The Girl From Above [Ground: Zero, Book 1]

11: That Wasn't Any Less Vague Than Before, but Ok, Devany

Devany's face was like the cherry on top of an already lukewarm afternoon.

Ryan wasn't terribly disappointed to see her newfound protector, but the feeling stirring at the bottom of her belly couldn't be described as joy, either.

From the moment Devany entered the room, it was like a record player had come to a screeching halt. Everything from the light of the sun to the autumn winds seemed to hold their breath as Devany walked into the room.

Ryan bolted up and scratched her head as Devany placed her baskets onto the table. She caught her distorted reflection in the neon candy wrappers and fought the urge to smile. Ryan prayed that some of the candy was chocolate. She had been craving any kind of chocolate since the moment she landed in the valley.

Zack rose behind her and hesitantly walked over to the baskets. He poked his nose over the piles Devany was dumping onto the table.

"Devany, where did you get all of this?"

"Your mom."

"Excuse me?"

Devany chuckled, her ears pointed towards the sky. She laced hands together and held them against her the back of her neck.

"Your mother made them. I asked her to after—"

"No, don't tell Ryan!"

Zack's ears fell to his cheeks. His skin flushed ruby red as he faced his shoes.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. She didn't know a lot about magics, but she did figure one thing: they loved to be vague. She let out a groan. It was like she was twelve again, everyone knew what was going on except her, but they expected her to somehow follow along.

"Tell me what, exactly?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter right now!" He insisted. "You wanted to know what was going on with Liam, right? With you being an omen? Devany can tell you!"

Devany's expression went blank. She mirrored someone who was told they needed to walk through a field of angry hornets in order to go home. Ryan could picture the loading screen in her mind, spinning frantically for a response to what he had said.

"Zack, we discussed this, it is much too dangerous for a human to get involved, you know that!"

In an almost animal-like motion, he snapped up a green candy from the basket nearest to him and frantically fiddled with the wrapper. The green light caught the sunlight and bounced into his eyes. He yelped and dropped the candy onto the ground.

"Why did you tell me about Liam showing up if you didn't want me to tell Ryan?" He muttered.

"You're my friend."

"And she isn't?" Zack demanded.

Zack's words stabbed Ryan in the gut. For someone who she had pegged to be unimpressive, his expression was surprisingly hard. His body, however, ruined his confident facade. He trembled as if the world was going to end, his knees turned in towards each other.

Devany sighed. She picked up a piece of candy and mindlessly popped it into her mouth, wrapper and all.

"She doesn't deserve to be pulled into this. We should just..." She trailed off, as if reaching for the remaining words was exhausting in itself. "The less she knows, the better."

Devany put her back against the wall and slumped down. She fished the golden locket Ryan had seen earlier out from under her shirt. She ran it under her hands. It was a classic gold heart locket, one that might've been in a teen romance or drama. The only thing that set it apart was a thick silver scratch that ran across the middle of the heart like a gash.