Page 110 of Those That Are Lost

They all stop talking. Antares goes back to tending to his wounds, moving on to inspect the deep purple blooming along his rib cage.

“What did Adicious want with you anyway?” he asks, changing the subject.

“To tell me that we’re having a mating ceremony the day after tomorrow.”

All four males in the room take a collective breath. I dart a look at Jackson. The other three I can trust implicitly at this point but I’m still hesitant around the newer member of this squad. Picking up on everyone’s hesitance to say more, Jackson stands.

“I’ll go get a packet of blood for Antares, help him with the healing.” He leaves, closing the door behind him. I feelbad but it was only this afternoon that I really got talking to him.

“One more day, that’s all we have?” Mitch asks in a hushed voice.

“Looks that way,” I reply, sitting down on the bed, curling my legs up underneath my body.

“Is that enough time?” Atlas asks.

“I hope so.”

“Well, so far I think we can count on Jackson, Bartosz, and us two.” Mitch counts on his fingers. “We know Ronan, Cairn, and Tripp are not options, neither are those other four that seem to worship Adicious’s every word. That’s eleven accounted for.”

“How many are even here? Aren’t a few still on the continent?”

“Yes. Tate, Miller, Landon, and Silas are all still out hunting.” Atlas counts off a further four names.

“And Demetri is dead. That makes sixteen,” I state.

“No, that's fifteen. We’re missing one,” Antares corrects me.

“Ty was the sixteenth. Adicious never replaced him,” Mitch tells him.

“Do we think the four out hunting are likely to return by tomorrow?” No one answers my question and my stomach sinks with the realisation of how I can find out. “Crap. That means I need to speak to Adicious again today, see if I can get him to tell me their whereabouts.”

“Even if they arrive back, it's not a lot of time to figure out whose side they’re going to land on,” Antares says.

“Tate and Silas I think would vote to leave if they could. Landon and Miller I’m not so sure about.”

“But you can’t be certain of any of them?”

“No, but I’ve spent quite a bit of time with Tate, and he and Silas share a lot.”

“How are they paired currently?”

“Adicious split them up, Tate is with Landon, Miller and Silas are together.”

“Hhmmm…” I tap my fingers against my knee. “There’s not much we can do about them. If they arrive back for themating ceremony…”I air quote, “... we will just have to assess them quickly. Or try to capture rather than kill them.”

That leaves a sombre note on this conversation.

“Have you informed him?” Antares asks, I know exactly who he means.

“No, I was talking to him whensomeonedecided to challenge one of the bastards we’re trying to take down to a fight.”

“I’m sorry!” Antares turns from the mirror and gives me huge puppy dog eyes.

I feel the pang of remorse run through him too. He doesn't like having me mad at him. I open an arm and he bounces across the room and into an awkward side-on, one armed hug. His enthusiasm, however, has me nearly toppling sideways and Atlas has to jump out the way as we nearly spill off the bed and onto the floor.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Please forgive me. I just wanted to smack the smirk off that dick’s face. I’m sorry.”

I find myself bursting into laughter as we right ourselves. “I forgive you.”