Chapter 13
A pple was standing outside the canteen with some other kids, all gathered around Leda and talking a mile a minute.
Griz let out a whistle, and Apple turned toward us.
When she noticed me, her mouth dropped open, her face visibly paling.
I picked up my pace, nervous she was about to faint, but then she burst into tears and charged toward us.
I crouched so I could catch her as she barreled into me, her little arms wrapping tightly around my neck.
“Bones!” she sobbed. “I thought you were gonna die!”
My eyes prickled at her distress. “I’m okay, Apple. I’m okay.”
She tried to say something but was crying too hard to make it out. I shifted to kneel on the cold ground, holding her tightly as she continued to cling to my neck. I could feel her tears dampening my shirt, but I didn’t care.
The other kids surrounded us. More than a few were crying, and I tried to comfort them with one arm as I held Apple with the other. The lump in my throat threatened to choke me.
“It’s alright,” I promised over and over, smoothing back tangled hair and wiping tears. “I’m alright.”
“Don’t suffocate her now,” Leda scolded as she approached with Jet on her hip, but she was beaming when I met her eyes. “Oh, honey, I’m so glad to see you.”
I got to my feet with Apple in my arms, and Leda wrapped both of us in a warm hug.
Jet squealed and clumsily patted my face with his chubby hand, drooling around a little tooth I could see peeking out of his gums. The other kids were clinging to my clothes and legs and all talking at once, but despite the complete chaos, I smiled, misty-eyed. This was home.
Leda released me, sniffling a little and tucking her long, curly brown hair behind her ear. Then she groaned, “Oh, I’m so sorry, Bones. Jet drooled all over your shirt.”
“I don’t care,” I laughed, gesturing to where Apple had cried all over my other shoulder.
“Alright, kiddos, looks like Neena’s about to open the door,” Griz announced.
They all pulled back, but Apple’s arms tightened around my neck. Griz held his hands out and raised his eyebrows, silently offering to take her, but I shook my head with a smile. The doors opened with a creak, and Neena appeared, grinning at the kids.
As we began to file inside, I glanced around us, and my heart skipped a beat when I realized Wolf and his entire crew were standing off to the side, watching. I quickly looked away.
“Hey.” Mac appeared seemingly out of nowhere, scanning me. “ You okay?”
I honestly wasn’t sure, so I shrugged.
“I knew it was bad, but that…that was way worse than I thought.”
His voice sounded pained, and I glanced at his face to see pain reflected in his eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to hear all that.”
“What? ” His eyes narrowed.
“I know it’s awful to hear ? —”
“That’s not what I meant.” Anger snapped in his voice now. “I’m not talking about how I felt hearin’ about it. I’m talkin’ about you fucking goin’ through all that.”
I fiddled with the collar of his jacket I was still wearing. “Oh.”
“The only reason I’m angry right now is ?cause I can’t rip Juck into little shreds.”
I tried for a smile, but it felt flat.
His eyes softened, and his hand twitched like he would reach for me, but then he stopped. “You did good today.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep it together. “Thank you…for everything you said.”
“I just called it like I saw it.”
“You two having a moment?”
Both of us looked at Sam, startled. He glanced between us, eyebrows raised, and I realized Mac and I had been silently staring at each other. Griz was watching, too, and he had a funny look on his face. My heart started galloping in my chest, but Mac grinned.
“Yeah, we were. Rude of you to interrupt, Sam.”
“My bad,” Sam replied, but he was studying the two of us closely in a way that made me nervous for some reason.
“Don’t tell them yet,” I begged.
Mac shot me a brief look full of frustration, but in my head, he replied, “Alright.”
Apple turned her head toward Mac, and he focused on her with a smile.
“You find a baby squirrel?” Mac asked out loud, reaching out to gently tug on one of Apple’s pigtails.
She giggled tearfully and swatted at him, and he surprised me by playfully pretending to be knocked backward. It made the lump in my throat worse.
Following the line inside the canteen, I gathered my courage and asked Mac, “Earlier…did…did you hear Wolf’s thoughts?”
He tensed beside me. “Yeah.”
I glanced at him, trying to keep my face impassive, but he looked ahead of us into the canteen. “Mac, I think…I think this is your power.”
He finally looked at me, and the discomfort in his eyes made me feel even worse.
“Let’s talk about this later.”
I chewed on my cheek but replied, “Okay .”
