Ablaze »»DARKEST MINDS««

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER TWELVE
CLANCY GRAY
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I walk back to the old Journey's with a little extra drag in my step and a frown on my face. I can't shake what Star said earlier, about Clancy Gray and Reds. Is he some kind of government official who collected the dangerous kids so no one got hurt? Or is he just a well-known Skip-Tracer who got money off of selling the Reds he found? Or does he have something to do with Jamboree, that secret government project Star brought up when we first met?

Whoever Clancy Gray is, I know I don't ever want to meet him.

I enter the shop to find Dane sulking on his blanket, knees up and arms resting on knees. I come up behind him and settle onto the blanket beside him, crossing my legs. He spares me a quick glance but doesn't do anything else to acknowledge me. After a minute of deliberation, I lean my head on his shoulder.

"Is leaving the right decision?"

I don't move my cheek from his shoulder as I glance up at him. All I can see from this odd angle is a tangle of hair, his ear, and a frown on his lips.

"Of course it is," I reply.

"They do have food here," he mumbles. I frown. He's dead wrong if he thinks I'm ever going to let him and the rest of our group stay here longer than we have to any longer. Something is going on behind the scenes of the Xi Blues and I'm sure it's something I don't want us to get mixed into.

"Yeah," I agree, carefully choosing my words. I can't have him even think about staying any longer. "But have you guys ever had trouble finding food before?"

He takes a moment to respond.

"Not really."

"We'll be fine." I think back to when I didn't have anybody on my side except Jeremy, the Yellow from the Zone. Times were tough but he always helped me get through it. After a terrible beating from Derick, or after a short sleepless night, he was there for me and I was there for him. Somehow that made things a little more bearable. "As long as we have each other, we'll be fine."

I look up at him and he looks down at me. That frown of his disappears and a simple pokes out on his cheek. I feel myself smile back.

The moment is short lived.

Suddenly, I'm not sitting by Dane anymore, and my thoughts are not my own. Someone else's thoughts are slammed into my brain, overwhelming my senses. Everything is black.

"Something is definitely going down tonight. About damn time if you ask me. Having a Red around here for this long just isn't safe."

I come crashing back to reality with a gasp of pain.

Who's mind was that?

I didn't even mean to read their thoughts. That wasn't just reading their thoughts or reliving a memory, though, this felt different. Drastically different. Never had my head ever pounded this fiercely after using my Orange abilities.

"What the heck?" I groan, clutching my head and rolling onto my back. I open my eyes and spots dot my vision. I try to sit up and suddenly Dane is hovering over me, a confused and concerned look painting his features, as he grasps my arm to steady me. He tried to meet my eyes but my head is still throbbing so much my vision goes out of focus for a moment. I squeeze my eyes shut and open them again to refocus them.

"What was that? Are you okay?" Dane asks.

I hear a faint, almost indecipherable sound coming from outside the Journey's, and my body stiffens. Dane looks towards the door where I'm staring with a frown.

"Someone's coming," I whisper. Not even two seconds later we hear louder footsteps. I brace myself, feeling my hands already start to heat up with small flames in case I need to defend us. Dane does the same, raising his fists in front of him.

A Blue I'd never seen before steps into view through the open doorway of the shop. He doesn't seem to have expected us to be there; he jumped a foot in the air when he saw us. His eyebrows and his hands shoot up when he looks at the fire gathering in my hands.

"Wow, hey guys, calm down."

I don't bring my hands down, but Dane does. I turn and try to send him a look to get him to not let his guard down, but he doesn't look at me. He lets out a breath and runs a hand through his hair.

"Sorry, man. We thought you were—nevermind."

"It's fine," he murmurs, eyes lingering on me two seconds too long. I stare right back through narrowed eyes as he stalks away.

Was he the one who said something was happening tonight? The one who thought I was too dangerous to have around?

Nothing is making sense but everything leads back to what Star told me earlier at the meeting— something about Clancy Gray, whoever that is.

I whirl around to face Dane as soon as the Blue is out of sight.

"You need to tell me who Clancy Gray is," I demand. He looks taken aback.

"What? Why?"

"Because I think he's coming here. Tonight."

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Sorry guys I know this is short but! I wanted to go ahead and get this chapter up because I have big things planned for the next couple chapters...

Thanks a ton for reading, voting, and commenting!