The Tainted (The Tainted Series Book 1) (22 page)

Deep pain and sorrow flashed across Maverick’s face as he locked eyes with Rebecca. Then, without saying a word, he shook his head slightly and backed away from them.

Ignoring the pangs of guilt she felt over what she’d just said, Rebecca spoke to the rest of the crew. “Liam saved me. He put his life on the line to get me out and find Trysten. He’s not like the other soldiers, you have to trust me.”

“If that’s true,” Owen tentatively said off to the side, “then what do we do now? It’s not like Liam can take Trysten back to their mother--the Aillil soldiers will kill them all.”

“That’s why I’m joining your group,” Liam said very matter-of-factly. “I’m going to take care of Trysten and train Rebecca.”

“Oh no you’re not!” Maverick instantly responded, a hint of forced laughter in his angry voice. “I refuse to let an
Aillil
be a part of this crew. End of story.”

Defiantly, Trysten crossed his arms across his chest, “If he can’t stay, then I’ll leave with him.”

“And so will I,” said Rebecca, copying Trysten’s stance.

“No, you won’t! Either of you!” Maverick was barely able to keep his temper under control as he glared at them.

Faolan, who hadn’t been ruffled by anything that had happened thus far, addressed Maverick in a calm voice. “It might be good for us to have an Aillil around. He knows about them--how they fight, how they track, how they train. He can teach us, prepare us for battle.”

“She’s got a point,” Owen said, shrugging his shoulders.

Etain took a few steps toward Maverick. “If he comes with us, it doesn’t mean he’s one of us. But, we could use his help, Ricky…Becs especially.” At her last words, Rebecca noticed Etain make a quick frightened glance in her direction.

As her anger surged, Rebecca bit her lower lip to stop short the snide retort she wanted to spit out at Etain. She wasn’t going to so easily forget the conversation she’d overheard between Etain and Maverick. After all the lies they’d told to her, and for so long, Rebecca had no intention of forgiving them. In fact, she’d never intended to return to the crew. As far as she was concerned, she was done with them. But she understood why Liam wanted to be with Trysten. And if this was his decision, then she would follow him. Rebecca knew she needed Liam’s help. For the first time, someone had given her hope that she might be able to control her gift, and she wasn’t willing to give that chance up, even if it meant rejoining the crew.

Maverick remained silent and scanned over the whole group, desperately hoping one of them would protest Liam’s joining, but no one spoke. Finally, he looked down at the ground and shook his head. “We’re going to regret this; don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

In one swift motion, Maverick lifted his head and locked eyes with Liam, his fierce glare filled with hatred. “If you put
one
toe out of line, if you do
one
thing that endangers my crew, I’ll finish what I started here today. Do you understand?”

A small smirk lit up Liam’s face, “Your love for your crew is commendable, but you’re blinded by your prejudice--”

Rebecca threw a hard elbow into Liam’s side, cutting off anything else he had to say. “What he means is, ‘Thank you,’ ” she said.

“Alright, let’s move out; back to the SUV,” Etain called out. “These woods are probably crawling with Aillil.” She turned and headed off through the trees, waving for the rest of the crew to follow.

The crew instantly complied. But both Aeden and Owen took a moment to give Rebecca a swift hug, welcoming her back, before they continued on. As angry as she was at Etain and Maverick, she had to admit it was still really nice to see the others. She would have missed them if she’d never seen them again.

As the group made their way forward, Liam and Trysten walked together. Though they stayed silent, they remained incredibly close to each other, as if neither was willing to let the other out of arms reach.

Rebecca had walked no more than a hundred yards when Faolan came up beside her. “You look tired and weak. Will you be able to make it to the SUV?”

“I’m fine,” Rebecca said, smiling at her friend. “I’m safe and that’s all that matters.”

Faolan returned Rebecca’s smile. “It’s nice to have you back--we missed you. Some of us more than others…” She nodded back to where Maverick was straggling far behind the group.

Rebecca’s face dropped into a scowl, “I don’t care.”

Faolan raised her eyebrows in surprise, but didn’t say anything. She only shrugged her shoulders and then sped forward ahead of the group, presumably to scout the woods.

Rebecca continued on alone in silence, watching the others in front of her. She was starving, her parched throat felt like sandpaper, her broken rib throbbed painfully in her chest, and her tired body threatened to collapse at any moment. But she was free. She was alive. And that was enough.