Winter Fire

Ch. 44 [The Fifth Plan]

Winter Fire
Ch. 44
The Fifth Plan

I woke slowly, still numb to the world when my conscious pulled me back into reality, still drearily calm when my ears picked up the murmur of voices, still too comfortable to move when my body began to ache from laying on the hard floor. I blinked, once, twice, three times, and it took a while before the room began to sort back into focus. The warmth from the floor was lulling me back to sleep and though I wanted so much to just slip back to the place no one can hurt me, something kept me there, nudging me to get up, to listen harder, to move.

So, with an inaudible sigh, I moved.

The voices ceased the moment I sat up, and as I stretched and glanced around, I found six pairs of eyes boring down on me. I blinked again, gritting my teeth as my sore limbs protested and stood up.

I still felt uneasy from what happened last night. I still wasn't sure what had happened last night. It was as if the flood gates broke and every fear I experienced since that November Wednesday came flooding back over me. Maybe it was a panic attack. I'd never had one before, never known anyone who had, so I had no way to tell. Maybe it was something else entirely. But the fear was still here, murmuring in the back of my mind, tainting my blood with icy chills. And it took everything in me to keep my expression neutral, to act so ordinary in the company of the ones I was so afraid of. But somehow, I did.

My gaze flit over every head in the room, then again.

"Where's Zach?"

They were sitting on the far side of the room in an jagged circle, Essie with her hands in her lap, her auburn hair over her eyes, Aria sprawled on her back, her feet flat in the floor, arms under her head, Sadiya with both arms and legs crossed, Dylan leaning against the wall, Aidan on his side, Aaron stiffly upright.

Dylan and Essie exchanged glances.

"He ditched." Aria's tone was strangely cold, so cold it burned.

"Should've known he didn't have it in him." Sadiya scoffed.

"He did what was necessary for his survival." Aria bit out. "That's what we liked about him."

"That's what you liked about him." Sadiya snapped.

Aria moved to sit up, but Dylan placed a warning hand on her shoulder.

"Drop it." She said sharply. "He's gone. There's nothing to do about it now."

Aria glared at Sadiya for a moment more before settling back down. Sadiya ran a hand though her hair, then spun round to face me.

"It's about time you woke up."

My brows furrowed. "How long was I asleep . . . ?"

I began to approach them, but while my exterior expressed the upmost calm, my thoughts were flying.

Zach was gone. He'd left. He wasn't coming back. I wouldn't have to worry about him. I wouldn't have to pretend to trust him. I wouldn't have to contemplate telling someone what he'd done.

I felt relief, blinding relief, but though I had one less problem to worry about, there were still a thousand more.

I joined the circle, between Essie and Dylan.

"About roughly seven hours." It was Aidan who answered me.

My eyes widened. "What?! Seven hours?! Why didn't anybody wake me?"

Aidan shrugged. "We all figured you needed the rest. But, in the meantime--"

"We managed to locate the Purifier base where your mother's being held." Sadiya cut in.