The Host(158)
“Playing like a girl.”
He laughed, and I slipped the ball away from him again. The taunt wasn’t enough. I had an inspiration then, and I shot the ball through his goal, guessing it would probably be the last time I got to do it.
Mel objected. I don’t like this idea.
I’ll bet it works, though.
I put the ball back at center field. “You win, and you can sleep in my room while they’re gone.” I needed a good night’s rest.
“First to ten.” With a grunt, he launched the ball past me so hard that it rebounded off the distant, invisible wall behind my goal and came back to us.
I looked at Lily. “Was that wide?”
“No, it looked dead center to me.”
“One–three,” Ian announced.
It took him fifteen minutes to win, but at least I got to really work. I even squeezed in one more goal, of which I was proud. I was gasping for air when he stole the ball from me and sailed it through my goalposts for the last time.
He wasn’t winded. “Ten–four, I win.”
“Good game,” I huffed.
“Tired?” he asked, the innocence in his tone a bit overdone. Being funny. He stretched. “I think I’m ready for bed myself.” He leered in a melodramatic way.
I winced.
“Aw, Mel, you know I’m joking. Be nice.”
Lily eyed us, mystified.
“Jared’s Melanie objects to me,” Ian told her, winking.
Her eyebrows rose. “That’s… interesting.”
“I wonder what’s taking Wes so long?” Ian muttered, not taking much notice of her reaction. “Should we go find out? I could use some water.”
“Me, too,” I agreed.
“Bring some back.” Lily didn’t move from where she was half sprawled on the floor.
As we entered the narrow tunnel, Ian threw one arm lightly around my waist.
“You know,” he said, “it’s really unfair for Melanie to make you suffer when she’s angry at me.”
“Since when are humans fair?”
“Good point.”
“Besides, she’d be glad to make you suffer, if I’d let her.”
He laughed.
“That’s nice about Wes and Lily, don’t you think?” he said.
“Yes. They both seem very happy. I like that.”
“I like it, too. Wes finally got the girl. Gives me hope.” He winked at me. “Do you think Melanie would make you very uncomfortable if I were to kiss you right now?”
I stiffened for a second, then took a deep breath. “Probably.”
Oh, yes.
“Definitely.”
Ian sighed.
We heard Wes shouting at the same time. His voice came from the end of the tunnel, getting closer with each word.
“They’re back! Wanda, they’re back!”
It took me less than a second to process, and then I was sprinting. Behind me, Ian mumbled something about wasted effort.
I nearly knocked Wes down. “Where?” I gasped.
“In the plaza.”
And I was off again. I flew into the big garden room with my eyes already searching. It wasn’t hard to find them. Jamie was standing at the front of a group of people near the entrance to the southern tunnel.
“Hey, Wanda!” he yelled, waving.
Trudy held his arm as I ran around the edges of the field, as if she were holding him back from running to meet me.
I grabbed his shoulders with both hands and pulled him to me. “Oh, Jamie!”
“Did ya miss me?”
“Just a tiny bit. Where is everyone? Is everyone home? Is everyone okay?” Besides Jamie, Trudy was the only person here who was back from the raid. Everyone else in the little crowd—Lucina, Ruth Ann, Kyle, Travis, Violetta, Reid—was welcoming them home.
“Everyone’s back and well,” Trudy assured me.
My eyes swept the big cave. “Where are they?”
“Uh… getting cleaned up, unloading…”
I wanted to offer my help—anything that would get me to where Jared was so I could see with my own eyes that he was safe—but I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to see where the goods were coming in.
“You look like you need a bath,” I told Jamie, rumpling his dirty, knotted hair without letting go of him.
“He’s supposed to go lie down,” Trudy said.
“Trudy,” Jamie muttered, giving her a dark look.
Trudy glanced at me quickly, then looked away.
“Lie down… ?” I stared at Jamie, pulling back to get a good look at him. He didn’t seem tired—his eyes were bright, and his cheeks flushed under his tan. My eyes raked over him once and then froze on his right leg.
There was a ragged hole in his jeans a few inches above his knee. The fabric around the hole was a dark reddish brown, and the ominous color spread in a long stain all the way to the cuff.