Liam left me earlier with a tray full of food, then returned with fresh new clothes that fit more on me than the one I was wearing. Liam never left my side and only did when I needed to change my clothes. He left the room but was always standing behind the closed door.
He also said that I will be staying in his bungalow until Peter gives further notice. He said I can occupy the bedroom where I slept last night.
"Will you be sleeping here too?"
He shakes his head but flashes me a mischievous grin before saying, "but I can sleep here if you want me to," He just chuckles while sending me his playful wink.
My cheeks are suddenly hot.
He leads me out of the room, and we walk down the stairs to the living room. Liam's bungalow consists of two stories with two bedrooms and one bathroom on the second level. A cozy living room with a long couch, kitchen, dining table, and an office on the first floor.
After he gives me a brief house tour, we walk outside. His bungalow is surrounded by dense trees, and I know what he meant by solitary now. It feels almost peaceful if I'm not captivated right now. The winter breeze hits my face, making me sneeze.
"Do you live here alone?"
"Yes. Nobody wants to stay here because this is the closest one to the lockup," he says.
"Are you like a guard or something?" I ask him with my hands buried deep inside my jacket pocket.
He shrugs, "no, not really. I'm in charge of the Rebel captives, the guards patrolling control timetable, the hunting schedule, and I also train the Warriors archery and gun shooting."
"You can use guns?" my eyes widen.
He nods casually as if gun shooting is just another daily routine besides showering.
"We really need much catching up to do, my friend!"
He laughs at me. "Yes, we do."
***
Liam stopped in front of me before we entered Peter's driveway..
"Talk to neither Aiden nor me. Pretend like we're strangers," he squeezes my shoulders.
"Why?"
"He can never discover that Aiden is your brother and we're friends."
Friends? I mean... I know you can't label a relationship with someone you didn't talk to for seven years. But is it really how he sees us? Because I can feel a pinch of pain in my heart after hearing him say that. "What if he finds out?"
"He will kill us," he says weakly, with worry in his eyes.
As we continue to walk, I can see Laurie sitting in the same spot as yesterday. He nods to Liam, and Liam replies with a smile. My legs suddenly become so weak when we finally reach the front door.
Liam doesn't need to knock and just bursts in like he's visiting his best friend's house. He leads me to a half-closed door on the right side of the kitchen. This time he knocks on the door before someone answers from inside the room.
"Come in!"
Liam pushes the door wider and motions to me with his head to come inside. When I entered, I became overwhelmed by the number of books in the room. I'm guessing that this is Peter's office? He does not look like the kind of guy who loves to read.
"Ava, good to see you again!" Pete asks from his seat behind a huge desk. He doesn't look up from his note while writing something in it.
"Who's Ava?" someone suddenly asks from across the room.
I turn my focus from Peter to the source of that voice. James catches my eyes, and the image of my bruised stomach that he gave me comes into my mind. I want to strangle him to death right now!
Peter peers up to see James's confused look, "why are you still doing here, James? I thought I asked you to help Aiden with the training."
James approaches me, "I thought you were Chloe?" he says like it's a question.
"Well then, you thought wrong, dickhead!" I narrow my eyes at him, threatening him to stop coming near me.
"You son of a b-" James says under his breath before raising his fist.
Liam immediately stands before me, taking James's hand in his. "Peter wants you out, James! Now!" Liam growls in his Obel's authority tone.
I feel cold from his body radiating around me. It makes my brain react to his voice, and I become rigid in my place even though it is directed at James.
James drops his hand to his side in defeat and stomps out of the room, bumping his shoulder hard into me.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" someone must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
Peter chuckles calmly. "He hates Rebels," when he looks up, his eyes meet mine.
"Why does he hate Rebels?"
"His parents were killed by Rebel runaways," Liam answers me for Peter.
Peter nodded his head in agreement, but he didn't say anything else.
"So, what do you want from me?" I ask him right to the point.
"It sounds bad coming out of your mouth like that," Peter smiles at me. That kind of smile makes him look like a psycho before he kills his victims.
"Because it is bad," I roll my eyes at him.
Peter raises one of his eyebrows. "Do you even know what I will talk to you about?"
I shrug at him. "So, you finally decided to kill me?"
He doesn't say anything but stands up and walks up to me. "That's when you're wrong, my beautiful Ava." He sits on the edge of the table, and he takes my hand. I can feel Liam's body suddenly get tense next to me.
