Out Of The Ashes (The Ending Series, #3) Read Online Free Page B

to the side before he nodded. When his stare shifted to
me, he appeared uncertain and regretful. There was a long, awkward silence
before he said, “Will you please let me know if you need anything else?” His
tone was soft, beseeching, even. There was something warm and inviting about
his deep, velvety voice. “ Anything , ” he repeated, his eyes filled with a sadness I didn’t
understand.
    “Yes, I promise. Thank you,” I
said. With a final nod, I watched him walk back toward his tent, which he had
yet to finish setting up.
    Becca unzipped the tent door
behind me and I turned around, ready to follow her inside. But she just stood
there.
    “What’s wrong?” I asked, stepping
up beside her. The light from the fire danced around inside, illuminating the
tent enough to see there was nothing wrong with it.
    “I guess I will sleep in my
clothes,” she said so quietly I almost didn’t hear her.
    “Is that all?” I asked and
snatched up my saddlebags before sidestepping her and heading inside. “I’m sure
I have something you can borrow.”
    Becca followed me in, bringing the
sleeping bags and pads in with her.
    Fiddling with the ends of my hair,
which were draped over my shoulder, I watched Becca as she just stood there.
“Have a seat,” I said and opened my bag. I rummaged through the haphazardly
folded clothes tucked inside, trying to find something for each of us to sleep
in. “Here,” I finally said, handing her a long-sleeved thermal shirt and a pair
of sweatpants. “These look comfy, and it looks like I packed…yep, two of each.”
    Becca smiled, or at least I
thought it was a smile; it was the first time I’d seen her be very expressive
at all. “Thank you, Zoe.”
    “Why don’t you have any clothes?”
I asked, zipping up the tent to change.
    Slowly, Becca peeled her clothes
off one by one, until her ensemble was piled on the floor of the tent. “I have
only just joined the group, along with Dr. McLaugh—I mean Gabe, Mase, and
Camille. We were unexpected, so we are relying on your friends’ kindness to
take us in. Dani and the clothes on our backs were all we brought with us.”
    “Dani was with you ?”
    Becca made a noncommittal noise and
pulled the sweatpants on. They were too long and very baggy on her, but I
figured that meant they were perfect for sleeping. “Yes,” she said. “Dani was
with Gabe and Dr. Wesley…in the Colony.” Becca’s voice was distant, her
demeanor instantly shifting from open to hesitant.
    I tugged my long-sleeved V-neck on
over my head. “Did you not want to leave the Colony with Dani?” I couldn’t stop
myself from asking. The more complicated things became, the more my curiosity
amplified. “You don’t seem happy to be here…” I glanced over at Becca in time
to see the bruises on the side of her body before she pulled her borrowed shirt
down.
    “I am happy to be away from there.
It is just that things are not simple for me.” She looked at me. “Or for you.”
    I shrugged. “Hopefully my memory
will come back tomorrow.”
    The look Becca gave me made me
feel nauseous.
    “You don’t think it will?” I
asked.
    “I do not know everything,” she
said, offering me the slightest of smiles.
    “Only some things?” I asked wryly.
    Without hesitation, she said, “I
have the gift of prophecy.”
    Still unable to fully process the
whole “Abilities” thing, I paused.
    Becca bent down and began folding
her clothes so meticulously that I thought she might be in the military. I
looked over at my saddlebags and almost laughed. The clothes I’d changed out of
were tossed on top, no rhyme or reason or organization. Feeling self-conscious,
I gathered up my dirty socks, jeans, and shirt, and after unwadding them, I
folded them as neatly as I could. My attempt was pathetic compared to Becca’s,
but it sufficed.
    Becca must’ve been watching me,
because when I looked up at her, her smile turned genuine. “You are very
different from the last time I saw