Underland(42)

Chaz glanced at Kira more than once and shrugged. She knew they were arguing about her. Was Holly upset that she came back alive? Probably.

She climbed down out of the truck and did her best to smile at those who smiled at her. Of course, with all the tusks and fangs in the group, she might’ve been mistaking a grimace for a smile.

Den came up behind her and pressed her back, urging her through the group. She hadn’t realized she was scared of walking through the group until Den’s nearness relieved her. No one would attack her with him watching over her. “Keep moving. I don’t think it’s safe for you to stay here much longer.”

“Why?” she whispered between clenched teeth.

“Because you’ve now killed two of Remus’s fighters. Money won’t keep us safe for long. Take care, and stay close to the zeke. I’ve got business to finish up.” Den gave her a pat on the shoulder, and she followed the other two closely through the crowd.

They made it back to the commons room, and Kira headed toward the table laden with hot food. A pang of hunger overcame her at the scent. Strange though, only three chairs sat around this glorious banquet. She felt uncomfortable standing around staring at it.

Chaz came in and pulled up a chair. “Eat.” He gestured to the hot food.

“Why is no one else eating?” She pulled out a chair to stare at the mouthwatering food in front of her. It was obvious that someone had her in mind, because she could actually recognize some of the food. There was a pie—it looked and smelled like blueberry; fresh baked pizza covered in vegetables; and spaghetti marinara. Someone had been paying attention to what she had been eating, knew that she wouldn’t touch anything with meat, knew that she missed human food. Kira picked up a slice the pizza off the plate and took a bite.

“The winners eat first. Whatever’s left goes to the losers.” Chaz stuck his finger in the middle of a pan of gravy-looking sauce and gave it a tentative lick. “Yum. It’s a perk of winning.”

Zeke sauntered in quietly and took a chair at the head of the table. He looked so regal sitting there as he reached over and took a turkey leg and placed it on a plate in front of him, as well as a dinner roll and some sort of tumor-looking vegetable. What surprised her, though, was that Zeke picked up a knife and fork and started to cut the meat off of the bone and slice his vegetables into bite size portions.

Kira had eaten a whole slice of pizza within seconds, and it had never touched her plate. She hastily brushed the crumbs off her fingers and eyed the rolled silverware next to her plate. She placed the napkin on her lap. Silverware gave her trouble, though. Mostly because she felt as if eyes were watching her, judging her.

She sliced into the blueberry pie and served herself a large portion. Taking a bite, she closed her eyes and savored the sweet taste. She finished off the rest within a few bites and looked over to Zeke. His lip rose a fraction of an inch in a smile, and then he dabbed at his cheek with his napkin.

He repeated the action.

Her eyes widened when she finally caught his drift. She took her own napkin and hastily wiped away a smudge of sauce on her cheek. How was it that he had better manners than she did?

Kira stared down at her plate as her cheeks warmed. Her appetite left her. She had been proven wrong on so many occasions over the last few days. Nothing was how she thought it would be. She came here expecting to hate everything and everybody, but she related to them. They were so much like her. Guilt gnawed at her gut.

Chaz leaned forward and swiped a finger in her pie filling. It froze inches from his mouth, and his nose twitched as he sniffed it warily. He sniffed it again and hissed, backing away.

“Nightshade,” he growled. “Someone has tried to poison us.”

Kira looked down at the crumbs—the only remains of the slice of pie she had just scarfed down. She held her hand over her mouth.

Zeke stopped eating and stood up. “Are you sure?” he asked Chaz.

Chaz studied the rest of the food on the table. “Hm. It wasn’t in mine. I thought maybe I was getting too close to freedom.” He moved over and sniffed, wrinkling his nose in distaste over the food next to Zeke, then came back around to the pizza and bread. “Nightshade mixed in with the veggies and bread. So, someone didn’t want to poison us, just”—he pointed to the food that was spread out in front of her, catered to her human taste buds—“you.”

The stomach ache she’d believed was guilt was now so much more painful as the reality hit her hard. She stood and stumbled.

Chaz knocked over the whole table of food in anger. He screamed and it turned into a high-pitched howl as if he already mourned her death.

Zeke appeared by her side. In a second flat, he had her arm wrapped around his head and scooped up her legs. He took off running toward the infirmary.

“Warrick!” He pounded on the door but no one answered. “Warrick!”

He carefully set her down by the door. “Kira, I have to find Warrick.” You’ll be okay. I’ll be back. I promise.” She felt his cool hand touch her burning cheek, and then he was off, his feet pounding on the cement floor. She pressed her forehead to the cold metal of the door and waited. A few seconds later, a door opened nearby. She clutched her stomach and whispered. “Help.”

The steps moved away, thudding softly down the hall, never even pausing to help. Kira’s vision swirled, but she tried to hold it together. She needed to find help before the poison could work its way through her system and end her suffering. She started to shiver and tried her voice again. “Help!”