Hollowed (33 page)

"
You didn
'
t know?
"
Fred asks, and I shake my head.
"
Mav said Joel brought her home one night. Didn
'
t offer any kind of an explanation. He wasn
'
t supposed to be infecting anyone so Maverick played it off like Ruby was his in case any of the elders came asking. But Joel was really possessive over her.
"

"
So when she left, he probably wasn
'
t too happy,
"
Oliver says
.

Dread
courses
through my stomach and up into my lungs until it threatens to suffocate me.
Why would Ruby lie to me? For a second, everything Noah has told me about her reverberates in my head and I have to force it aside. If what Fred is saying is true, t
hen Joel really is after Ruby, and he
'
s proven he
'
ll stop at nothing to get her back. On one hand, having him as an enemy is better than going up against Maverick, but Joel
'
s proven pretty damned good at being elusive.

Fred is watching me intently, looking like he wants to say something
,
but afraid to. Cole says his name, drawing his attention back to the others.
"
I would like to speak with Maverick on all of this,
"
he says.
"
Perhaps we can come to some arrangement. I would not like seeing him be punished for trying to protect his brood, so long as he isn
'
t going to let it come to his again.
"

Dark expression brightening, Fred lets out a sigh of relief.
"
That
'
d be great. He said to give you this.
"
He pulls a slip of paper from his pocket and hands it over. I catch a glimpse of a phone number on it.

Cole nods.
"
I will contact him to arrange a one-on-one meeting.
"

Oliver
'
s spine stiffens.
"
You can
'
t just—
"

"
This is something for the adults to deal with, Oliver,
"
he says, tone sharper than
I
'
m used to hearing
.
"
In the meantime, the rest of you can focus on finding Ruby and Joel and restrain them for questioning.
"

"
I can help
,
"
Fred says, stepping away from the window like he might be ready to leave.

Throwing myself at him to make him stay so I can grill him on Ruby seems like a bad idea. I
'
m not even sure what I would ask when it
'
s obvious everything he knows is hearsay anyway. Maverick would be the one to ask.

Still, I have to try. He has to know
something.

I give my biggest, saddest eyes to Daniel when I catch him looking my way. He smiles and spreads his arms wide.
"
Well, we all have much to accomplish in a short period of time,
non?
"
Cole and Oliver glance at me, seeming to get the hint
,
and Daniel ushers them out of the room.

The tension in Fred
'
s shoulders is so visible that I can see it slide right out of him when we
'
re alone again. He exhales, pocketing his hands.
"
Well...t
hanks. I
guess I
should get back.
"

"
You looked like you wanted to say something earlier,
"
I say before I can lose my nerve.
"
What was it?
"

Fred ducks his head with a sigh, studying his feet.
"
It
'
s not important.
"

"
Tell me anyway.
"

"
It
'
s just...
I mean, I shouldn
'
t say anything.
"
A crease forms where his brows draw together.
"
Everything that happened with Ruby was before I came along, so there
'
s no telling how accurate my info is...
"

I swallow hard. Even if it isn
'
t accurate, it
'
s still
something
and I feel like I
'
m back at square one in knowing
what happened to my sister
.
"
I
'
m taking everything I hear with a grain of salt right now until I get all this sorted out, but whatever you
'
ve heard would help.
"

Another sigh. Fred sinks down onto the bed beside me. Funny, I
'
m not even worried about keeping my hand near the gun anymore. The more I watch him, the look in his ey
es, the more I think Fred is...
a lot like me. A lonely kid trying to figure out their place in this
crazy
life we
'
ve fallen into. I wonder if he chose to be turned. If he regrets it now.

"
Maverick said Ruby really hated the rules,
"
he tells me.
"
She pushed limits a lot. But Joel? He never had a problem with her. In fact, they were
...
pretty close.
"

I frown.
"
Close, like
..."

