Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(92)

The car fell into silence for a moment. It was Victor that spoke eventually, in hushed tones and slowly. “Are you willing to ask her to pick one? Do you think she’ll pick you?”

It wasn’t a challenge, but a genuine question filled with worry. Nathan realized Victor feared this possibility.

And he hadn’t thought of it until then. It was in the back of his mind, but his default was always himself, because she spent so much time with him. But if it came down to it, if she chose anyone, was he the one?

“North said she wouldn’t,” Nathan said. “She wouldn’t because she’d try to keep us together.”

“That sounds more like her,” Silas said. “Not that I wouldn’t trust you all around her. But...I don’t know. Maybe this is the right thing to do. I’d rather just know you’re all taking her out and doing things with her than wonder if you’ll forever do it behind my back.”

“It’s what we do,” Victor said. “The Academy. We can’t always be around her. We’re so busy. And I don’t trust anyone else with her. I don’t trust anyone else wouldn’t try to talk her into running off together. But I know if we say we won’t, then...you won’t.” He sighed. “That’s all I worry about. When I’ve got time between what we do, I just want to see her.”

The car fell into silence again. Victor got distracted again with typing and scrolling in his phone. Silas glared out the front window.

Nathan had nothing more to add. Every time he talked to the others about this, the more it felt like there was an ultimate choice for all of them. If they wanted to stay together, and be happy...

What North and Dr. Green had said to him echoed in his brain, mixing in with Silas and Victor’s expressed thoughts.

He hadn’t considered what he was asking when he thought of what if Sang couldn’t do this. What if she needed to back off and pick one?

Who would she pick, if any?

And if it wasn’t him, what would he do then?

Would he be able to live the rest of his life in the group knowing she picked one of the others? Could she continue to work in the group like that?

No. Every angle he pictured, North was right.

The dark mood he’d been in for days settled in more now. His stomach turned in turmoil. In confusion.

They needed to either decide to do this together, or they were asking to splinter the group forever.





The Exchange




Sang

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Close to one in the morning, I stood with Mr. Blackbourne near the back of the school as a large truck that normally brought in food for Bob’s Diner backed up toward the same two doors that opened up into the cafeteria.

Mr. Blackbourne signaled to them, noting where to back up and how far.

I kept an eye out on the surrounding grounds. North and I had witnessed something similar days ago. Paranoid, I kept particular attention to the woods and underneath the nearby buildings.

The truck parked. Both doors opened.

Uncle came around from the driver’s side. North from the other.

Uncle beamed. His bald head covered in a bandana. He wore a jean jacket and khaki pants. When he smiled, he formed wrinkles around his eyes and lips. “I don’t get out enough. This is actually exciting.”

Mr. Blackbourne approached him with a hand extended in offering. “Thanks for coming out to do this.”

Uncle took his hand, pumping up and down. “Sure, sure. I don’t know what I’m going to do with what you’re giving me.”

“We have to source what’s wrong with what,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “There may be more in the city going around that’s off like it is.”

“Right,” he said. “Good thinking. Do you want my team to handle it? Sounds like you’ve got enough going on here.”

“We’d appreciate the assistance,” he said. “We’ll give you the warehouse we think it came from. It’s where the school’s food ended up.”

“We’ll get on it,” he said. He turned to me. “Where’s Luke? He’s not with you?”

Did Luke say he was with me? I wasn’t sure how much information he gave Uncle on where he was. Uncle was part of the Academy, as far as I knew, but I didn’t know how much Luke kept from his Uncle about what we were up to. “I’m sure he’s around here somewhere,” I said, although I wasn’t totally sure where he was.

One of the brown doors behind us opened up. Nathan stood with the same wagon Mr. Morris and the other woman had used to cart stuff around. Silas stood by him. He looked once toward me and then on to Uncle and North. “Let’s get this over with,” Silas said. He headed toward the truck.

The truck was opened. Boxes were stacked high, taking up most of the space. “Since we don’t know what was brought in that could be the bad stuff,” Uncle said, “we’ll just have to replace everything. I think I have everything you’ll need for this upcoming week. Hopefully enough for two thousand kids.”

“We should be back on track by then with another normal food delivery,” Mr. Blackbourne said. “Are we ready?”

Nathan waited by the door, holding it open. I walked past Nathan, heading inside, ready to help sort what was coming in with what was going out.