The Altered.

Chapter XLVI.

Since returning to the library, Aaron was nowhere to be found.

Miles thought he had seen the blond disappear upstairs to the third level of the library, where nobody had gone yet. Nobody had gone to bother Aaron or to even look for him, including Eira, who was busy distracting herself.

They all were, really.

Lia was sitting in the far corner of the library, reading a thick hardcover that would probably keep her satisfied for a long time. Eira was sorting what food they had. Percy was folding the spare clothes that Lia and Miles had brought back.

Miles was pacing.

Finally, Miles stopped pacing in front of the escalator up to the next level.

"Miles, don't bother him," Eira called, looking up from her activity. "He likes being on his own when he's upset."

Miles stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nobody's been up to that level yet apart from him. He could be in danger."

That wasn't why Miles wanted to go up, though. His mind was elsewhere; lost in that alley where he'd found Harvey and tripping through the old house he'd found the two dead Altered. Thinking back to both of those events made Miles feel nauseous and disturbed, but they also reminded him that it was hard to be in such proximity of somebody dead.

Not to mention watching somebody die.

Knowing that Aaron had had to deal with that earlier made his heart sore.

"He's not in danger," Eira responded.

Miles didn't listen. He took a step onto the escalator and hesitated for a heartbeat before continuing up. He could practically sense Eira shaking her head from behind him, but didn't let it stop him as he continued up the broken escalator, pace quickening as he neared the top. He considered as he ascended that Aaron would probably not want to be bothered, but if that was the case it was easy for Miles to leave again.

He was surprised at how easy Aaron was to find. When Miles reached the top of the escalator, he could see Aaron meandering aimlessly between two shelves of e-Books.

Miles approached noiselessly. "Aaron?"

Aaron jolted at Miles' sudden appearance and almost immediately scowled. His eyes were red. "What?" he sounded more fragile than defensive.

"Have you been crying?"

Aaron rubbed his eyes. "No."

"Allergies?" suggested Miles.

"Allergies," confirmed Aaron. Liar.

Miles, hands still in pockets, pivoted to examine the disks on the shelves, pretending to be interested. "What are you looking at?"

"Historical fiction," came Aaron's response. "Not that I'm very interested in it. I prefer science fiction and stuff."

"Science fiction," muttered Miles under his breath. "That's appropriate for times like this, huh?"

"Actually, I prefer reading the old sci-fi stuff," Aaron said, managing to grin a little. "It's very entertaining to see what sort of thing people thought the future would be like when they wrote those books in the 2030's and stuff."

Miles scoffed lightly, considering that maybe reading wasn't as boring as he'd always found it to be. He glanced away from the shelves and at Aaron. "Hey," he said. "Are you okay?"

Aaron shrugged, shuffling his feet. "I mean, it's not like I knew her or anything."

"Well if it helps," Miles said, "it scares me too. A lot. The thought that we were there with her while she died." Somehow, Miles couldn't imagine himself confessing this sort of thing to anybody else but the boy who was currently beside him. "It was horrible."