Wolf Heart

Chapter 33

Tick

Tick

AVA

Tick. Tick.

Ava lifted her head off her pillow at the sound of her timer. It clicked on. Out of her bed, she brushed back her bangs with a huff, where the weight of her responsibilities slammed on her shoulders. What should I do? Questions swirled around in her head at the possibility of what she failed to notice before. James avoided her from the moment around the campfire, keeping his head down to hide their shared hazel eyes. Ava scraped her fingers against her scalp and frowned deeper where no one saw her uncertainty.

I think first... Rayan and I need to have a conversation.

Ava nodded and forced a smile on her face and hauled herself out of bed. Out of her room, Janie played with her rover along the carpet in her room, and paid her no mind as she stopped outside of James' closed door. Ava opened it without difficulty, where her twin brother sprawled on his back with his face in his pillow. Ava hesitated on the threshold. "James?"

He isn't trying to smother himself, is he?

Ava came closer to his side, but he breathed without struggle.

"I'm going to Rayan's," Ava said.

James lifted his other pillow over his head in response and went limp.

Somehow, I'm going to make this right.

Ava left him in his isolation for the time being to head downstairs, where the ticking strengthened from Grandfather's antique clock, where Dad left its embrace with a smug grin. "You will not best me stupid clock."

James' words haunted her while Dad heaved himself onto his legs, and she approached him. "Dad?" He gave her a light nod and closed the clock, where the ticks muffled through the barrier bubble. Ava twiddled her fingers, but pushed on. "Do you... Are you disappointed in James just because he doesn't do what you want for him?"

He stopped, then turned to her with a frown. "And where is this coming from?"

Ava stepped back from him as he gave the antique a once over. "I was just curious."

Dad sighed, and it reflected her brother once more. "James is going to do what he wants whether I disapprove or not — but to answer your question, no." He picked up the tools with a scowl. "Maryse, I'm going to get started on that leaky part of the roof. I fixed my dad's damned hellclock. Hated the damned thing since I was their age..." He grumped his way to the corridor to tug a cigar out of his jacket. Ava waited until he disappeared the back way before turning to Mom.

"I'm going to Rayan's for a bit," she said.

Mom hesitated. "Is everything alright? You and James have been despondent."

"I-It's nothing," Ava said. "I swear. It's just something that needs to be worked out."

Summer heat blasted through the Eastpoint and waves of dizziness lifted off the concrete. Store-owners set up cooling awnings for shade and protection. Yvonne stood with a gaggle of other girls who whispered quietly to each other. Ava waved at them, but didn't stop to chat.

Ava stopped in the shade, where an Elite sat on a box with their hand pressed against their blank mask. Used to their presence, she smiled in relief at what rested beneath the unreadable mask the Sanctum made them wear. Nothing more than an average Exalian when the mask hissed off the woman's face, where they took out a flask off their tool belt to drink. Dog-tags sat around their neck. B-3. No information. No name.

Only a single letter and number.

Ava left the Elite alone and through the shortcuts of the forest. Shades from the boughs protected her from the blazing Eteran summer. Leaves rustled in the breeze above her head. In sight, the familiar Falae property shielded by a barrier gate. Two Elites stood in silence on either side.