Our lips meet briefly, and I run my hand over her cheek.
“How did this happen?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she says with a grin. “It just did.”
“I’m glad it did.”
“Me too.”
I take a deep breath and glance over my shoulder. Thankfully, no one has come out to check on us.
“We should go back inside.”
When we get back to the group, they’re all talking about heading north.
“We’ll all freeze to death,” Samuel says.
“As opposed to being burned alive?” Milo places his hands on his hips and kicks at the ground. “I’ll take most anything other than that! I lost my husband, dammit, and I’m not going to let that be in vain!”
His voice cracks, and Ava moves to comfort him.
“I hope you have a good sales pitch,” Aerin mutters under her breath.
“So do I,” I reply quietly.
“I haven’t heard anyone come up with a different plan,” Layshell says. “I agree with Ava—we should follow Talen north.”
“Of course you agree with her,” Keller says with a grunt.
“Shut up!” Milo screams at him.
“Everyone, relax!” Ava steps between Milo and Keller. “Please!”
Samuel mutters something under his breath, but I can’t make out the words.
“Bickering isn’t going to help,” I tell them all. “There are too few of us left, and arguing isn’t going to get us anywhere. We need to be able to cooperate with each other, take care of each other, and stick together. It’s the only way we’re going to survive.”
Everyone quiets down and settles around the fire again. Aerin stands off to the side, watching warily as I address the group.
“We’re going to make it,” I say, smiling broadly at everyone in turn. “We’ll find a new place to settle. It won’t be easy, but we will soon figure out how to survive. You’ll see. Everything is going to be all right.”
“That’s it!” Will gasps and stands up, taking a step toward me.
“Will, what are you doing?” Samuel asks.
“I know who you are.” Will extends his arm and points his finger at my face. “I remember now. I was young, but I remember.”
“What are you talking about?” I look closely at Will, examining his eyes and other features, but I don’t get any sense of recognition.
“I’m originally from the East,” Will says. “I was part of a caravan of Naughts sent away from the capital with promises of a new life in the West.”
A chill runs through me, and a knot forms in the pit of my stomach.
“You were there,” he says. “You were there at the capital when those assholes sent us all to our deaths. I remember clearly. You looked right into my grandmother’s eyes, smiled like you did just now, and told her everything was going to be great. You said we’d have all the equipment we needed to start a new life. You patted me and my sister on the head, and my grandmother thanked you over and over again. Three days later, they were both dead.”
I take a closer look at Will as my insides churn. I remember the grandmother clearly, but the grandchildren’s faces are blurred in my mind. How old were they? Could Will be one of those kids? Is he really part of the group my father sent to an unknown fate?
“Keller is right,” Will says. “You are one of the Thaves, and you’re a lying sack of shit.”