Eve 01 by Anna Carey

Author:Anna Carey [Carey, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780062048530
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2011-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eighteen

“I SAW YOU SNUGGLING UP WITH CALEB.” ARDEN WAS already in our cave when I returned, bundled in a jacket, her legs folded on the mattress. She held the flashlight to her face, then turned it on me for a response.

I ignored her, instead pulling on a pilled sweater for warmth. The night air was stiff with a chill and I wasn’t sure how far the outpost was.

“Headmistress Burns would not approve,” she pressed.

I covered the beam with my hand. “Oh stop,” was all I could say.

“Don’t ‘Oh stop’ me.” Arden laughed. She gestured with the flashlight. The beam moved over her blunt bob and a sliver of milky white leg, settling on her pale face. “I’m sick for a week and you’re practically falling in—” Her hand covered her mouth. I thought she was going to cough, but she stayed quiet.

“What is it, Arden?”

She nodded behind me, to where Caleb stood in the doorway, clad in a thick brown jacket and knit cap, his hair tucked up inside it.

“You’re falling into this teaching routine . . .” Arden tried, but even I was not convinced. She stood, awkwardly pushing past Caleb into the hall. “I’ll meet you two by the fire,” she said, before disappearing into the tunnel.

I turned away from him, pulling on another thick sweater. “So are we riding with you?” I asked, trying to hammer the nerves out of my voice. “Arden is feeling better. She swears she’s well enough to go.”

Caleb grabbed my hand. Then he looked down, as if considering my slender fingers laced with his. “It’s not that. When Leif said the troops abandoned the outpost . . .” he began. “It’s because they’re moving north, toward the road.”

“It’s because of me, isn’t it,” I said, before Caleb could go on. It was half-question, half-statement, but Caleb’s silence confirmed what I already knew. “They changed their direction because of me.” I closed my eyes, but all I saw were the headlights of their Jeeps shining on the road, looking for the girl from the flyer.

Caleb leaned closer. The charcoal lines had been rinsed from his face, leaving only the faint smell of fire. “It might not be safe for you to go on the raid tonight. An encounter with the troops is always dangerous, and it may be too much of a risk.” His fingers moved through mine, wrapping my hand in his fist.

It was so easy to be afraid. Even in this underground dugout, where the troops could walk above us without knowing of our presence, my heart quickened. I wanted to curl up on the bare mattress, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, and give up, to plant myself down here indefinitely. But this was nothing new. They would always be after me. Every flashlight over the lake was them. Every puttering engine was them. They were every shadowy figure lurking behind the trees.

My whole life had been spent in the confines of the School’s walls—eating when I was told, drinking when I was told, swallowing the slick blue pills that rocked my stomach.

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