The Host (The Host 1)

It took him fifteen minutes to win, but at least I got to really work. I even squeezed in one more goal, of which I was proud. I was gasping for air when he stole the ball from me and sailed it through my goalposts for the last time.

He wasn't winded. "Ten-four, I win. "

"Good game," I huffed.

"Tired?" he asked, the innocence in his tone a bit overdone. Being funny. He stretched. "I think I'm ready for bed myself. " He leered in a melodramatic way.

I winced.

"Aw, Mel, you know I'm joking. Be nice. "

Lily eyed us, mystified.

"Jared's Melanie objects to me," Ian told her, winking.

Her eyebrows rose. "That's. . . interesting. "

"I wonder what's taking Wes so long?" Ian muttered, not taking much notice of her reaction. "Should we go find out? I could use some water. "

"Me, too," I agreed.

"Bring some back. " Lily didn't move from where she was half sprawled on the floor.

As we entered the narrow tunnel, Ian threw one arm lightly around my waist.

"You know," he said, "it's really unfair for Melanie to make you suffer when she's angry at me. "

"Since when are humans fair?"

"Good point. "

"Besides, she'd be glad to make you suffer, if I'd let her. "

He laughed.

"That's nice about Wes and Lily, don't you think?" he said.

"Yes. They both seem very happy. I like that. "

"I like it, too. Wes finally got the girl. Gives me hope. " He winked at me. "Do you think Melanie would make you very uncomfortable if I were to kiss you right now?"

I stiffened for a second, then took a deep breath. "Probably. "

Oh, yes.

"Definitely. "

Ian sighed.

We heard Wes shouting at the same time. His voice came from the end of the tunnel, getting closer with each word.

"They're back! Wanda, they're back!"

It took me less than a second to process, and then I was sprinting. Behind me, Ian mumbled something about wasted effort.

I nearly knocked Wes down. "Where?" I gasped.

"In the plaza. "

And I was off again. I flew into the big garden room with my eyes already searching. It wasn't hard to find them. Jamie was standing at the front of a group of people near the entrance to the southern tunnel.

"Hey, Wanda!" he yelled, waving.

Trudy held his arm as I ran around the edges of the field, as if she were holding him back from running to meet me.

I grabbed his shoulders with both hands and pulled him to me. "Oh, Jamie!"

"Did ya miss me?"

"Just a tiny bit. Where is everyone? Is everyone home? Is everyone okay?" Besides Jamie, Trudy was the only person here who was back from the raid. Everyone else in the little crowd-Lucina, Ruth Ann, Kyle, Travis, Violetta, Reid-was welcoming them home.

"Everyone's back and well," Trudy assured me.

My eyes swept the big cave. "Where are they?"

"Uh. . . getting cleaned up, unloading. . . "

I wanted to offer my help-anything that would get me to where Jared was so I could see with my own eyes that he was safe-but I knew I wouldn't be allowed to see where the goods were coming in.

"You look like you need a bath," I told Jamie, rumpling his dirty, knotted hair without letting go of him.

"He's supposed to go lie down," Trudy said.

"Trudy," Jamie muttered, giving her a dark look.

Trudy glanced at me quickly, then looked away.

"Lie down. . . ?" I stared at Jamie, pulling back to get a good look at him. He didn't seem tired-his eyes were bright, and his cheeks flushed under his tan. My eyes raked over him once and then froze on his right leg.

There was a ragged hole in his jeans a few inches above his knee. The fabric around the hole was a dark reddish brown, and the ominous color spread in a long stain all the way to the cuff.

Blood, Melanie realized with horror.

"Jamie! What happened?"

"Thanks, Trudy. "

"She was going to notice soon enough. C'mon, we'll talk while you limp. "

Trudy put her arm under his and helped him hop forward one slow step at a time, keeping his weight

on his left leg.

"Jamie, tell me what happened!" I put my arm around him from the other side, trying to carry as much of his weight as I could.

"It's really stupid. And totally my fault. And it could have happened here. "

"Tell me. "

He sighed. "I tripped with a knife in my hand. "

I shuddered. "Shouldn't we be taking you the other way? You need to see Doc. "

"That's where I'm coming from. That's where we went first. "

"What did Doc say?"

