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"So, what’d she do, exactly? How did she coured it out for yourself, Willow’s toxic She’s dangerous and she’s toxic If it hadn’t been for your Willow, thingsbefore she ca her back here after all these years"

I frowned "It’s not like we had a lot of options We needed your help Besides, I think you have the wrong idea about Willow"

Griffin’s jaw tightened and her fists clenched "And you have a lot to learn about who you can and can’t trust," she stated, leaving little roo of the way Willow had been separated froot up, her brown eyes sending a shiver of warning up my spine "She’s fine For now" Her boots echoed off the tiles as she strode toward the door "I could be your ally, Kyra--you should remember that"

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Day Thirty

Blackwater Ranch

NOT BEING A PRISONER WAS AN AWFUL LOT LIKE being a prisoner, despite what Griffin said

The only positive side of my captivity was that I hadn’t been forced into solitary confinened to be not-cellmates While that part esome, we hadn’t had word from Simon, Thom, Willow, or Jett in thole days, which felt like an eternity when you hardly slept and were basically under house arrest

T sunrises to endure, both of which felt like they were getting worse More painful And two days of letting our ierous pasti whack job holding a grudge

Natty and I had been moved, and our new accommodations were less jail-like and more bunk-like, and now I understood what all the tents here were used for: barracks Our tent was not what I’d call luxurious, but it was the smell that bothered me most, a combination of dankere surrounded by nothing but sand

We were pretty easy to guard, though, since there was only a single tent flap leading inside, with no s or vents to circulate the stale air

But at least in the two days we’d been here, I’d had a few opportunities to practice uard," I whisper-told Natty, in case Buzz Cut, who refused to tellsomewhere on the other side of our tent

Natty hopped off her bunk and positioned herself in front of the inside of our tent flap "Maybe this ti expectantly, and I wondered if this was how she’d looked back when she’d waited for Little House on the Prairie to co, I turned to the pile of discarded clothes I’d left in a heap on the floor I tried to tap into that frenzied state of frustration Si my newfound skill But it wasn’t always easy to suh, et mad at I’d already tried Austin, Tyler’s brother and my ex-boyfriend Austin and I had spent our whole lives falling in love, and when I’d been returned, I’d still loved hih for Austin He’d already one one night, so it didn’t feel like he’d waited long enough But in reality, five years was a crazy long time

Besides, every tiether, some other random me angry Like the one time when Austin’s mom decided he and I should dress like Batman and Catwoman for Halloween, which would’ve been adorable in the fourth grade, except that I’d decided it would be even better if itched costumes instead Austin hadn’t even co I asked And the moment I pictured nine-year-old Austin stuffed into ht black suit with those precious cat ears perched lopsidedly on his head, all of ain

I tried being mad at my mom’s new husband, Grant, too But even that failed, because asmy family, deep down I knew that was all ht on Chuckanut Drive, I never would’ve vanished and ent Truman didn’t work either

Three days had passed since our run-in at the Tacoma facility, which meant the poor schmuck was probably dead by now And no matter how I tried to look at it, noWillow, I couldn’t choke down uilt for what I’d done to free her--that whole Code Red thing

I bent down and plucked the paperback I’d stolen from the library back in Columbia Valley fro to Tyler instead He would never have chosen Cat over iven up on me the way Austin had

Wasn’t that what he’d written in chalk on the street in front of my house, what he’d promised?

I’ll reone and let Sietting pissed was the key to my telekinesis Only I didn’t have to be h