Coal reached out and ran his fingers through my hair as I worked.
“I'm gunna have to steal things from the city more often," he murmured.
I glanced up and caught his eye, my cheeks lighting with a faint blush, as the truck roared to life. I settled down next to him and sighed, leaning my head on his shoulder and falling asleep almost instantly.
***
I was rolling on a tide, rocking back and forth like I was in the little leaf boat again. I could sense grey light pushing against my eyelids trying to get me to open them, but I resisted.
Something gripped me under my legs and around my back. I rocked one way then the other and then back again as I felt my head lolling and my hair fanning out beneath me.
No, there was no water. But there was lots of swaying. I struggled towards consciousness and realised that I was being carried.
/> “Ready to rejoin the living?" Hunter's voice boomed out, the sound vibrating through his chest and into me where I was held tight against him. Hunter had a wonderful, rich voice that always sounded like he was nearly laughing and it made me smile.
"No," I muttered tucking my head against his shoulder. I didn't often wake up in a good mood.
"Do you want to skip the meeting then?" he asked, that laughter nearly escaping as though he found me very amusing.
"No." I felt very at peace with him.
In a strange way, Hunter felt like an old friend already and I accepted the fact that he was carrying me without question. Hopefully he wasn't a well disguised serial killer. Either way, I wasn't getting down.
“Well, if you expect to participate you'll need to open your eyes," he said.
I fluttered my lashes and let my eyes adjust to the grey light of dawn. We were heading down a street that I recognised from my time in Franklin. In fact we were taking the street to the same destination: The Hub. Hunter nodded to the guards on duty as we passed them and we were soon moving down the twisting walkway that would take us back into the meeting room where we'd been briefed on the mission before we left. It seemed like years ago but it was actually only a few days.
"Where's everyone else?" I asked, noticing that no one was with us.
"They went ahead. I promised Coal that I'd wake you up and deliver you to the meeting before he went for a health check, but it was like trying to wake the dead so I went for the easier option," he replied.
I noticed that my weight was causing him about as much difficulty as I would have had carrying a pen. He was insanely strong.
"Thanks." I stifled a yawn as we ducked inside the huge room.
I thought momentarily about the fact that I was being carried in like a child but everyone had seen me already so there wasn't any point in using my legs now. I couldn't muster the energy to feel particularly bothered about it either.
"Do you want to sit with Coal by any chance?" Hunter asked with a definite smug tone to his voice.
"I don't mind," I lied as he swept me down into a big, soft, office-type chair and I tucked my legs beneath me.
Hunter pushed the chair across the room on its wheels, my hair blew around me and I giggled like an idiot as he ran. He delivered me into a spot beside Coal, roughly shoving Alicia along to make room.
Coal raised an eyebrow at him but didn't say anything. His dressings had been changed for new, cleaner ones and someone had tended to the cuts and scratches he had elsewhere too. Luckily it looked like the King hadn't done too much damage to his face and with the blood cleaned off, he looked almost the same as he had before the fight. There were just a few cuts, a split lip and a gash above his right eye that now held six stitches.
“What did you find on the city networks then? 'Cause I could really do with a bath," Alicia said, stretching out in her chair.
She had been patched up too and I could see the shadow of a purplish bruise forming around her left cheek bone but she was just as beautiful as always. It just made her look even tougher.
"We know, believe me," Hunter laughed.
“Shut up! You're not exactly fresh as a daisy you know," Alicia snapped, flicking her ragged hair over her shoulder.
I felt pretty gross myself. I was cold, wet and filthy and all I really wanted was to wash it away but apparently this meeting wasn't going to wait.
“Can I interrupt now?" A stocky man not much older than me, stood up and took our attention.
His brown hair looked as though he spent a lot of time running his hands through it and he wore thick rimmed glasses. Despite his bookish appearance, like everyone else who I’d encountered in Franklin, he had strong muscles showing on his bare arms and through his shirt.