Meanwhile, Elia had slipped, unnoticed into the bathroom. Hovsep had left a white rag on the counter with a note on it. Take it with you. Elia wasted no time; she wet the rag, wrung it out and rejoined Randell and Jaumet.
They had pulled out of their hug and Jaumet was slumped against the wall behind the bed. Elia cocked her head at Jaumet.
“Doing okay?” He nodded distractedly. She made quick work of cleaning and healing where the pain spells had broken skin. She turned to Randell and gave him a questioning look. He nodded his permission and slipped his white blood and sweat-soaked shirt over his head. And Elia cleaned out the new wounds on his back, not mentioning the three
already scarred over. As she worked on Randell’s back, Jaumet turned his head.
“What’s next?” Elia didn’t look up as she answered.
“We find you a place to hide.” Randell turned his head as far as he could without shifting his back.
“Where?”
“In plain sight.”
“What?”
“I’m taking you back to the compound.” Randell and Jaumet made eye contact in one lightning movement. Randell shook his head and Jaumet nodded in agreement. Before Elia could make any move, Jaumet and Randell were at the door. They hit something before
they crossed the threshold, something that made them flinch back and turn to Elia.
Her green eyes were apologetic.
“You have to trust me,” she pleaded. “If you go out there, the sniffers will be on you before you know it. They’ll take you back, and maybe next time you won’t be so lucky.”
Jaumet looked to Randell, who hesitated. Elia saw the look and bit her lip. “Please, you have to trust me.” Jaumet pierced his friend with his eyes. Randell sighed.
“What do we have to do?”
Nihilistic Porcupine 