When the World Goes Cold

Chapter 3

Atlas was the first to hurry off the boat, surging past the few people nearby to find Izaak. Leilah did everything short of go with them, her fingers clenching the straps of her bag and posture as stiff. Her eyes darted around, trying to spot something—someone, if I had to guess.

"You want to go see Jingyi, right?"

I grabbed her attention enough for a glance.

"Yeah, sorry." She rolled her shoulders. "I can help tie the boat up."

"I've got it. Go see her."

She gave a faltering smile before rushing away.

Their nervousness bleed into my hands, barely able loop the rope around the stubby iron rod that once had been part of a window and now used to secure the boats. A good knot was far out of the question, forcing me to settle with doing two and a prayer.

"You're the Orphan, right?"

The stubby man hunched over a crenellation didn't match the smooth voice, but his pea-sized eyes were the only ones focused on me, best they could with being so far stuck in his head.

"Nope," I replied without pause.

"If you say so. What happened out there?"

"You can ask Izaak or Atlas."

"Or I can ask you, like I just did."

I shrugged.

"So, what did you do to them?"

"What?"

His thin lips peeled back to show yellowed teeth. "You said something to them, didn't ya? I saw how fast those two ran from you."

Tongue clinging to the roof of my mouth, I bent down to grab my backpack. "They weren't running from me," I started, anger boiling in my throat and scorching my mouth each second I tried to hold back a stream of curses. "You can ask either of them."

"Nah, I don't think they'd tell the truth. I know how you Orphans work.""I'm not an Orphan."

He leaned forward, words trembling with excitement. "You think you're clever, eh? You all have the same look in your eyes, always try to be so secretive. But I know. I know what all those scars are from." Saliva oozed off his tongue. "Izaak knows, too. You should be kissing his feet for letting you in."

The handle of my pistol dug into me with each slow breath. How I itched to relieve the pressure and put a bullet in the back of his throat.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"What is up with you guys, anyway? Calling infected weird names and carrying big guns. What's the reason-"