𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭

19

I blinked a couple of times as my vision adjusted, allowing me to see a red- haired young man about the same age as Oliver. He crossed his arms and smirked at us, but his smile faltered as he noticed there was only five of us.

"Where's the girl from Central?"

"You're too late, Felix. They're coming with me," Oliver stared pointedly at him.

He must be a Hopeful, I realized. "Hold up. Shouldn't we get to choose?"

Felix's smile was irritatingly smug as he shifted his focus from Oliver to me. "What's your name?"

I swallowed my fear and stared right back at him. "Maia."

"Surely you don't want this imbecile to force you to fight on his side?"

"He's not forcing me to do anything," I declared. "I think we're past the time for peace. What the government is doing- using fear to make the public comply- is wrong. I've seen how evil they are. They can't be reasoned with. If you think you can control them, you're wrong. If you finish off the Tempests, they'll just get rid of you."

Felix didn't look taken aback, but I noticed Oliver smiling out of the corner of her eye. "Of course we can control the government," Felix said, rolling his eyes. "The Chairmen don't even agree with the Governor. As soon as the sickness kills him-" Felix drew a line in the air in front of his neck. "They'll be so much chaos that we can pick off the Chairmen one by one. Unless the sickness kills them first. We're working on that."

I did my best to remain unsurprised by the revelation. I'd have to ask Oliver about it later.

"We're getting off topic," Chase interrupted. "We should choose whose side we want to join."

Felix let out a quick breath. "Fine."

Jack stepped out from his hiding spot inside the tunnel and crouched towards where Felix stood. "Will I be safe in your group?"

He nodded, shooting Oliver a smug look. "Safer than with the Tempests."

Jack glanced toward us, as if begging us to come with him, but I shook my head. Whatever the Hopefuls thought they could do while playing teacher's pet, it wasn't going to work. Chase, Azura, and Allison probably had a similar mindset.

Oliver looked relieved when no one else sided with Felix, but he didn't let the emotion take over his face for more than a second.

"No one?" Felix asked, clicking his tongue as he glanced around. "Hm. Guess we're going to have to do this the hard way, then." In a flick of his wrists, twin knives slid from underneath his sleeves and into his hands. I flinched as he turned to Oliver and launched into the air.

For a brief second I was worried that Oliver wouldn't be quick enough, but that clearly wasn't an issue for him. In the blink of an eye, Oliver had dodged and drawn a dagger of his own, circling Felix. "You know I'd win. I suggest you back off now."

"I've been practicing, so I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," Felix winked.

Oliver sighed and straightened before placing two fingers in his mouth and whistling, the sound so clear and shrill that the hairs on the back of my neck rose. Felix grabbed Jack, pushing him back into the foliage.

I hadn't given my surroundings a second thought until now. The forest was thick and lush, but I could see meadows and clearings interrupting the trees. A barbed wire fence divided the territory into two sections- to the left, the Hopefuls, and to the right, the Tempests.

I wasn't quite sure I trusted the Tempests yet, since they were so keen on turning us to their group early, but I would rather fight than try and control the government from the inside like the Hopefuls did. Jack only sided with Felix because he had twice the army that the Tempests had.

For a second, I felt like I had been too abrupt to make the decision, like my heart had to wait for my head to catch up. But then I saw Felix shrink back against the trees as more people emerged from the thick forest.

Tempests, I realized as they stood beside Oliver, backing him up. I was partly worried that he hadn't thought he could take Felix, but then it dawned on me that Oliver didn't actually want to hurt Felix.

Why?