The Warrior [The Selection]

Chapter Nineteen: Wounds.

"You're leaving?" Rocket's eyes were wide with disbelief.

Nike sighed heavily. She was sat on the bottom step of the staircase, shoving her bare feet into her work boots. She needed new shoes desperately but she wouldn't be assigned new boots until Christmas. That was if she lasted in the Farms for that long; they were letting people go every other week.

"Only for an hour or so." Nike assured the small blonde girl. "I need to check on a friend."

"Did something else happen?" Henry demanded, appearing from nowhere. He hadn't slept a wink. Of course he hadn't. The rest of the children had been too frightened to sleep last night, but the majority of them had been unable to fight sleep for much longer. Clarabelle and Huxley were asleep, Hunter and Thomas too. 

"Nothing else." She assured him. She didn't want him to worry. He worshiped Patch. It would only cause an outburst. "But I need to see a friend. I won't be long."

"You're leaving us?" He hurried after her as she started to head for the kitchen. "At a time like this? What if those men come back?"

"It's the middle of the day, darling." She didn't have the patience that Eris did. She didn't have the time or the imagination to answer questions with the same ease. "I'll be back within the hour. There are Gruks outside on the street, and Elizabeth and Mania are both here."

"Mania is still weak, and she makes Huxley and Clarabelle uncomfortable." Henry said promptly. "I insist you stay, Nike. We need you here."

"Henry." She used her grown up voice. She despised it. Mostly because she'd modeled it after Elizabeth's version. "Please. Honey. My friend is... sick. I just need to check on him. He lives five whole minutes away. Nothing will happen, I promise."

Henry stared at her, his brown eyes magnified by the round spectacles he wore. Of course, that only made the betrayal in them that much more obvious. His lip trembled. Rocket was stood at his side, her little hand clenched around the hem of his shirt. Her cropped hair, the colour of pale sunshine, was stuck up every which way. She hadn't combed it today.

"Ris wouldn't leave." Henry muttered. He looked away, scrunching his nose. He did that when he was trying not to cry. He'd never been afraid to cry in front of Eris.

Nike's chest expanded. Her teeth clenched. He was wrong. Eris had left. She'd gone, and she'd taken with her much more than she'd left behind.

"I miss Eris." Rocket said quietly, and Henry put an arm around her skinny shoulders. Together, they turned away.

Nike stared after the pair. Eris would go after them. Eris would make it right. Would take the time to explain the situation properly. Make them understand. She wouldn't treat them like incompetent children.

Nike didn't have time. With a heavy sigh, she turned and left the orphanage. Since Patch and her had slipped through Valerie's guards two weeks ago using the forest that cushioned the back of the house, Valerie had ordered the woods patrolled too.

Not for the first time, Nike wondered just how powerful the Wise Woman Network really was, given that it had so many resources to waste. Though, those resources had not been wasted last night.

Jax's men had come out of nowhere. They'd been sat at dinner, the whole family - even Mania - when Nike had spotted the figures rush out of the woods and into the back garden, aiming for the open door. She'd reacted quicker than she'd thought able; launching herself up and across the room to slam the back door closed before they could get into the house.

It was then that Kadar had appeared. He'd fought off the men in the garden with ease. Four of them had been no match for a man of his size and ferocity. Nike had been busy herding the children out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Mania had gone with them, as had Elizabeth.