“Can I at least ask what you’re doing up here? How you found me? Were you looking?”
“We followed Wyatt. He had a mission—and you know how he is.”
“Determined?”
“Stubborn as hell.”
“What was his mission?” The hesitation at his question tells me enough. The past is catching up to me.
“Wyatt’s not the same man you left down south. None of us are—things have changed fast. This world is evolving. I don’t know what you’ve been doing for the last three months, but for us it’s been one battle after the other.”
I think of my warm bed and full meals. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” His face softens as he rests his hand on the door knob. “We signed on for it. But you need to know we followed him.”
“Tell me, Davis, why is this mission so important to him? Did Erwin send him?”
He shakes his head. “He’ll tell you, but you’ve got to understand, the driving force behind him was you. Always. Keep that in mind, okay?”
I nod and he shuts the door, leaving me alone with an aching body and confused mind. Earlier I’d considered the other choices I had in life—beyond the battles and survival. One fiery night took those options away. Davis can say Wyatt came up here for me, but the others only would have followed for a bigger reason.
They need our help.
Still, I remember the look in Wyatt’s eyes when he found me. The weight of his hand in mine. Yes, something has changed with him—between us—and I’m equally terrified and thrilled to find out what that is.
Chapter 18
Wyatt knocks on my door a short time after Davis leaves. He takes me in, head to toe, eyes lingering on my ankle.
“I fell off the roof.”
“I saw.” Perfect. Of course he did.
“That poor bastard downstairs dropped you and was repaid b
y getting a hunk taken out of his neck.”
I give him a hard look. “Don’t. He’s my friend and was under attack.”
He steps in the room, closing the door behind him. He needs a bath—his beard and hair a trim. His jaw and cheekbones are lean, the whites of his hazel eyes red from the smoke. Emotions bubble in my chest; fear, anger, shock. I ignore the way my fingers ache—wanting to touch him, to make sure he’s real.
“Alex—”he says. His hands are clenched by his side and I’d bet my life he felt the same.
“No, before anything else, tell me about my dad. Is he okay?”
“He was safe when we left. Erwin will take care of him—he’s too important.”
It’s not enough but what else can he give me? There are no guarantees someone we’ve left in this day and age are alive even moments after you separate. But my father is another blank I need to fill. “I hope so. He’s not made for fighting.”
“No, but he’s resourceful. And so is the General.”
“Tell me why you’re here. Please tell me everything that happened after I left.”
He sighs and grabs the chair from the corner of the room. He moves it closer to the bed and scratches his forehead.
“Start at the beginning,” I prompt.
He does. He tells me in explicit detail about taking the kids back to Erwin and their subsequent journey toward Savannah. About training Jude and scouting for the army. He tells me about killing Hybrids, spying as they made their plans and trying to thwart their ultimate intent to overtake and absorb Erwin’s troops. He tells me little things, like how the sound of the ocean is as peaceful as always, and how the kids smiled as they ran down the sand. He smiles himself when he says that—his eyes softening. But then his voice changes and hardens when he tells me about a mission to save a farm and a surprise waiting for him. What comes next I’m not prepared for.