Nothing.
Juno nearly dropped to the ground right there. Why wasn’t he here? Why hadn’t he come to see her?
Unwilling to give up, Juno heaved herself onto the beam. Maybe she could see from up here, tell if he was coming or not. She gave a low grunt when she pulled herself over the edge and rolled onto the top.
“Juno?”
She yanked in a sharp breath. “Maddox.”
She rolled over and got to her feet, so happy to see him she barely noticed that he hadn’t moved from his spot on the ground. He sat, legs crossed, eyes squinted in the sun.
She stopped halfway to him. “Are you okay?”
He glanced down at himself as if she had seen something he didn’t. “Yes. Why?”
“I thought—I thought maybe…” Juno shook her head. What had she thought? That he’d been hurt? That he’d been caught and, worse, punished?
Now he sat here looking perfectly safe and unharmed, and he wouldn’t even get up to say hello.
“I thought something happened,” she whispered, confused and aching for him to get up and come to her.
He lifted his eyebrows. “What?”
Her heart dropped when she realized everything was fine. If something had been wrong, he would have told her. He would come to her right now and kiss her and they’d figure it out.
“Never mind,” she said flatly. “I just…”
“What?” he asked again. “Can’t get enough of me?”
Something was wrong. This wasn’t right at all. This wasn’t Maddox. He wasn’t happy to see her—and he was calm.
That was almost worse. That he was acting like nothing was wrong, even though he knew how bad the situation between their sides had gotten.
“Maddox…” She glanced away before he could see the tears in her eyes.
To her shock, he leaned back and pillowed his hands behind his head. Then he started whistling.
“I don’t…” She took one small step forward, lifting her hands. “I don’t understand.”
“What’s not to understand?” he asked. “I’m relaxing. Taking a break. And…now you’re in my sun.”
She took a hasty step back and then frowned. Why was he being so cold? Something must have happened—she knew it.
“Maddox, please. Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Wrong?” He grinned up at her. “Nothing’s wrong. Why would you think that?”
“Because…this isn’t like you.”
“Me?” He gave a laugh that she swore sounded a little choked. “This is exactly like me. Taking time away from the stress. But now you’re here, and there’s more stress.”
The words stabbed her right in her heart. She was causing him stress? Sure, they both had stress from sneaking around, but hadn’t he said just this morning that he wanted to see her here? He’d acted like they were in this together.
Or was that just a show for Pillar? To make it look like he was a good guy when all along, he wasn’t.
Her lip wobbled, and she backed up another step. “What’s going on with you?”
He didn’t move a muscle. Nothing changed on his face except for the smallest frown. “What’s going on is that I can’t do this with you anymore. I’m done.”
Then he closed his eyes and started whistling again.
Done.
That was it. He’d ended everything they had with one word—enough to make Juno feel like they had nothing in the first place. The whole relationship. Every kiss, every secret, every shared worry was a lie.
Juno stifled a sob and gritted her teeth as she scrambled down the side of the bridge. She almost slipped several times, but hung on tight, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her weak again.
Juno landed hard on the ground with a thud and ducked under the bridge. Her thirst was replaced with anger—sharp throbbing stabs of it straight through her body—and she’d do anything she could do to keep the misery at bay.
She kicked one of the empty rat traps then turned, tempted to take it with her. He deserved it—and so did she. She’d come all the way out here just to warn him—to help him—and he’d dismissed her.
He didn’t want to be with her.
She got as far as lifting the trap before she set it back down with a huff. No way. She wasn’t stooping to his level. He could be an asshole if he wanted, but she was going to prove to him and to herself that she was better than that.
Juno turned away from the bridge, and this time, she didn’t look back. She ran, through the buildings and along the familiar path she’d taken so many days to see Maddox. She only slowed when she reached the border. Then she wiped her cheeks and squared her shoulders. She couldn’t let anyone see her like this. Not even Pillar.
She’d pretend she was fine. She’d lie, even to herself. Enough to get through the day, until she could break down in private.
She could talk to Pillar tonight, tell her the plan, and then head out bright and early tomorrow. She’d done all she could do here, and it was time to move on.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maddox
He hadn’t just been mean; he’d been horrible. Maddox had let Juno believe he didn’t care. He’d let her walk away without telling her the truth.
But he had to. He had to make it look convincing. If Theo even thought Maddox was seeing Juno, he’d tell the entire community. Juno would be at risk.
And for all he knew, Theo had been following him. He might have followed him all the way to the bridge just to make sure Maddox did his part.
It was only temporary, he had to remind himself. Hopefully, she’d move to the bridge today, and sometime in the next few days, maybe next week, he could find her again. She’d be safe out here, wherever she chose to live, and he’d tell her how sorry he was. That he was trying to keep her safe and this was the only way he knew how.
And he’d tell her more. That he…
Maddox cleared his throat as he walked back into his community with a bag full of rats. Well, he had feelings for her. Strong feelings. Which meant keeping her safe was that much more important.
