Sebastian is setting him up.
“Sebastian?” I say. “May I speak to you a moment?”
He follows me off to the side. He doesn’t jog after me with his usual puppylike enthusiasm. He strides purposefully. A strong-willed young man who recognizes authority but retains his self-assurance in the face of a possible reprimand. Keeping up the persona he wants to present for Moses.
“What are you up to?” I ask once we’re out of earshot.
Anyone else would feign surprise, confusion, maybe even irritation at the accusation. Sebastian only grins, unperturbed.
“Nothing bad,” he says. “Don’t worry.”
“I didn’t think it was something bad,” I say. “Which doesn’t mean I’m not still worried.”
His grin grows. “Good call. But in this case, you don’t need to be. I’m defusing the situation in a mutually beneficial manner.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I go with them, of my own volition and against Eric’s wishes, so it’s clear he didn’t cave to their demands. I take the bike—if that’s okay—so I can leave anytime I want. And, yes, I can run messages between you. Also, if I really am an honored guest—which I think I will be, if I play this right—then I’ll get access to things you and Eric can’t. Information on the settlement.”
“So you’re spying.”
He shrugs. “If you want to call it that, sure. But also…” Another shrug, one shoulder lifting. “I’m worried about Felicity. The settlers are being assholes, and they’re pissing off Eric. I want to shove past the stalemate.”
I eye him.
“I promise not to hurt anyone unless my own safety is at stake,” he says.
“It’s not them I’m worried about. They might call you a guest, but you’re still a hostage.”
He winks. “I can look after myself.”
I still hesitate.
“They didn’t want Will because he’s big and scary. They’ll take me because I’m neither of those things. Which proves they are shitty judges of character all around, so we might as well use it to our advantage, right?”
I nod and wave Dalton over to make the final decision.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Sebastian will go with the settlers after he gets the dirt bike. Also, the settlers may not “escort” us back to Rockton. If Sebastian really is a guest, they’ll accept that.
As for Edwin and Felicity, the settlers will conduct their search, and we’ll conduct ours independently, which keeps them from breathing down our necks.
Moses agrees. So does Leon. Angus is furious, but he’s too young to have any say in the matter. Maybe his hostility should make me worry for Sebastian’s safety but, like Sebastian said, he can take care of himself. I may feel weirdly protective of him, but he isn’t a child.
We’re quiet on the walk back. Anders keeps glancing at Dalton, and then over at me, his mouth tight with worry. What happened back there was a shit show, and Anders doesn’t even know the half of it. I’ll tell him the rest later.
We saved the settlers, and they turned on us while we’d been recovering from the shock of the bear attack. They’d demanded a hostage and, while we’ve been clear that’s not what Sebastian will be, Dalton still feels as if he’s lost ground here. It’s not so much about the hostage as the fact that they won their original goal—getting our help—and there’s not a damn thing we can do about it. What’s our other option? Abandon Edwin and Felicity to prove a point?
See, you can’t boss us around. You need to ask nicely. Otherwise … well, sorry for your loss.
But Felicity deserves better. If only they’d asked. That’s all it would have taken to resolve this happily. We save Moses from the bears. They tell us their dilemma. We magnanimously offer to throw our resources into helping them. We come out as heroes and good neighbors, and everyone’s happy.
Except everyone wouldn’t be happy with that scenario, because it would place Edwin’s settlement deeply in our debt. Instead, sure, we helped with the bears, but they cleverly secured our assistance afterward.
The endless balance of debt and obligation. Who owes whom. People out here will risk their own lives to keep from dipping too low on the scale. Dalton cannot abide that. Burn the damn scales and act like civilized people who recognize we’re all fighting the same battle and should help each other when we can.
It doesn’t work like that. It should, but it does not.