Thalia froze in an awkward half-turned position, her mind finally catching up enough for her to realize looking at Colt wasn’t her best option at the moment. She looked back to Will, whose wide-eyes were on her, his eyebrows hovering high over them. She opened her mouth to say that she’d tripped and accidentally pushed him away. Until she felt Colt’s grip on her tighten, pressing her back against his chest to the point where she could feel individual muscles, making her mouth snap shut.
Will shook his head, as if to clear the shock away. “Wha…? What just happened? I…there was another hand. I felt a fifth hand! What’s going on?”
Mouth working for a couple of seconds until she could force words out past the ball of fear and worry in her throat, Thalia said “I-I tripped. I didn’t mean to push-”
“You didn’t trip,” he snapped, eyes alight as he looked at her, the colour seeping back into his face. “I felt both your hands on my back and both my hands were around you. So where did the fifth one come from? And don’t try coming up with any more excuses.”
Thalia closed her mouth slowly, mind still racing. “I…There’s…”
Will’s eyes narrowed as he studied her, taking in her slightly awkward positioning, the way her arms were held away from her sides. Memories surged up into him, of everything that had happened in the last couple of weeks. His brow furrowed, followed a moment later by a frown pulling his lips down, his eyes falling to the floor. The frown deepened and he folded his arms over his chest. Eyes twitching around the floor like they were following the escape path of a mouse, he suddenly went still. Then his head snapped up to stare at Thalia again, blood leeching away again. “Jesus H. Christ,” he whispered, hands falling so that they hung limply by his sides. “It’s real. The ghost’s real!”
Only barely stopping herself from trying to look at Colt again, Thalia bit her lip, worrying the edge of it with her teeth. “Ummm…”
Then she felt Colt shift behind her. “I am not a ghost,” she heard him say. Now she did turn to stare at him, eyes wide in a face that looked pinched with the emotions fighting for dominance in her. She wanted to shout, to tell him her was crazy, before she remembered her cousin.
Will’s skin had gone the colour of his favourite marshmallows, his whole body rigidly still. The sound coming out of his mouth was closer to a dog’s whine rather than actual words. Thalia shook her head, knowing exactly what he was going through at the moment. It was nearly a full minute before he was able to get his mouth working, and another before he could form an actual sentence, rather than repeated what noises. “It’s real,” he gasped.
She could feel Colt stiffen behind her. “I’m not an it, boy. I’m human, or I used to be at least. And I will ask that you kindly keep your hands to yourself. I do not appreciate your manhandling of Thalia.”
Will blinked rapidly for a moment, then as quickly as it had fled, blood came rushing back to his face. He took a step forward, glaring over Thalia’s shoulder, trying to meet Colt’s eyes. “I wasn’t manhandling her. If anyone was doing it, it was you! You could have hurt her when you yanked her away like that. Or don’t you care?”
Thalia felt Colt take a step back, her mind thrown back into a state of white blankness, only capable of processing the most basic of her senses at the moment. Colt’s arm around her waist squeezed her as she heard him say “It was a choice between leaving her to be crushed in your clutches or pull her to safety. I chose for what would benefit her in the long run. Something anyone with experience would know, boy.”
Face red, Will’s chin came up. “I know enough to know you’re full of shit. And you’ve been putting not only me, but Thalia in danger, just by being here. So how much are you really thinking in long run terms?”
“I have remained by her side since first alerted to the existence of the Builders. I wouldn’t leave her to face something like this alone. And unlike you, I can protect her day and night. And that without even mentioning the fact that I’m the better fighter. Your half-trained style might work against your fellow boys, but against an experienced fighter, beating you wouldn’t take much more effort than swatting a fly.”
“Ha! What can a ghost do in a fight? And I’ve been protecting her for the last four years. How long have you even known her? Four months?”
“I am not a ghost! And it’s not amount of time you’ve known a person that decides how well you know an individual. Only children use that as a measuring stick. In every way, I know her better than you.”
“Only in your dreams, you horror movie reject.”
“Well then why don’t we just ask her which of us she trusts more?” Colt snapped before turning his attention to the girl in his arms. “Thalia, which of us do you think knows you better? And who do you trust more?”
At the sound of her name, Thalia managed to rouse herself a bit. “What?”
“Do you trust me or ghosty here, more?” Will said, crossing his arms back over his chest.
She frowned. “Does it matter?”
“Yes,” they growled, in unison.
Thalia stared at them for a moment, then shrugged. “I trust you both equally then.”
“You have to pick one of us,” Colt said.
“Don’t pressure her,” Will replied, glaring again.
“Like you?” The invisible man asked, voice acidly sweet.
“I’m not the one who drags her away without asking her opinion!”
Their argument had Thalia frowning again, her forehead creasing. After their last volley, she shook her head. “I’m not dealing with either of you when you’re like this. When you two want to talk like rational adults, come find me.”
While they stared at her, she pulled herself out of Colt’s grip and walked off down the hall.