Freeze (The Jewel Project #4)

13.2|| It Ends With a Bang

Only as it turned out, they couldn't. The moment they set foot inside the tunnels, a furious Mizrelle charged at them and started screaming her head off because they'd gone out without permission. Since Angie wasn't the target of this, she slinked away towards the infirmary.

It made Tom feel a bit better that she could get those scratches and burns looked at and change into something more warm and comfortable. He wished he could go lay down because he was incredibly tired. So tired that he couldn't even process what Mizrelle was yelling, though it was probably important.

"Will you shut up already?" Sam snapped all of a sudden.

Mizrelle did shut up. Everyone around them fell silent. After a moment of gaping like a dying fish, Mizrelle's face turned beet red.

"In your room, now!" she spat out.

Sam shrugged and walked away from the glaring crowd. Tom gave them all an apologetic smile and limped after his twin. He had to stay on their good side to convince them to back Mizrelle up in front of the council. Because no matter what, he was sticking to his end of the deal. He was coop like that, unlike some other people.

Mizrelle reached the room first and waited for them to step inside before propping her hands on her hips. "Just want do you think you're doing, Sam?" she said between clenched teeth.

"I'm in no--" Sam started.

"How dare you!" she yelled, effectively silencing Sam.

Tom winced, the sound too loud for his still tender ears. "We're sorry, Mizrelle. But we had to go."

"You promised you'd listen," she snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him. "That you wouldn't go rogue. What's so funny?"

Tom tried to bite back his smirk. "Going rogue. Mizrelle, I always go rogue. If I think that something I have to do is more important than your orders, I'll always do that. I'm no good here."

"How do you expect me to keep my end of the deal if you don't keep yours?" she asked.

Tom squinted at her. "I wasn't sure our deal was still up."

"It's not unless you give me what I want."

"Why can't you want something I can give you?"

In the silence that followed, Sam stepped back and sat on his bed, pretending he couldn't hear them, that he wasn't there. And Tom could sense his awkwardness and the desire to get out of there, and he was grateful that his twin was staying. He needed the moral support.

"Because I don't want to go through the rest of my life regretting this decision," Mizrelle said.

"So you'd rather I do that."

"Yes," she answered with disarming honesty. "If you leave now, you'll most likely never see me again. That's what I thought after I left the States. And I was sorry then. Not this time. Especially because now, unlike then, you don't have much of a choice."

"I'm not going to cheat on Angie."

"Pretend I'm her then."

"That's not how it works!" Damn, his voice was high, but he really didn't want to do this.

She squinted at him. "I really don't care."

They spend the following minute staring each other down. Sam was fortunately not leaving, which implied nothing too serious was going to go down. He had to make a choice and he already knew what Sam would say. Sam was right. Tom had to take one for the team if he wanted to ensure one less killer faction out to get them. Kyle had done it. And he was technically doing this for Angie as well, to keep her safe.