Embers & Ice

Chapter Twenty-One

"There she is!” called Zac and he waved her frantically over to his table. “The Dragon!”

“Don’t call me that,” said Hunter as she slid in beside Chantal, her plate full of breakfast. Before Zach even blinked, Hunter was shoveling food into her mouth.

It had been late last night when Hunter returned to the cell block. It was strangely eerie, walking down the corridor on her own in the dark. Even more eerie after what had happened with the guard in the bathroom. Hunter had crawled into bed, and even though her body was exhausted, her mind was wide awake. She didn’t sleep well at all, and it showed on her face that morning. She could tell by Chantal’s grimace.

“But you can breathe fire, right?” Zac pushed.

“Probably. I’ve never tried it.”

“Why the hell not?” he frowned. “It’d be the first thing I’d try.”

“That’s because you’re a lunatic,” said Chantal. “How are you feeling Hunter? I mean about the Orb and everything.”

Hunter’s eyes roamed the breakfast hall and found that Will hadn’t come down yet. He was usually last to arrive. There was a chance he might still be in surgery. Hunter had been so busy trying to process her evening with Dr. Rosenthal – not to mention struggled with the idea that Joshua wasn’t all psychotic-killer – that she was surprised to dream of Will again that night. Of his sacrifice for her. Of a small boy in a dark room talking to her as a child as they lay awake and alone in the cold. Her heart softened at the very thought of him. It was something she hadn’t felt since… since Eli.

“I’ll be alright,” she finally said. “It was hard, but we got through it.”

“Hell yeah, you did,” said Zac through his food. “And it was bad-ass. I was almost sad Will knocked you out.”

“Thank you for reminding me,” she winced, dabbing her fingers against her bruised jaw. “Anyway, what has everyone else been saying about it?”

“Nothing much. After Will knocked you out, he sort of…” Zac looked at Chantal for help with words, but she avoided his eyes. “Well, he just looked at you for ages. Then he… he picked up your head and… and he held it really carefully, you know like someone holds a day-old baby, and he bent over and…” Zac’s voice softened as he pretended to hold an invisible head in his hands, his eyelids fluttering. Chantal dropped her fork, the sound snapping both of them out of the intense moment.

“Oh my God, Zac!”

“What?” he exclaimed, staring at her crossly. “That’s what he did! It looked like he was about to kiss you,” he said to Hunter, who found herself caught between a breaking heart and extreme laughter.

“The guards took him away, that’s all that happened,” Chantal blurted and went back to playing with her food after shooting a sideways scowl at Zac.

“We all went down to the common room after,” Zac continued. “Except Marcus and Mosi. They went to the fitness room, as always.”

“What are they doing in there?” .

“I dunno, bumping ugglies?” Zac suggested.

“You’re vile,” said Chantal.

“Fearne disappeared. Jet and Mikayla got up to their usual snuggling, but they were separated by the Men in White and sent to their cells. And us… well we sat down for a game of chess with Benji and Ryo and couldn’t stop talking about the fight. It was the most excitement we’ve had since Chevie’s escape.”

“What?”

Zac’s eyes widened. “No one’s told you about that yet! Oh man, it’s the best story ever!”