He stopped at the fire pit outside the dining hall and set down the bag of rats. But he knew he’d devastated her. He hated that look on her face. Hated that he hadn’t found a better way to let her down.
How was he supposed to live with what he’d done? He was hurting the only person he’d really let himself care for in a long time. What if she never talked to him again? What if she wouldn’t even let him apologize?
The long poker clanged against the metal of the grill when he snatched it out. “Damn it.”
Cooking rats was the last thing he wanted to do right now. He didn’t want to eat. He didn’t want to sit with his mom and Theo and the rest of the community. He wanted Juno.
Maddox ran a hand through his hair and released a breath.
“Screw it,” he murmured, jabbing the fattest rat he could find in the bag.
He’d find her tomorrow. Or the next night. However long it took to apologize. She’d probably turn her back on him. She probably hated him. But he had to try.
He had to let her know how he really felt and tell her that the only reason he’d given her the cold shoulder was because of Theo.
Maddox finished cooking the rats and brought them into the dining hall. He looked around at the tables with a frown. His mom wasn’t there, and neither was Theo. In fact, hardly anyone was there.
He set the plate down and walked to the closest table. “Where is everyone?”
The man looked up from his bowl of vegetables. “You didn’t hear?”
Maddox’s heart almost stopped. He’d almost forgotten that the other community had one of their people. He glanced out the door—Theo could be over there right now, starting a war.
“You mean…” He cleared his throat. “About the other side…?”
“Yeah. They sent someone to the border earlier with a demand. They’d give James back if we gave them all our supplies.”
Maddox’s blood
turned cold. Supplies. No. No way. This couldn’t be how everyone found out.
He left the plate and ran out the door, jogging across the courtyard and around the corner. He hit a wave of people all talking at once. Voices were panicked, angry.
Fearful.
“What’s going on?” Maddox asked, though he already knew.
“Someone stole our supplies,” came the first reply, followed by, “our supplies are missing,” and, “the others must have taken them.”
Maddox shoved through the crowd, trying to find Theo or his mom. He knew both had to be close by. He tripped over someone’s foot and stumbled, but he didn’t stop until he reached the front.
Theo and Alice stood inside the mostly empty storage room, hands on their hips. Both glanced over when he appeared.
Theo gestured to the inside of the room. “Have you seen this?”
“It’s… I should have said something before,” Maddox blurted.
Alice’s eyes widened. Then she shouted at the rest of the group. “Get your dinner and give us some space to figure this out!” She grabbed his arm then shut the door, leaving them alone in the empty room.
A small amount of sunlight filtered through the slats at the top of the walls, but it was dim and dusty inside.
“What the hell is going on?” Alice asked him.
Maddox released a long breath. “I noticed the supplies were missing several weeks ago.”
“Weeks?”
He nodded, glancing at Theo. His brother still had his hands on his hips, his jaw locked.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Theo asked.
“Because I was trying to figure out who did it.”
“You have an idea who did this?” Alice asked, eyes flicking to the rest of the room. “How did they get in?”
He swallowed and glanced at Theo again. “The lock was open like—like someone picked it. Or—or…I don’t know.”
He hadn’t gotten any further than suspicions. Once he’d started spending time with Juno, he’d barely thought about the missing supplies. He hadn’t wanted to think about them. He just wanted a normal life, and for once, it had felt like he had one.
“We know who did this,” Theo said. “It’s obvious.”
Alice glanced in the direction of the border while Maddox shook his head.
“No…wait. We don’t know that for sure.” He looked at his mom, knowing this was the moment to try to make them listen. “It’s more complicated than that.”
“What’s complicated?” Theo asked with a harsh laugh. “They’ve been on our side of the border before. And again this morning.”
Maddox’s anger flared. He locked stares with Theo, a fire of disbelief building inside of him. His brother wouldn’t blame Juno for this. He couldn’t. He’d only seen her on this side of the border once. Unless…unless he’d been following Maddox, spying on him like Maddox had asked.
“You saw someone over here this morning?” Alice asked.
“I did see someone over here,” Theo said, his eyes not leaving Maddox’s. His fingers inched toward his waistband where Maddox could see the bulge of the gun. “More than once. I don’t know her name, but I know her face.”
Fear strangled him. He had to warn Juno. But Alice was already nodding.
“No, Mom, wait,” Maddox said, holding out his hands in appeal. “She was over here because of the nets and—and then—”
“That’s half our supplies and extra food, Maddox,” she said, sounding resigned. “I know you don’t want us to fight with the other side, but we can’t let this go. And if you knew anything about this, you should have come straight to me.”
Shame washed over Maddox. He knew he should have. It might have stopped so many problems before they started. But how was he supposed to know? He thought he’d been doing the right thing. And then the right thing had turned into the thing that made him feel alive again, and he couldn’t see anything else but that.
“Justice,” Theo murmured, a glint in his eye that made Maddox shiver. “That’s what we need now. I’ll gather a group, and we’ll head over there right away.”
