Page 139 of Crucible

Sighing, I shove the last drawer closed and yank the sheet from my bed, wrapping it around my waist before walking back into the den. Seth avoids eye contact of any kind this time while I make my way to the stairs.

Thorin and I are closer in size, so I head into his room to raid his clothes and find a pair of cargo pants, socks, and a thermal.

For some reason, I peek inside Thorin’s bathroom—maybe to see if he’s hogging all the towels away—but all I see is…

Girl shit—bottles and jars upon bottles and jars of hair products, littering the sink and the ledge above it.

“Who’s gone soft now?” I say to no one.

I grab one of the many hair ties on the sink and pull my braids up before leaving the bathroom. The kitchen is my next stop. After raiding the fridge, I find soup and make myself a bowl. I can hear the tub’s water running downstairs as I eat, and when I’m done, I clean up after myself and go back downstairs to do the laundry.

Seth sings “High School” the entire time he bathes.

It’s one of Aurelia’s songs that he learned while we were at the camp, and I know why he took to it. Aurelia sings about all the things she missed chasing a dream, and Seth—in his own way—can relate. He never had a childhood or any of the normal experiences that Thor, Zeke, and I had. It’s not the first time I’ve considered that each of us might have more in common with Aurelia than sex.

I’m wrapping up the laundry by the time Seth finishes his soak, and I’m still fucking restless. I’ve been trying to put Thorin and Aurelia, and what they might be doing other than hunting,out of my head by keeping my hands and mind busy, but it’s not working.

Seth disappears inside his destroyed bedroom to get dressed, and when he returns, he’s not dressed to relax.

What a coincidence. Neither am I.

“Going somewhere?”

“I’m going to go find Sunshine, and you’re coming.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Cut the bullshit, Khalil. You know you want to see her.”

I roll my eyes but don’t object when Seth grabs my sleeve and pulls me out of the laundry room. I follow him upstairs, and together, we gear up and leave the cabin. We haven’t been home in two days, and it still feels that way because our home is out there somewhere—hopefully not driving each other crazy.

Seth and I search Thor’s usual hunting grounds but come up empty on each one. As we get further away from the cabin, I tell myself that Thorin wouldn’t be this stupid. The next spot we search is a large meadow near the lake that separates the Cold Peaks from the road to Hearth.

I sure as fuck hope Thorin wasn’t reckless enough to take Aurelia this close to civilization. The search is over, but we’re not in the clear yet. The Cold Peaks are still crawling with SAR while they break down the camps.

Seth and I argue about it the entire trek there.

I argue that Thor knows better.

Seth argues that Aurelia can be persuasive and can melt the mind with those soul-sucking eyes.

Madness.

We’ve all gone mad.

We’re nearing the meadow when the avalanche tracker in my pocket starts beeping. It startles the shit out of me because I don’t remember bringing it. I must have grabbed it withoutrealizing it, hoping to pick up Aurelia and Thorin’s trail with it once we got close enough.

Two hundred feet.

She’s close.

Hearing the steady beep, Seth stops, too, and cocks his head. “Sunshine?”

“I don’t see them, but they’re close.”

Pulling out the tracker, I turn this way and that, taking a few steps every time I switch directions until the number on the screen starts to count down.

Coming to a stop once it tells me I’m within a hundred feet, I turn my head this way and that, but I still don’t see her.

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