Chilled to the Cone by Ellie Alexander

Author:Ellie Alexander [Alexander, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Chapter Fourteen

I jumped at the sight of someone camping out behind our coffee counter. What were they doing here?

An empty feeling swirled in the pit of my stomach. What if the person was dead?

Please don’t let them be dead, I prayed internally as I knelt next to the person.

“Are you okay?” I gently shook the sleeping bag. It was army green and tattered and dirty. From the condition of the bag it appeared that it had gotten a lot of use.

The person’s head was buried inside.

I shook it again.

No one moved.

Oh no. I clasped my hand over my mouth. This couldn’t be happening again.

I tried again. “Are you okay?”

This time the person stirred.

Whew. Relief washed over me. For a moment I wanted to be still and allow the feeling to flood my body.

The person made a mumbling sound and pushed their head from beneath the badly worn sleeping bag.

“Sky?” I’m sure my eyes must have been wide with surprise.

His upper body swayed from side to side as he tried to shuffle out of the sleeping bag. “They’re after me.” His eyes were glassy. They darted in every direction. He blinked rapidly, as if trying to focus.

“Sky, it’s Jules. I’m the one who helped with your hand.”

He had managed to sit up, but he continued to rock in circles. “They’re coming for me. They’re after me.”

“After you? Who?” I glanced around.

Sky scrunched his face. His eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were the size of dimes. “I gotta hide. I gotta get out of here.”

Was he in danger or was he on something or both?

“Hold on.” I steadied him. “Take a minute before you try to stand again. You look a bit dizzy.”

He swayed as he scratched his dreadlocks. “No, I gotta get out of here. They’re gonna find me and if they do they’ll kill me.” He used his injured hand to steady himself. The cut had bled through the bandage.

“Slow down, Sky.” I tried to keep my voice calm and even. “Who is following you?”

“The Wizard’s killer. They think I saw something too. I didn’t. I swear I didn’t see anything, but they think I did and now they’re gonna kill me.”

What did he mean by “saw something too”? Had the Wizard witnessed something that had gotten him killed?

“Take a minute and breathe,” I cautioned Sky, who wiggled out of the bag and stumbled to his feet. He clutched the countertop to steady himself, knocking off a box of silverware that Andy had brought over. Spoons scattered everywhere.

“Sorry. Sorry.” Sky bent down, grabbed his sleeping bag, and bolted toward the front gate.

“Wait,” I called after him, but he tripped toward the front gate, unlatched it, and wobbled down the sidewalk in a zigzagging pattern. I watched him almost lose his balance as he tried to step over a collection of plastic pots outside of the Grange and disappear behind the building.

He was obviously spooked and he looked pretty out of it. The question was why. Was his fear legitimate or was he on a paranoid drug binge? I picked up the spoons.

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