Underground

17

Manhunt/Steal The Flags part 2

"Why did you leave with him?"
I glared at the back of Joel's head as he asked me the question I knew was bugging him. We had to have been walking around for twenty minutes without running into anyone. My first guess was that no one wanted to fight Joel. I knew he wasn't looking at me but I shrugged looking at my feet.

"The only time I get a reaction out of you is when I do things you don't want me to do," I admitted. "Duchess, General Mason and even you...you keep things from me and expect me to tell you everything."

Joel stayed silent and looked around the forest quietly. He pointed to a bush and I walked over to him it. "So pissing me off is your brilliant solution?" He asked settling in next to me behind the bush.

"You have no reason to be pissed off," I snapped. "You aren't my man or anything."

I heard his breathing change and mentally slapped myself. I keep pissing him off. It wasn't a lie though. Joel isn't anything to me. He looked at me with angry eyes but I spaced out hearing a voice in my head. Joel's face changed and he whispered to me, "Justine, what is it?"

Three are running towards you from the left.

I pulled my sword out and blinked a few times. "There are three coming from the left," I whispered back. Joel frowned and the voice also told me that they had blue flags. "It's the Almássy."
Joel nodded and stood up just in time to see the three guys stop. Joel had an evil smirk on his face as he pulled out his gun and shot all three of them, snatching their flags. I came out from behind the bushes and he tossed me the flags. "How did you do that?" He asked.

I bit my lip. "I heard a voice?" I said as a question. Joel stared at me and then nodded.

"You discovered another ability," he said walking past me. I tied the flags to my belt and jogged to keep up with him.
"What ability is that?" I asked. He ran a hand through his hair and pointed to a tree.

"Nature Manipulation," he said with a smirk. "You can control and communicate with nature. The tree told you they were coming."
I talk to trees?
Joel looked over his shoulder at me and I rubbed my face. This was way too much to take in. "And the force field?"

"It wasn't a force field really. You manipulated the air around you to create a shield," he explained. "The annoying part will be teaching you how to use and control it." Joel pulled me to stand in front of him behind a tree but kept his hands on my waist. I put my hands over my mouth to quiet my breathing. What the hell is going on?

One person with one green flag and eight red ones.

Eight already?! Well thank you, Ms. Tree. I looked up at Joel and he put a finger to his mouth. Does he know who's there—?

"Come out, Joey. I just want to talk."

Nicholas. Joel held me tightly and I bit my tongue to keep my mouth shut. I heard Nicholas walking around the other trees and then chuckling. "I don't understand you. All this time you were Mr. Lone Wolf, no pun intended," he said. "Then the one girl I show interest in you just so happen to like too."

Joel let me go and stepped out from behind the tree. I was about to reach out to him when he reached for his sword. "This shit again, Nicholas?" He asked him, a bit irritated. "I did meet her first you know."
Did he just admit to liking me?
I peeked out to see Nicholas and Joel circling each other. "Put the sword down Joel. You and me both know we don't need those weapons," he smirked. "Does she know? About...you know?"

"Shut up."

"She probably would freak out—"

Joel chuckled darkly, "It's a double edge sword because the same could be said about you." I watched Nicholas's face change and something in his hand started to make a sparking noise. Joel shook his head. "So that's the game you want to play?" He asked annoyed. Literally, electricity appeared in Nicholas's hands and on the ground, I shit you not, little flames started forming.