Chapter 24 Gedeon
GEDEON
Dimmed ceiling lights bathed the stairwell in a whitish glow as I crept down, one floor after another. The doors framing the landings stood quiet, not a soul rustling in the hallways they harbored. Dawn had yet to break.
My steps were as heavy as the individual conversations I had held with our friends last night. Our talks had strayed into the late hours despite the downpour rattling the windows. Only the thin sheets of glass serving as protection from nature’s fury hadn’t felt like enough.
Although I had not disappeared without reason, proving it to my friends had turned out to be a challenge.
Ava had glowered at me for forty-five minutes before calling me a pain in her ass and leaving.
Sadira had clapped me on the shoulder and wished me good luck in surviving everyone.
Ryder had sulked in the corner, grumbling about taking on the responsibility of baking again.
Surprisingly, Eislyn and Eli had come around quickly.
Unsurprisingly, Jayla had kept pestering me to set a date for the show I had promised to organize at Vice.
And as a cherry on top, Ezra had refused to discuss matters entirely, stating that he needed a day or two to wrap his head around everything.
Adjusting the collar of my hoodie to fall comfortably around my neck, I slipped into the first floor of our central building and strode straight toward the clinks and clangs disturbing the peace at the end of the hallway.
Steam burst out of the oven as Ryder pulled out a tray of muffins, the tiny bundles of dough a shade of deep brown, bordering on black. He must have dipped into our waning cocoa supply.
“I figured you’d ask me to bake something anyway. So I jumped ahead.” He unloaded the baked goods onto a wire rack for them to cool down. A blanket of flour coated the metal rods, similar to how a dusting of white powder covered Ryder’s tumble of curls.
Pulling him in for a quick hug, I slapped his back. “You are a good friend.”
“I know.” Using the red-and-blue-striped dish towel, he dusted the crumbs off his moss-green sweater. “You should convince Sadira to give me more days off.”
“Lost a bet?” I asked, flicking the kettle on. The steel appliance boasted a floury handprint, undoubtedly Ryder’s.
“Yeah. She has all my days off for the next two weeks,” he groused.
His bets with Sadira were an infamous competition that most of us gave a wide berth. Days off had become the most precious commodity. Too many things had to be done for our compound to function properly.
Squatting, I rummaged in the kitchen cabinets, pushing pans and scuffed glass bowls aside. A golden bag peeked out above the largest pot gathering dust in the corner, and I plucked the package out of Zion’s favored hiding spot.
At this point, I could locate the coffee beans he repeatedly stole from me in my sleep.
“Anyway, I got to go. Sadira will kill me if I’m late for my shift.
” Ryder threw me the dish towel. “You’ve got flour on you.
” Striding toward the exit, he snatched a pale-yellow muffin off the wire rack.
“Half are chocolate, half—lemon.” He ripped a third of the baked good with his teeth.
“We also have pancakes from yesterday. I’d say get your fill before Tarri and Amari come by or they’ll pack everything for their picnic,” he mumbled around a bite and then vanished.
I dabbed the cloth on my front, but the dish towel was as stubborn as Kali, rubbing the flour into my clothing, dusting my hoodie in a layer of white.
Resigning to walking around with a cloud smeared across my chest, I fussed with the grinder until it surrendered and began to crush the coffee beans.
Ten minutes later, steam rose from my silver thermos. Shaking my head, I diluted the coffee with milk and then added a few teaspoons of sugar to finish off the sickeningly sweet concoction Zion and Kali preferred over a normal cup of coffee—black, not the shade of caramel.
I grabbed the purple blanket—clearly Jayla’s—off a table and loaded the food containers, the thermos, and three cups into the middle, tying the woolen material’s corners together to create makeshift handles.
While I got everything ready, the humidity from last night’s storm trickled through the open windows. Dawn still slumbered beneath the horizon, identically to the majority of our compound. Only a few workers dragged their feet down the street for their early shifts.
But their footfalls couldn’t smother the crackles of static as a hand gripping a black portable radio shot out in the window frame.
“No, my brother won’t change anything.” The speaker’s body materialized on the sidewalk.
“Clyde just needs a couple extra days to procure the blueprints. Tell my father we’re still on track.
” The tied-up hair caressing his nape swayed as he looked left and right before crossing the street and disappearing into a dark alleyway.
My joints locked.
Even the barely-there sunlight could not deter my insides from shriveling at the prospect of…
No. Now was not the time to entertain the possibilities. The most effective method to test my suspicions would be exercising my patience and waiting a day or two to see how the events turned out.
Leaving the kitchen behind me, I climbed up the stairwell and dropped my cargo beside Kali’s bedroom.
I thanked the doorhandle for deigning to go against its tendency to creak as I slunk to Zion sleeping like a starfish on his stomach.
Shadow’s whiskers twitched as the kitten peered at me from the pillow above Kali’s head.
Stroking his bicep, I whispered, “Zion.”
He grumbled into a pillow.
Stifling a chuckle, I pinched his nose, cutting off his oxygen flow. Seven seconds later, he leaped up, taking on a defensive stance on instinct.
Twisting aside to avoid collision, I pressed a finger to my lips. “Shh.”
Buck-naked, he rubbed the imprint the sheets had left on his cheek. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I want to show you something.” Pulling out a pair of navy sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and some socks from the closet, I passed him the clothing. Bruises and cuts colored his torso from the blows he had sustained in Ilasall. “Get dressed.”
He yawned so powerfully, I wondered how his jaw didn’t dislocate. A couple of heavy blinks followed as he tried to erase the undeniable bleariness fogging up his mind. “It’s like five in the morning.”
“It’s four-thirty.” I tapped the pile of fabric in his hands. “Now hurry up before she wakes up.”
Kali stretched out on her belly, her sock-covered feet peeking out from the heat-trapping duvet. While Zion laced his boots, I tucked the torture device tightly around her and kissed her temple, adoring her faint huff.
A quick scratch behind Shadow’s ears, and the growing kitten resumed its rest. The fragile peace allowed me to scribble a quick note for Kali before I pushed Zion out of the bedroom.
Picking up the blanket-bag I had rigged in the kitchen, I took the lead. “Come on.”
As I marched down the hallway, Zion ambled after me. “What could you possibly want so early?” He motioned to his crotch. “You even scared my dick to death.” Between his hips, the thin layer of cotton hung loosely instead of tenting, much to his disappointment.
I suppressed my mirth. All it would take for his sweatpants to fill out was for me to slam him into a wall and grasp his throat. He was mouth-wateringly responsive.
And I had fully fleshed plans of spending my days tasting each of his crevices, until not a single one remained untouched.