“Hi, Bones!” Neena smiled at me as we reached the counter and held out a mug of broth. “You want anything with this or just broth tonight?”
“Just broth,” I said, touched.
“It’s really good to see you,” Neena added as she handed the mug over.
My face felt flushed again, but I managed a small smile.
As Neena moved on to give Mac his and Apple’s rations, I noticed she was missing her ring finger on her right hand.
I hadn’t paid much attention before, but it looked a couple of years old, and I wondered how it happened.
I followed Mac to their table, realizing this was the first time I’d ever sat with my own crew.
Granted, I hadn’t eaten at the canteen often, but the large room felt different.
Someone had hung up a long garland made from what looked like colorful fabric scraps.
It draped from the beams in the vaulted ceiling, stretching across the room.
It looked cleaner inside, the worn wood floor practically shining.
Old tin cans sat on the long wooden tables full of little bouquets of evergreen branches.
The entire room seemed brighter and warmer somehow.
Apart from the canteen’s appearance, the atmosphere was the most significant difference.
Before, the room had been mostly quiet. People kept their heads down and ate quickly before leaving.
The loggers and Madame’s guards had been loud but in a rough, aggressive way.
Now, the room was full of people talking and laughing.
Nemo was moving between the tables, talking to people.
The kids had their own shorter table now, and they were all sitting at it, giggling and making silly faces as Leda passed out their rations.
I glanced at the logger’s table. It was pretty empty, with only a handful of people, but Marsh and Silver had taken a seat, and they both smiled and waved when they noticed me.
I was glad they hadn’t taken Madame’s side during the rebellion. They’d always been kind to me.
I sat beside Mac, with Apple still clinging to my neck. “You wanna sit with the kids or with me?” I murmured.
“With you,” she mumbled tearfully, finally releasing my neck and clambering to sit beside me on the bench.
Griz sat next to her. I started fixing her disheveled pigtails when someone sat directly across from me.
I glanced up, and my stomach flipped as I met my brother’s eyes.
He settled himself on the bench and dropped his gaze to his food.
I focused on Apple’s hair, registering out of the corner of my eye that Lee and Sable settled on either side of Wolf, and the rest of the pack joined as well.
The silence made me want to get the hell out?—
“So, where are the rest of you from?” Mac suddenly asked.
I glanced up at him, surprised. His voice sounded strained, but his expression was as friendly as I’d ever seen.
Lee answered, and the rest followed suit.
Sable said he was from a town I didn’t recognize, and I guessed that was before the slavers took him.
I still couldn’t look at him. Griz picked up the conversation after that, asking questions and keeping it flowing with help from Sam.
I sipped my broth and carefully kept my eyes away from Wolf’s side of the table.
Apple ate her food while pressed into my side, one hand fisted in my shirt.
When I glanced at her, I realized she was scowling fiercely at Wolf and had to fight the urge to smile.
“Bones!”
I looked up to see an older woman whose name I couldn’t remember. She stood behind Wolf, beaming at me.
“It’s so good to see you out and about,” she said with a kind smile.
A shy, answering smile curled over my lips and surprised me.
As though the woman had broken some sort of spell, for the rest of dinner, there was a steady stream of people coming over to say hello and ask how I was doing.
I couldn’t decide if it was nice or uncomfortable.
Wolf and his crew seemed to note every interaction carefully, making nerves flutter in my stomach. Did Mac tell people to do this?—
“I didn’t tell them to do this,” Mac immediately replied in my head. “They’re comin’ over to say hello and see how you are because they care about you.”
Gods, I forgot he could hear me.
“So, Wolf said they don’t burn people alive?” he added.
“I don’t know what to believe,” I admitted, hiding my face behind my mug as I took a slow drink of broth. “Dune never lied to me before, and I don’t know why he would ever lie about that.”
Mac ate a bite of his food and chewed for a few seconds before asking, “Could Wolf be lying?”
“I don’t think so,” I replied. “I mean, I don’t know, but it didn’t seem like he was lying.”
“Would they accept your powers?”
My skin crawled. “I doubt it. It wouldn’t fit with their teachings.”
“What were their teachings?”
“They thought women were lesser, only suitable for havin’ babies and takin’ care of the home.”
His lip curled. “I’ve heard of places like that.”
“I’m so confused, ” I admitted, my eyes prickling. “I don’t understand why Dune would lie.”
He shifted slightly on the bench so that his arm pressed against mine. “I’m sorry.”
“Mac?”