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“You kept her clothes, took her shoes, starved her, withheld her glasses and medicine—”
“Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds bad. But we didn’t think about her needing her glasses. Hell, we didn’t know she needed an EpiPen because we didn’t know about her peanut allergy.”
“It was in the file I made.” Ev points out.
“Which none of us have had time to read yet.” Slade sighs. “She didn’t tell us, or I would never have given her those sandwiches. Heck, you saw me throw it all away when I found out. I don’t want to hurt her, Salem. I just don’t want to lose someone else.”
Everyone is silent for a minute, but then Zig speaks up. “If you’re talking about Cooper, he was a traitor,” he growls.
“I know, Zig. I fucking know, okay? But before that, he was my friend. Fuck, he was the only father figure I had for a long time. I trusted him, and he fucked up, and he’s dead, and that’s where he deserves to be, but that doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to grieve for the man he was before his wife got sick.”
“And then we lost her too,” I say, understanding why Slade’s been pissed. He lost a lot being inside, and to be released and then have Copper taken from him too is a lot.
“He was a fucking traitor. I’m not sorry he’s dead, but you’re right. He wasn’t always that man, and although I’m still not convinced having Astrid here is a good idea, you have to separate the two. Cooper betrayed us. He willingly sacrificed me and Zig and was willing to subject Salem to God knows what horrors in an attempt to save his wife. Part of me gets it. I’m not sure there is anything I wouldn’t do to save Salem, but there has to be a line we won’t cross to stop us from becoming the very men we fight against.” Oz wipes his mouth and pushes his chair back.
“Cooper handed out a death sentence to us. It’s not the same with Astrid. If she’s lying about who she is, we’re all in danger. If she’s telling the truth, then Salem is. We’re damned either way.” Zig sighs.
Salem climbs to her feet and walks around the table to where Slade is sitting. She leans down over him and wraps her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry you lost Cooper, but I think he was gone a long time before he died. I can promise you now that you won’t lose me. You won’t lose any of us as long as we work together. That’s where Cooper fucked up. He pulled away. He stopped being Apex a long time before he heard about me. Astrid is not Cooper. She could quite possibly be holding the only key we have to avoid an attack.”
Slade leans into Salem and groans. “Fine, you win. Besides, it’s hard to hate someone who can kick my ass on Call of Duty.”
The others snicker, but I just look at Slade, wondering if he’s telling the truth. As if he can feel the weight of my stare, he looks my way once Salem releases him. Somehow, I don’t think his answer is going to be as cut and dry as he’s saying.
“So, what do you want us to do now?” I question Zig, feeling a little pissed that somehow Slade and I are the bad guys in this.
Zig leans back and shrugs. “Ev hasn’t found anything to say that Astrid isn’t exactly who she says she is. We should just treat her like anyone else we’re getting to know. She’s not our enemy.”
“At least until she proves otherwise,” Oz mutters, making Salem snap at him.
“You know you’re acting like a baby. Maybe you’d like to sleep in the spare room so there is enough space for you and your giant stupid head.”
There’s a beat of silence before we all laugh hysterically.
“She really is adorable when she’s trying to be mean.” Creed pokes fun at her, making her blush.
“I’m not adorable. I’m a badass. You guys just don’t appreciate it.”
“Alright, slugger. Don’t hurt me.” Creed cowers.
“I hope you’re all looking forward to cooking your own meals next week,” she warns, which shuts us all up.
“I take it back. You’re mean.”
“I am, and don’t you forget it. Look, all I’m asking is for you all to give Astrid a chance. I love you guys, you know that, but it would be nice to have another woman around here whose IQ is larger than her cup size. Yes, Slade, I’m talking to you.”
“You’re right, Creed. She is mean.” Slade looks at her with a frown.
“Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’m going to track down—”
“No,” Zig interrupts me. “Let Greg spend some time with her. With the exception of Salem, we’ve all pissed her off. Greg is the only one who wasn’t on board with our plan from the start, and he never hid that from her. Right now, she needs a friend, and that’s Greg.”
I clench my hands into fists. I don’t want Greg to be fucking friends with her, and if Slade’s expression is anything to go by, he’s not too impressed with the idea either.
Oz smirks. “Something wrong?”
“No. Hey, Salem, you want to come play—”
“Finish that sentence and die,” Oz snarls.