I take my hand away from him. "First of all, I'm not yours. Second, I'll either deny, ignore, or don't care about whatever it is you're going to say. Third, tell me straight to the point because I don't have time for your bullshit!"
Peter laughs hard like I made the funniest joke he's ever heard. This guy really creeps me out! He's very handsome, actually, but that's what makes him even creepier!
"I want to offer you to do something for me, and in return, I will spare your life and your friend's life."
"What if I refuse?"
"I can promise you that today will be yours and your friend's last sunset you'll ever witness."
"See? That's the thing! You're not even giving me any choice! That is why all you have to say is going to be bad for me." I throw my hands in the air and sigh in defeat.
"What do you mean? I do give you a choice!"
"Yeah, to freaking DIE!" I feel my tears starting to flood the edge of my eyes.
"Is that not a choice?"
"Go to hell, Peter! I'm not doing whatever you want me to do."
He takes my hand, "I'm sorry for giving you no choice, but I also have no choice. I know you want to save your friend's life, and I know you want to keep yours. So, I'm giving you and your friend a second chance to live."
"What kind of second chance are you even offering me here? I don't need it in the first place if you would just let me go back to wherever I came from!"
"Ava, remember that any Rebel in this camp never comes out alive. Once you step into this territory, it is as good as you are dead. You are dead to anyone out there, but for me, you're not because I'm giving you a second chance!"
"You know what this is wasting my time," I bite my bottom lip. "Fine, just tell me what you want me to do?!"
"I know that you were lying about coming from the city," Peter says, catching me off guard. "I'm not stupid, Ava! You can never lie to me. Has Liam already told you about this camp?"
I nod my head.
"Good. I will send you back to the Fighter's camp in three days. If you ask me why I need three days, I want your wounds to heal first. When you return, I want you to gather as much important information as possible. Here's the list of information I need you to find out." He shoves a neatly folded paper into my jacket pocket. When I reach it, he grabs my hand.
"You can read it later. I will give you one week to get all the information, and then you will go to the stream. Someone will pick you up there."
"Wait, hold on! You want me to return to my camp and then come back here again?" I look at him in horror.
Peter only nods his head without saying a word. "It's simple, isn't it?"
"Simple my ass! You can't-" I was trying to protest, but he cut me off.
"And you will give me all the information I need. Then I will release your friend, and you can return to your camp or run away to the city or whatever you want to do after that. Do you understand?" He looks at me expectantly.
"Aren't you afraid I'll just tell everyone in my camp about your existence?"
"No, I believe you won't. Unless you don't care about Sierra, things will go differently than I have planned. Her life is in your hands now. You can tell anyone about me or this camp, and you can also tell your friend goodbye. And for the sake of my Warriors, I would be sorry to see you both drown in your own pool of blood."
"What if I don't care about her? You can kill her. I don't mind!" I snort at him, but he knows I'm just bluffing.
"Fine, I will kill her. I can also kill your brother. How about that?"
All I want right now is to scream out my anger, gouge out his beautiful eyes with my two bare hands, and shove them up to his ass! I thought he didn't know about Aiden. Why did Liam say...
I can see from the corner of my eyes that Liam's face's color has faded. I think he's also not breathing. So, Liam didn't know about Peter's new threat, did he?
"Don't touch him!" My voice is trembling with anger.
"It will be so easy to end his life. Soundlessly. Effortlessly. All I need is to walk into his room at night and drench him in his blood. How thin do you think is the skin on Aiden's neck?" His lips quirk up, sending goosebumps all over my body.
A hot tear streams down my left cheek. Liam's body radiates cold, and I can feel it. He's as angry as I am. But the heat that comes from the adrenaline in my veins is stronger. I can burn this house down if I let it all out.
Peter stands up, still with a smile plastered on his face. "You'll be staying with Liam until then." He turns his gaze from me to Liam.
I hope Liam won't do or say anything stupid. If he does, Peter will also add him to the list of the people I need to protect.
"You may take her back, Liam. Don't forget to feed her and clean up the wound."
Liam nods quickly with his façade face. He grabs my arms so tight, and I can tell he is so angry that he has to squeeze the blood out of his vessel. Before we reach the door, Peter calls out again.
"Oh, Ava, be careful on your mission. I want you to stay alive until we meet again! Lucas hates traitors." He smiles at his notebook.