Cullen's shadoe?

My eyes never left the creature as I voiced my confusion. "Cullen is a lynk?"

It was rhetorical in nature, my question. If anything, this truth brought more clarity than anything else. I had always felt suspicious of Cullen, from my first encounter with him. The way he moved so swiftly, so quietly. Not many people would be able to sneak up on me, and yet he did so effortlessly. The sly way he spoke, the shifty motions of his dark beady eyes. I assumed his mannerisms were his untrustworthiness seeping through, but it seemed I was mistaken.

He was simply a lynk with the nature of his shadoe—much like Avery was with Beau. Much like how I assumed I seemed to others when they observed Oak and I.

"Yes, Cullen is a lynk," Avery answered, his tone still sharp. "He's one of our best at Camp Exodus. His abilities help us to hear things others wished to keep private. Things that have saved lives when exposed."

Not sure how to respond to this new information, I swallowed, trying to clear the painful rasp from my throat.

"For him to send Timber after us, so soon after we left his presence," he continued. "Something must be wrong."

"It'd be more shocking if something was right," I grumbled, trying to stand up. Pain on my left side caused me to slowly sit back down, releasing a short breath instead of the yelp clawing to be let out.

I could feel his studious gaze on me, burning stronger than the flames, and when I dared to meet it, his jaw was tight.

"Where does it hurt?"

Everywhere.

"Just my side," I lied, but my face didn't show it.

Nodding his head slowly, his eyes flicker above mine, causing me to tilt my head, wondering what he was looking at.

"And your head?"

"A slight headache, that's all."

Once again, he hummed, almost patronizing in the way he looked me over. It wasn't until he stood up, pacing over to me with a very serious look on his face that I realized all his silent nodding was leading up to this. Opening his mouth, I expected him to attempt to scold me, but what came out was of a different kind of anger. One I hadn't seen from another human toward me in a long time.

Not since my mother.

And I wasn't sure how to feel about that.

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Short chapter. I know. But the next chapter will be out later today! If you combine the length of the two, it's like one good-length chapter, I think. 😃

Oh! And I totally forgot to do this in the last chapter, but guys! Meet Timber! 😍 She's so cute!

And I just love her name! TIMBER 😍

Okay, that's it! Love you guys and I hope you enjoyed the short chapter!

What do you think about Sparrow's comparison of Avery to her late mother? 🤔 What kind of anger is she seeing in him?