Alice sighed. “I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this.”
“Come to what?” Maddox asked, spinning to face her. “We don’t know someone from the other community did this. We don’t have any proof.”
“Who else would have done it?” Theo asked. “We’ve seen one of them on our side of the border, and now they have James. It seems pretty obvious to me. We need to tell them what really happened, so they let James go and the right person will be held responsible.”
“What are you going to do?” Maddox asked, his hands curling into fists.
“What needs to be done.” Theo nodded at Alice. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Wait,” Maddox said, following his mom when she opened the door. “We should think about this. Talk about this.”
Alice gave him a sad smile. “I know you want to believe the best in people, but not everyone is good like you.”
“I went on their side of the border,” he blurted, trying anything that might get her to change her mind.
Alice stopped and turned, her mouth open in surprise. “When?”
“Just before our supplies went missing.”
She rubbed her fingers on her forehead. “Please tell me you didn’t take anything.”
“Take anything? No. I was just looking at the nets to see how we could start fishing on our side. But…someone saw me.”
“Maddox.” Alice closed her eyes briefly, looking like she was trying to stop herself from saying something she might regret. “You think this is why someone stole our supplies? Because they saw you?”
“Yes. No. Maybe. I don’t think our supplies were stolen because of that. I’m just saying—”
“What? What are you saying?”
Maddox started talking, so fast he was practically babbling. “I don’t know. Just that—that maybe we should think about this before we do anything. I mean, maybe it wasn’t someone from the other side. Or—or—”
“Theo saw someone,” Alice said as though explaining things to a small child. “If you didn’t take anything from them, and no one came to discuss seeing you on their side of the border, then we’re still in the same place. Someone stole from us, and Theo’s pretty sure he knows who did it.”
“But he didn’t see them take anything—”
“It was after you were on their side of the border,” Alice said, her voice growing hard. “It makes sense. What’s done is done.”
He swallowed as he watched her walk in the direction of their house. When he whipped around to confront Theo, his brother was gone.
He didn’t have time to talk to his mom right now, not when Theo was already planning on heading to the other community to blame Juno.
Maddox raced to the dining hall, didn’t see him in there, and ran back to the courtyard when he heard a shout. Theo already had another man with him—Tim, a friend of his mother’s.
“You don’t have to do this,” Maddox said, catching up with Theo as he crossed the courtyard.
Tim snorted. “You know we can’t just let this go.”
Maddox tried to keep a note of respect in his voice when he addressed the older man. “But we don’t have any proof.”
“Someone inside our border isn’t proof enough for you, son? How about a closet of missing supplies and a missing man? That enough?”
“Wait.” Maddox stepped in front of Theo. “Hold on.”
Theo gritted his teeth. “Get out of my way.”
“I’m going with you,” Maddox said, desperate. He hoped to God Juno was already gone, but he wasn’t going to take that chance.
Theo crossed his arms. “You should stay here with Mom.”
“Mom is fine without me.”
Tim clapped Theo on the shoulder. “Come on, let the kid go. That’ll make three of us. Less of a chance they’ll put up a fight.”
Maddox cringed at the word “fight.” There woul
dn’t be any fighting, not if he could help it. He’d tell the truth—all of it. About him crossing the border and looking at the fishing nets, about him and Juno meeting to figure out who the thief was—he’d lay it all out there.
What if Juno gets in trouble for spending time with you?
He’d leave her name out of it. He’d take the blame. He’d do what he needed to do.
Theo tapped the gun at his belt. “They won’t put up a fight. Not with this.” He narrowed his eyes at Maddox but then nodded. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Maddox kept up with their long strides, staying vigilant and trying to think of any way he could make this situation better. He didn’t miss the hard set of Tim’s jaw or the way Theo kept his hand on his gun as if the enemy were just around the corner.
When they reached the border, Maddox spotted two guards immediately. Theo put his hands up.
“We’re here for a discussion,” he said.
The guards walked over, keeping a safe distance inside their border. “Discuss what?” one asked. “You have our supplies like we asked?”
“Our supplies were stolen by one of your people. She was spotted on our side.”
The guards exchanged disbelieving glances with each other. “Who was it? The one you supposedly saw over there?”
“I don’t know her name,” Theo said. “But I’d know her if I saw her. And I’m willing to bet our supplies are somewhere inside your community.”
Both guards looked at each other again, then the older one nodded. “Follow us.”
They were close enough to the beach to hear the waves and the gulls as they flew in circles over the water. But this time, they walked on pavement. It was the closest Maddox had ever been to any of the buildings on this side of the border. The first time he’d ever been on this side without sneaking in.
He wondered how many times his mother had been over here. Or Theo, even. Did his brother remember a time when there weren’t sides? Did he remember anything good about this place?
Maddox couldn’t read much from his brother’s expression, just determination. Maybe Theo truly believed someone from this side had stolen their supplies, but for him to think it was Juno without even talking to Maddox…?
Rival Page 16
