Page 29 of Fallout

Parker turns to face me. “Come on. We’re going back to your house.” He puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me through the path.

“What’s going to happen now?” I ask.

“Now… you’ll never be alone again. I never meant for you to be alone anyway.” Parker growls again. “I can’t believe Will left you.”

I swallow hard, wondering what I can say to defend Will. It really wasn’t his fault. But if I told Parker what happened, I’m pretty sure he would hate his best friend. I can’t do that to either of them. Will’s private thoughts should be private.

“Are you going to punish Will?” I ask.

“Why shouldn’t I? Something could’ve happened to you because he left you.” Parker opens my front door and motions me inside.

I sigh, going in.

He’s right. If I really was in danger, Will shouldn’t have left. But I understand why he did.

“Can you just go easy on him?” I turn to face Parker as he shuts the door behind him.

He doesn’t respond right away. One look at his face and I can tell why—he communicating with somebody. Based on the way his eyes are gold instead of blue, I’d say he’s talking to Will. He’s most likely scolding him.

Parker narrows his eyes at me. “Why should I go easy on Will? I gave him an order. He is the one who disobeyed.”

I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Yes, but I made him mad.”

He cocks an eyebrow. “You always make him mad—it’s Will that we’re talking about here.”

“Yes, but this time what happened was my fault. I don’t blame him for being mad at me.”

Parker looks expectantly at me, but I am not going to give him details. I’m pretty sure he would murder Will if he knew.

When it’s clear I’m not going to respond, Parker says, “It doesn’t matter why Will left you. He knew that you weren’t to be left alone.”

I sigh, knowing that there is no way that I can possibly change Parker’s mind about this. I flop down onto the couch.

A few minutes later, when there is a knock on the door, I don’t have to look to know that it’s Will. I start to get up, but Parker holds up a hand, motioning for me to stay. I slide back onto the couch, letting Parker open the door.

“Will,” Parker says, through gritted teeth. “Come in.”

Will does as he’s told. I look up, making brief eye contact with him. He quickly averts his gaze looking at anything except me.

Great. He won’t even look at me now.

Will walks over and sits on the other side of the room. Parker narrows his eyes, looking between Will and me.

“Will, you’re acting very strange.” Parker studies his friend, but Will keeps his eyes down.

I clear my throat, sitting forward. “Is there a reason you wanted Will to come over?” I try to push the conversation along, hoping to distract Parker.

Parker looks at me, his blue eyes narrowing slightly. “You’re being sneaky. I can feel through our bond that you’re anxious.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “Maybe you want to explain why you felt guilty this morning.”

At that, he turns back to Will. “You disobeyed an order.”

Will nods. “I did.”

“And Henley was confronted by the other supernatural.”

Will turns to me. “Are you okay?”