"
Like, an item. I think. That was the impression I got.
"
He shrugs.
"
Joel w
as pretty torn up when she left
. Explains why he was so mad. Not only did she ditch the group, but she ditched without him.
"

Joel and Ruby. I didn
'
t get the impression she was with the group for that long. Long enough to get over Noah and hook up with another guy? She didn
'
t mention anything about it. Neither did Noah, which tells me he probably doesn
'
t know. Anything to make Ruby look bad he
'
s more than happy to bring up.

I turn my attention to the window, exhaling. Every fact brought to light leaves me more and more in the dark.

"
Something bothering you?
"
he asks.

Plenty of things. Anything I
'
m going to tell him? Pfft.
"
Don
'
t worry about it. I thought you had to get back.
"

"
Guess so.
"
Fred purses his lips, scratching at his jaw.
"
Just
...
you know. This all seems like a lot. So if you wanna talk or
...
whatever.
"

I twist around and stare at him. Really stare at him. Trying to figure out what he
'
s playing at. All I s
ee looking back at me is a sad
guy not much older than me. Somehow, I know without even asking that this isn
'
t a life he chose for himself. He looks as lost and out of place as I did.

The words spill out before I can try to filter them.
"
I killed someone.
"

Holy God, am I really going to talk to him about this? Then again, maybe he
'
s the most logical choice. Not because I feel like I know him, but maybe because he
'
s a complete stranger to me. I don
'
t give a damn what Fred thinks of me, so there
'
s no reason to be afraid.

And there
'
s no judgment in Fred
'
s eyes. Just
quiet
understanding as he nods slowly and waits for me to elaborate. After a second, I do.

"
When Joel tossed me off the roof. There was this guy and he tried to save me and I just
..."
Waving my hands, gesturing, as though I could possibly gesture how I tore into his throat the way I did.

"
So it was an accident?
"

"
Yes. No. I don
'
t know
...
Saying it was an accident feels like I
'
m making excuses.
"
I rub at my eyes.
"
I was so out of it
. A
ll I could think of was needing to feed so I could heal. When I was finally thinking clear again, he was already dead.
"

He considers that.
"
Sounds like an accident to me.
"

"
But it
'
s—
"

"
Briar. Saying it was an accident doesn
'
t cheapen how badly you feel about it. That point is that you
do
feel guilty.
"
His fingers touch to
his
chest, over
his
heart.
"
So long as you weren
'
t out to intentionally hurt the guy and you
'
re sorry for it, then forgive yourself and let it go.
"
A grin spreads over his face.
"
If it helps any, I
'
ll forgive you for it first. If I can do it, so can everyone else.
"

I
'
m utterly torn between thinking he
'
s a moron and being
...
relieved. Thinking maybe he
'
s right.
I
'
m not too bad off if I
'
m capable of feeling remorse for what I did.

Even if I wouldn
'
t have cared if Fred thought I was a monster for my mistake, I
'
m still glad he
'
s here, smiling at me that way. Knowing my secret but not hating me for it. I take a deep breath, forcing out some of the tension in my shoulders on exhale.
"
Thanks, Fred.
"

Shrug.
"
Don
'
t mention it.
"
He nudges me with an elbow.
"
Now, I
'
ve been meaning to ask you about
one of the guys that was in here.
"

"
Uh?
"

"
The tall one.
"
A lazy smirk plays
across his face.
"
Your ‘date.
'"

My
...
oh.
Oh.
Well, lost that one, huh? I fold my arms stiffly across my chest.
"
His name is Daniel.
"

"
Is he human?
"

"
Maybe.
"
None of his business, honestly.

He
hmm
'
s
.
"
And you weren
'
t really on a date.
"

"
Well, not—
I mean. You know. Technically?
"

"
Technically.
"

"
I guess
...
not.
"
My cheeks burn.
"
But that
'
s only because I don
'
t think Daniel
'
s really into girls.
"

Fred pauses.
"
Oh.
"

"
Yeah. He said you were cute, though.
"
I take great joy in watching how uncomfortable
this
statement makes him. He stands, holding up his hands.