Chapter 112: 112-Teaming Up With Ian
Clementine:
"Goddess, Ian, you scared me," I said, pressing a hand to my chest. But he quickly put his finger to his lips, silently telling me not to make a noise. The way he was hunched over me, I couldn’t get up without our faces almost touching, so I gestured for him to move away. As soon as he straightened and stepped back into the darkness, I sat up in bed, still trying to process what had just happened.
I kept my hand on my chest, rubbing it to calm down, then finally turned to look at him. He was standing in the dark corner of the room, as if he didn’t want to be seen or heard.
"What is it?" I whispered, since he kept gesturing for me to stay quiet, and then he pointed toward the door.
"Now? what if the lurkers are making a round?" I mouthed, but he only shook his head. I had no idea what that meant.
Then he started walking toward the door, and I knew he wanted me to follow.
"But what about what I just told you? What if the lurkers are outside?" I asked, but of course, it was Ian. He gave me a gesture, expecting me to understand. As he walked away, he slowly held the door open, and in that moment, I realized how silent and unsettling he could be. The door made almost no sound as he opened it.
I looked around at the sleeping alphas, wondering if it was even a good idea to go after someone like Ian. It’s not like he was ever my friend, so for all I knew, he could be getting me in trouble. But the way he stood there with his head turned made me feel like it was something important, something I needed to hear.
I mean, if he attacked me, which I thought he might, I could fight him back. And if a lurker found me, I’d just run. I was good at running. Or maybe I was just making excuses because deep down I knew I needed to follow him. This time, he didn’t wait around. He just left the room.
I grunted and got up, quickly looking for something to wear to warm myself. Now that my father was gone, I’d been able to get some money, and spend it too. I’d bought myself a long brown hoodie. I pulled it on and walked out of the room. The wind that had felt fresh from inside was now biting cold, and my nose immediately began to clog.
I closed the door as quietly as I could, fighting against the wind, then looked around for Ian. He was already heading out of the passage, so I followed, jogging after him.
"What are you trying to show me?" I asked, but he turned and pressed his finger to his lips, shushing me.
"Great," I muttered. But then I slowed down, because where the fuck was he leading me?
"Okay, Ian, I’m not gonna follow you anymore. Either you tell me what’s going on, or I’m going back," I declared, loud and clear. I expected him to ignore me and keep walking, but he shocked me when he stopped. He turned around and tilted his head, almost like he was judging me.
"You can open the locks, right?" he asked, and I nodded. We’d known that since our first meeting.
"What do you want me to open?" I questioned, staring straight into his eyes.
He chuckled, almost like he was amused that I already knew why he’d brought me here.
"I need to make a call to my pack," he stated.
I shrugged and glanced around.
"And why do you think I’d help you?" I challenged, crossing my arms over my chest and watching him with nothing but judgment. He had been awful to all of us, so what made him think he could just show up and ask for help? Just today, he’d been cocky about not needing us in the north.
"Clementine, I heard you guys talking about teamwork. Do you want me in your team or not?" he remarked, not sounding the least bit like he was actually asking. Of course, even when giving in, he had to make it seem like it was his idea.
I took a deep breath, still staring at him.
"I might even know what the monster is and how we can defeat it," he added, and the eyebrow I’d raised slowly came back down.
"How can we make a call to your pack? Are you suggesting we steal the ringleader’s phone or something? Because trust me, I haven’t seen any phone with them," I pointed out, almost letting him know I was ready to help as long as he told me exactly what we needed to do.
"And just as I expected of you dumbasses, you guys haven’t noticed anything beyond who is whose mate and who has a crush on who," Ian stated, hands in his pants pockets, looking so arrogant.
"Okay, you need to quit doing that, because I’m this close to returning to the room," I warned after hearing his sarcastic response.
He stared me straight in the eye, and I could tell he was thinking, maybe something inside him was telling him to ask me to shut up and leave, that he didn’t need my help. But then he gave up.
So I knew whatever call he was making to his back was extremely important. Could it be about his girl? Has to be. He looked down and grunted.
"Fine," was all he said.
"So how are we going to make a call?" I repeated my initial question because he still hadn’t responded to it.
"There is a phone booth on one of these roads, but it has a lock on it. I guess in the future we might get the option to call someone, or maybe not, who knows. But I want to use it now," he said, shocking me with how much he knew about the area. Was that what he was doing when he wasn’t with us? Just lurking around being a lurker?
"And what if they ask for coins?" I asked him. We didn’t have money here, so of course I didn’t know what he was thinking.
"They won’t. That phone is free. All you need to do is unlock the lock outside," he said, hands on his waist, watching me, waiting for my response.
In a confident and determined tone, I nodded my head.
"Well, let’s go see this phone, then." As soon as he heard me say that, he smirked.