Human Bait

Chapter 43: Forget All of Your Troubles

Unfortunately, not seeing Rekkan only made me think about him more.

I thought about him through teaching children how to climb, and I thought of him while a drunken Uzmed jabbed me with a plastic blade and knocked back each of my attempts to do the same.

"Focus!" Uzmed demanded. "You fight worse than my eight-year-old daughter."

I shrugged. "I hear she fights well."

His scarred lips twitched, softening his face. "Well, yeah. She does."

I returned the smile, but only briefly. "Uzmed, how does Mazamu know you are training me to fight?"

He flipped his palms out wide. "Eh, Mazamu knows everything. Guess her hearing aids connect to secret microphones all over the Refuge."

"That doesn't... concern you?"

"I've got no problem with Mazamu. She gives me my information."

I tensed. "Really? What kind of information?"

"Gossip, mostly. Apparently Nezuli is bald now. That made Mazamu laugh so hard she swallowed a tooth."

Remembering the bald woman at the Ether temple, goosebumps rose on my arms. "What kind of allergic reaction does Nezuli have?"

"Fuck if I know." He tossed the plastic knife to me, and surprisingly, I managed to catch it. "Again," he said, raising his arms before him in a defensive posture. "Attack me."

I skirted a thumb along the dull blade, frowning. "I'm wasting your time. I'm not even improving."

"Just you wait." He jabbed a swaying finger in the air. "You may not notice every step along the way, but seemingly overnight, everything will change."

And Uzmed was right.

But not about my combat skills.

In the middle of the night, the thunderstorm started. Despite the meters of dirt above the Refuge, the crackle and boom shook my bedroom. Separated from the person I trusted and skeptical of the rest, the ominous echo frayed my nerves. To calm myself, I imagined Rekkan's even breath on the back of my neck; the weight of his arm draped over my shoulder; the worry lines of his forehead erased by slumber.

When I entered the cafeteria at breakfast time, the thunderstorm still raged. Each resounding boom rattled the web of overhead air ducts and vibrated through the metal tables and chairs. The oppressive atmosphere dampened the mood around the cafeteria, tensing shoulders and hushing voices.

The arrival of food did little to elevate the mood. While the three lab experts heaped eggs and hashbrowns onto their plates and shoveled bites into their mouths, most nibbled at their food. Figgel slipped into a glassy-eyed stupor without any tales of blood-soaked furniture and smashed-in heads, and even Ivogg lost his usual optimism. His checkered bowtie blazed as brightly as ever, but his gaze was distant and movements slow.

Across from me, Mekkar twirled his fork between his thumb and forefinger. "Thunder sure is loud today, isn't it?"

A hum of agreement passed around the table before everyone returned to silence. I cast an unwilling glance at the Northerner entrance. Even though I had promised Rekkan two days, I couldn't help hoping that he would enter any minute and take his seat beside me. He wasn't exactly a shining light of optimism, yet his presence never failed to comfort me.

Rekkan didn't come.

I ripped off the corner of a blueberry muffin and chewed it slowly.

When a clap of thunder shredded the quiet, Mekkar jolted an inch from his seat and gripped one hand in the other, knuckles whitening. "Thank Ether we put all those measures in place so the power can't go out, right?" His voice strained, and his gaze flicked between Zhina and Ivogg. "Right?"