"It's fine. He cleaned it and bandaged it and said to go lie down. "

"And have you walk all this way? Why didn't you stay in the hospital?"

Jamie made a face and glanced up at Trudy, like he was looking for an answer.

"Jamie will be more comfortable on his bed," she suggested.

"Yeah," he agreed quickly. "Who wants to lie around on one of those awful cots?"

I looked at them and then behind me. The crowd was gone. I could hear their voices echoing back down the southern corridor.

What was that about? Mel wondered warily.

It occurred to me that Trudy wasn't a much better liar than I was. When she'd said the others from the raid were unloading and cleaning up, there was a false note to her voice. I thought I remembered her eyes flickering to the right, back toward that tunnel.

"Hey, kid! Hey, Trudy!" Ian had caught up to us.

"Hi, Ian," they greeted him at the same time.

"What happened here?"

"Fell on a knife," Jamie grunted, ducking his head.

Ian laughed.

"I don't think it's funny," I told him, my voice tight. Melanie, frantic with worry in my head, imagined slapping him. I ignored her.

"Could happen to anybody," Ian said, planting a light punch on Jamie's arm.

"Right," Jamie muttered.

"Where's everybody?"

I watched Trudy from the corner of my eye as she answered him.

"They, uh, had some unloading to finish up. " This time her eyes moved toward the southern tunnel very deliberately, and Ian's expression hardened, turned enraged for half a second. Then Trudy glanced back at me and caught me watching.

Distract them, Melanie whispered.

I looked down at Jamie quickly.

"Are you hungry?" I asked him.

"Yeah. "

"When aren't you hungry?" Ian teased. His face was relaxed again. He was better at deception than Trudy.

When we reached our room, Jamie sank gratefully onto the big mattress.

"You sure you're okay?" I checked.

"It's nothing. Really. Doc says I'll be fine in a few days. "

I nodded, though I was not convinced.

"I'm going to go clean up," Trudy murmured as she left.

Ian propped himself against the wall, going nowhere.

Keep your face down when you lie, Melanie suggested.

"Ian?" I stared intently at Jamie's bloody leg. "Do you mind getting us some food? I'm hungry, too. "

"Yeah. Get us something good. "

I could feel Ian's eyes on me, but I didn't look up.

"Okay," he agreed. "I'll be back in just a second. " He emphasized the short time.

I kept my gaze down, as if I were examining the wound, until I heard his footsteps fade.

"You aren't mad at me?" Jamie asked.

"Of course not. "

"I know you didn't want me to go. "

"You're safe now; that's all that matters. " I patted his arm absentmindedly. Then I got to my feet and let my hair, now chin length, fall forward to hide my face.

"I'll be right back-I forgot something I wanted to tell Ian. "

"What?" he asked, confused by my tone.

"You'll be okay here by yourself?"

"Course I will," he retorted, sidetracked.

I ducked out around the screen before he could ask anything else.

The hall was clear, Ian out of sight. I had to hurry. I knew he was already suspicious. He'd noticed that I'd noticed Trudy's awkward and artificial explanation. He wouldn't be gone long.

I walked quickly, but didn't run, as I moved through the big plaza. Purposeful, as if I were on an errand. There were only a few people there-Reid, headed for the passageway that led to the bathing pool; Ruth Ann and Heidi, paused by the eastern corridor, chatting; Lily and Wes, their backs to me, holding hands. No one paid me any attention. I stared ahead as if I were not focused on the southern tunnel, only turning in at the very last second.

As soon as I was in the pitch-black of the corridor, I sped up, jogging along the familiar path.

Some instinct told me this was the same thing-that this was a repeat of the last time Jared and the others had come home from a raid, and everyone was sad, and Doc had gotten drunk, and no one would answer my questions. It was happening again, whatever I wasn't supposed to know about. What I didn't want to know about, according to Ian. I felt prickles on the back of my neck. Maybe I didn't want to know.

Yes, you do. We both do.

I'm frightened.

Me, too.

I ran as quietly as I could down the dark tunnel.