The Host (The Host #1)(194)

I stood very still, trying to hear something. The huge cavern was silent, and the silence was ominous. Where was everyone?

Had they evacuated without me? A pang of fear and hurt shot through me. But they wouldn’t have left without Doc, of course. They would never leave Doc. I wanted to dart back through the long tunnel to make sure Doc had not disappeared, too.

They wouldn’t go without us, either, silly. Jared and Jamie and Ian wouldn’t leave us behind.

You’re right. You’re right. Let’s… check the kitchen?

I jogged down the silent corridor, getting more anxious as the silence continued. Maybe it was my imagination, and the loud thumping of my pulse in my ears. Of course there must be something to hear. If I could calm down and slow my breathing, I’d be able to hear voices.

But I reached the kitchen and it was empty, too. Empty of people. On the tables, half-eaten lunches had been abandoned. Peanut butter on the last of the soft bread. Apples and warm cans of soda.

My stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten at all today, but I barely noted the twist of hunger. The panic was so much stronger.

What if… what if we didn’t evacuate soon enough?

No! Mel gasped. No, we would have heard something! Someone would have… or there would be… They’d still be here, looking for us. They wouldn’t give up until they’d checked everywhere. So that can’t be it.

Unless they’re looking for us now.

I spun back toward the door, my eyes darting through the shadows.

I had to go warn Doc. We had to get out of here if we were the last two.

No! They can’t be gone! Jamie, Jared… Their faces were so clear, as if they were etched onto the insides of my eyelids.

And Ian’s face, as I added my own pictures to hers. Jeb, Trudy, Lily, Heath, Geoffrey. We’ll get them back, I vowed. We’ll hunt them down one by one and steal them back! I won’t let them take my family!

If I’d had any doubts where I stood, this moment would have erased them. I’d never felt so fierce in all my lives. My teeth clenched tight, snapping together audibly.

And then the noise, the babble of voices I’d been so anxiously straining to hear, echoed down the hall to us and made my breath catch. I slid silently to the wall and pressed myself into the shadow there, listening.

The big garden. You can hear it in the echoes.

Sounds like a large group.

Yes. But yours or mine?

Ours or theirs, she corrected.

I crept down the hall, keeping to the darkest shadows. We could hear the voices more clearly now, and some of them were familiar. Did that mean anything? How long would it take trained Seekers to perform an insertion?

And then, as I reached the very mouth of the great cave, the sounds became even clearer, and relief washed through me—because the babble of voices was just the same as it had been my very first day here. Murderously angry.

They had to be human voices.

Kyle must be back.

Relief warred with pain as I hurried into the bright sunlight to see what was going on. Relief because my humans were safe. And pain because if Kyle was already safely back, then…

You’re still needed, Wanda. So much more than I am.

I’m sure I could find excuses forever, Mel. There will always be some reason.

Then stay.

With you as my prisoner?

We stopped arguing as we assessed the commotion in the cavern.

Kyle was back—the easiest one to spot, the tallest in the crowd, the only one facing me. He was pinned against the far wall by the mob. Though he was the cause of the angry noise, he was not the source of it. His face was conciliatory, pleading. He held his arms out to the sides, palms back, as if there was something behind him he was trying to protect.

“Just calm down, okay?” His deep voice carried over the cacophony. “Back off, Jared, you’re scaring her!”

A flash of black hair behind his elbow—an unfamiliar face, with wide, terrified black eyes, peeked around at the crowd.

Jared was closest to Kyle. I could see that the back of his neck was bright red. Jamie clung to one of his arms, holding him back. Ian was on his other side, his arms crossed in front of him, the muscles in his shoulders tight with strain. Behind them, every other human but Doc and Jeb was massed in an angry throng. They surged behind Jared and Ian, asking loud, angry questions.

“What were you thinking?”

“How dare you?”

“Why’d you come back at all?”

Jeb was in the back corner, just watching.

Sharon’s brilliant hair caught my eye. I was surprised to see her, with Maggie, right in the center of the crowd. They’d both been so little a part of life here ever since Doc and I had healed Jamie. Never in the middle of things.

It’s the fight, Mel guessed. They weren’t comfortable with happiness, but they’re at home with fury.

I thought she was probably right. How… disturbing.

I heard a shrill voice throwing out some of the angry questions and realized that Lacey was part of the crowd, too.

“Wanda?” Kyle’s voice carried across the noise again, and I looked up to see his deep blue eyes locked on me. “There you are! Could you please come and give me a little help here?”

CHAPTER 55

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Jeb cleared a path for me, pushing people aside with his rifle as though they were sheep and the gun a shepherd’s staff.