Don't Feed Me, I Will Come Back

four

'but he that dares not grasp the thorn,
should never crave the rose.'

☾

  Zeppelin glared at her companions on either side of her as the three of them trekked through the trees. Despite her objections, they kept her wrists bound in front of her, and every so often, she'd let the rope slice into her skin as she tested its strength. Each time she pulled, no matter how softly, she thought she could feel Jace's eyes on her.

She did it again and tried to catch him looking at her, but he was too quick, his gaze already averted straight ahead. They seemed annoyed with her, not that she really cared. She only knew the way back by the path through the woods, not the highway, so they eventually had to pull over and let her find her bearings before they started the journey back to the farmhouse.

A nagging voice in her head taunted her, whispering that her brother would already be dead by the time she returned, and she did her best to ignore it. Panicking now wouldn't do her any good, and she damn sure wasn't going to let these men see her do it, either.

Instead, she filled her time by asking them questions, harmless to the average ear, but really, she was just trying to get a feel for their place in the Sanctuary. And in return, what her place might be. She actually couldn't care less about what they did or where they were from, but someone told her once that the best way to get information from people was to make them believe you were on their side.

It worked with Simon, anyway. He couldn't shut up if his life depended on it. He answered each of her questions without pause, almost haughtily, as if she should be impressed with his position in life. It was a chore to keep herself from laughing at him. He rambled on and on while Zeppelin and Jace stole glances at each other and pretended that they didn't.

He was the complete opposite of his comrade. While Simon couldn't stop talking, Jace never made a peep. Not even one syllable. It put her on edge, but also, it made her want to work harder to get him to say something. She wondered what would be his breaking point and how hard it might be for her to get him to it.

He wasn't going to make it easy for her, it seemed.

  "So, what don't I know about the dead ones?" She directed the question to Jace, but he didn't bother paying her attention. In his place, Simon piped up.

  "What do you mean, angel?"

  Z rolled her eyes and shoved down the venom in her voice as she walked on, hopping over an overgrown root in the soft earth. "I mean the way you all laughed when I said I saw that guy come back. If there's some joke here, I want to be in on it, too."

  Simon glanced down at her and brushed a low-hanging branch from her path as they continued their journey. "We all come back." His tone was clipped, wary.

  "Excuse me?" She didn't realize she had frozen in place until they both turned back to face her.

  Simon ran a hand over his mustache and grimaced. Jace said nothing at all. "We all come back," Simon repeated. "Doesn't matter how it happens, angel, we all turn into one of them." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and craned his neck, searching for the moon's position above them.

  We're all infected? She let the information settle, hating how it felt in her heart. That nagging voice returned, and she realized she might be returning to more than just a dead brother. The thought lit a fire under her heels.