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"There's no pants in there?" He tears his eyes off me and turns to Blaise. "Her legs are going to fry."
Blaise shakes his head, zipping up his bag. "No. Only a couple bottles of water and some canned food."
"I'll be fine without pants." My hand trembles in Ryder's. "Even if the sunlight burns me ... I won't ..." I can't bring myself to say the words aloud.
"Promise you'll tell me if the heat starts to bother you," Ryder says, tracing the folds between my fingers.
"Why?" Blaise cocks a brow at him as he slips the strap of the bag onto his shoulder. "What are you going to do? Take your pants off and give them to her?"
Ryder shrugs, amusement playing at the corners of his lips. "Maybe."
Blaise rolls his eyes. "Whatever." Then he stomps off down the trail, barking at us to hurry up.
We jog after him, Blaise takes the lead, Reece the middle, and Ryder and I stay at the back. Blaise keeps ordering everyone to hurry up, and I get the strangest sense of deja vu.
An abrupt laugh bursts from my lips, and I slap my hand over my mouth, shaking my head at myself. What a completely inappropriate time to laugh, Allura.
Ryder nudges me with his elbow. "What's so funny?"
"It's nothing." I lower my hand from my mouth and sigh. "It's just that you guys are acting so ... like you were before."
His blue eyes sparkle in the sunlight. "Are we supposed to act differently?"
I fiddle with the rusty zipper on the front of the frayed jacket. "I don't know ... I mean ... Doesn't it bother you?" I fix my eyes on the ground.
"Does what bother me?" He seems genuinely perplexed.
"What happened back in that tent." I shrug, gazing up at the top of the cliffs. "I thought you guys would be afraid of me."
He tugs his hand from mine, and I think he's pulling away, but instead, he drapes his arm around my shoulder. "How could we be afraid of you?" he asks. "You've done absolutely nothing except help fight to keep us alive. You jumped on that guy's back when he was going to kill me. And you even saved Calla, which is the only reason we have a bag of supplies right now."
"I know, but ..." I duck my head, letting my hair veil my shame. "What if I'm one of these hybrids?"
"Then you're a hybrid." He cups my cheek in his hand and angles my head up, forcing me to meet his gaze. Only kindness shines in his eyes. "But I don't really think you are."
I frown. "Zinnia seemed pretty certain I was."
"Sweetheart, you're too good and kind to be like those hybrids Zinnia talked about. You're different from them. I know you are." He smiles warmly at me. "Now, let's hurry up before Blaise bites our heads off for walking too slowly."
And just like that, he accepts me for what I am.
I just hope he isn't making a mistake, that I'm everything they think I am. That I'm not like Lex and the rest of the Grim, that I'm not like the hybrids the Forsaken spoke of. That I'm not a monster. That I don't end up hurting anyone.
