Thin Lines (The Child Thief #3)(48)

After Nelson had bandaged me up, I’d given Jace a quick glance of gratitude, unable to decide whether I loved him for having fixed me or hated him for having exposed me to leeches, and then he’d disappeared, stating that he was going to put the leeches back where he’d found them before they dried out and died.

I’d been pacing the cave ever since, trying to focus my mind on more important topics, and then decided to stretch my legs outside to assist with that. Walking always helped me think, and right now I was in desperate need of some brilliant ideas. We hadn’t gone over the timeline yet, but when we did, I wanted to be ready. Plus, the movement would be good for my leg.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, turned on the flashlight, and set off into the darkness, mentally flipping through the problems at hand.

The cave had given us a blessed break from the chase, but none of us had forgotten that the Authority was out there searching for us. And we couldn’t hide in this cave forever. The timeline might be able to provide some direction in regard to an escape—if we could somehow glean a location for Little John from it. Finding the elusive group might not be the easiest escape plan, but they had the ability to save us from this mess. They were at the top of my list of mysteries to solve.

Them and Nathan.

I’d walked about thirty feet into the forest by now, and though I suspected that the only things I’d find out here were my wolves, I didn’t want to chance it, so turned and started back toward the cave.

“Dude,” someone suddenly called from the darkness in front of me.

I jumped, wondering if the voice was talking to me, and then frowned.

Just there, at the edge of the firelight, I could make out someone leaning up against a tree, his gangly arms crossed in front of him, his head down.

Ant, my brain told me. Or Abe. I looked harder, and realized that it was definitely Ant. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but something about him had changed—enough, at least, that I could now tell the difference between them. Maybe it was in the way he held his shoulders, a bit straighter than before, or the fact that the last week had brought out a tension in his posture that also hadn’t been there before.

I didn’t know who he was talking to, but it certainly wasn’t me, and I didn’t have any intention of standing here spying while he was having a private conversation. I lifted one foot to take a step in his direction, intent on letting him know I was there and walking past him back to the cave, when another figure suddenly emerged from the forest and leaned up against the tree next to him.

Abe.

Their silhouettes were exactly the same, but Abe had a spring in his step that Ant was missing.

Abe reached a hand toward his brother, and Ant gave a choked sob and turned to his twin. He buried his face against his brother’s shoulder and began to cry.

I stalled, then took several steps back so that I was hidden behind a tree, not wanting to be seen by either of them, and peered around it. I’d never seen anything but good-natured teasing between those two, and though they’d always seemed close, I hadn’t really seen them sharing any affectionate moments. This… Well, I didn’t want to be caught interrupting it.

I glanced back into the cave, wondering if I needed to keep anyone else away, and wondering how I could get there myself, but saw that the others were all spread out on blankets and sheets, talking in low voices and drinking Nurmeal. Jace, I noticed, was eating raw vegetables instead, and my glance lingered on him for a moment as I wondered how he felt about living in a cave again.

Then I turned back to stare at where Ant and Abe were standing and wondered how to get around them. Whatever they had to say to each other, it should be a private moment, and I didn’t want to intrude.

But then I realized I had a problem. I was standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by dry twigs and pine needles. I wouldn’t be able to sneak anywhere.

“I can’t believe any of this is happening,” Ant said, his voice hoarse with tears. “I can’t believe I almost lost you.”

“I can’t believe you have a girlfriend,” Abe replied. “And especially Jackie. You do remember how mean she’s always been to us, right?”

I saw Ant shrug it off and grinned to myself. I wasn’t sure Ant had had any choice in the matter, honestly, because from what I knew of Jackie, once she decided on something, nothing was going to get in her way. If she’d decided that she liked Ant, he hadn’t stood a chance.

“It just happened,” he said quietly. “I don’t know when it did. We were together so much, and the world was suddenly so dangerous, and she just seemed… It was like she was the only thing I recognized. The only thing that was truly safe. The rest of the world had turned upside down and inside out.”

“You’re telling me,” Abe answered quietly. “Seems like it was only yesterday that we were fighting about whether or not to join Nelson’s club in the first place.”

“You didn’t want to,” Ant said, laughing quietly. “You said it would just lead to trouble.”

Abe gave his brother a soft shove with his shoulder. “And it looks like I was right,” he said. I could hear the grin in his voice and could picture exactly how it spread across his face. He’d be gloating at having won some sort of bet between the two, and also probably feeling successful about having made Ant laugh. “Though not even I could have imagined this much trouble.”