FORTY NINE

"Charli?"

She looks as confused as I feel. Actually, she looks at me with disbelief, and every other synonym of the word. She lowers the gun slightly – or at least away from my face – until it points at my toes. Slightly better, but still not the best.

"What the hell? You're meant to be dead."

I offer a wry smile. "I know a lot of people hate me, but I mean seriously? Shouldn't you wait until you see the body?"

She shoves my shoulder, which ironically, is my injured one. I grit my teeth and bite back a groan. "No need to be so blunt about your death."

"Someone's gotta be," I reply. "Eva."

Now it's Eva's turn to smile. "I thought you'd forgotten my name for a second," she says. She finally pulls her gun away from me, but keeps it in her grasp. "But in all seriousness," she continues, and her smile falters, "you're supposed to be dead."

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not."

"Obviously."

"Who's going around saying I'm dead?" I ask.

"Maia."

"Maia?"

Eva nods. "Turn that off," she says, gesturing to the flashlight. I do as she says. "Yeah. Maia came back here maybe ... six months ago? I think. Anyway, she got back here two days ago, saying you were dead. Shot in the back."

I go cold all over. And it's not because of the cold night, or the holes in my clothes. No, it's the details. "Maia shot me," I say quietly. And for some reason, it makes sense, clicks together. She was always a good shot. But why had she shot at me? Why was she trying to kill me? The last I knew, we were on good terms – or as close to good as you could get. Like, we acknowledged one another if we crossed paths, but other than that, we stayed out of each other's way. Until I disappeared, ran off. I hadn't even known she'd disappeared herself.

So she'd been out for god knows how long, looking for me. Was she the one who Jai mentioned – why he'd wanted me to come back here? Because Maia was looking for me? But that doesn't make sense if she's gone out of her way to find me. And I thought I was wanted alive, not dead.

I'm so confused.

"So Maia's looking for me?" I ask.

"No. King's looking for you. He sent Maia out to find you. But I didn't think he'd ordered her to shoot you until she came back, saying she had."

"It still makes no sense."

I hear Eva's clothes rustle, and assume she's shrugging her shoulders. "That's all I know," she says, and I can hear the honesty in her voice. "Wait – why are you here then?" she asks. There's a pause. "Why are you – oh. That little girl."

It's not me who turns on the flashlight this time. Eva does, having her own in what I can only guess was her pocket. I blink against the light. "You came here for that little girl, didn't you?" she asks.

I nod. "Is she alright?"

My heart literally turns over and does somersaults and doubles its speed all at once when Eva nods. "She's fine. Not a single hair on her head's been touched."

Relief spreads through my body like wildfire. "Thank god." I heave a sigh of relief. "Is she in the church?"

"Yeah. Under close guard, too. They tell her she's a visitor, but everyone else knows she's a prisoner–"

The floor beneath my feet rumbles. The walls rattle, and something jiggles its way off a nearby shelf and smashes on the floorboards. Eva jumps back in surprise, and it feels like the entire cabin is trembling. It jolts through my bones, from my feet all the way up to my skull. Goosebumps break out on my skin.