Revolution- Runaways 3 [EDITING]

Chapter 20: Luke

Skye's bedroom was almost completely empty. She was sharing with Laura, but neither of them had more than a couple sets of clothes, toiletries, and a tiny inhaler for Laura's asthma. The inhaler reminded me of Marcus, giving me a fresh pang of loss. I shoved it aside. That wasn't the issue at hand.

I was in here looking for the flip phone that Micaiah, Peyton, and I had all seen her using at some point. But of course, it wouldn't be in her bedroom. It would be on her somewhere. And it was just as hard to sneak up on Skye as it was anyone else here.

An idea struck me out of the blue. I practically sprinted the few doors down back to Reese's bedroom. "Reese, you need to spar her," I insisted.

She raised both eyebrows at me quizzically. "What? And you expect me to do this how?"

"I don't know, just get her in some situation where you need to fight her," I continued.

"We've been told we don't have to worry about freeing camps or anything for a while. She's going to think a random sparring invitation is a bit questionable," Peyton pointed out.

I chewed my lip, thinking. "Well, what better idea do we have?"

She stared at the ground, thinking for a moment. "Well, I can do it. I would always partner with her in practice, and she would always win. I can use the excuse that I'm trying to best her."

"Do you have the ability to slip the phone off her when she least expects it?" Eli asked. "That's the point of the operation here. That phone is the only real piece of evidence we could use against her if things take a turn for the worse."

She nodded. "I think so. And if she were to take it out of her pocket to fight me, I assume you guys would be on standby to collect it."

"Oh, believe me, we'll have the whole bunker crew," Reese assured her. Silence settled over the room. When Reese realized what she had said, she clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god. I'm so sorry. This—this is the crew now." For the first time since I'd met her, her eyes misted over. "Aaliyah and Colin dead, Skye a—"

"Don't call her one until we know for sure," Micaiah interrupted. "Let's go find her to make the request."

We didn't have to look far. She was gathered with a few of the others around a table in the lobby. They had a deck of cards spread in front of them, but everyone had their eyes closed except Stella. I had no idea what they were playing, but we let them finish their round before Peyton pestered Skye.

"You know Skye," she started. "After getting some experience under pressure, I'm pretty sure I could beat you in a fight now. Up for the challenge?"

Skye looked at Peyton quizzically, her eyebrows drawn together tightly. She stayed silent for a moment before something unrecognizable clouded her expression. Her cards fell to the table as she stood and retreated to her bedroom, not even bothering to reply. Peyton swore under her breath.

Stella, Laura, Liz, Caleb, Calli, and Preston looked up from their cards. They were probably very uncomfortable right now.

"What was that about?" Calli asked.

I just shook my head. "It's not a big deal." Yet, I thought.

Micaiah nudged my shoulder. We didn't take into consideration that Peyton's human. Skye probably knew it was weird right off the bat, so she sifted through her thoughts and figured us out. His words forced their way directly into my head. I cringed inwardly, still wary of the sensation. We're going to have to ambush her. We have no other choice.