Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 132

NADINE’S POV

We were almost too late.

Almost.

It took us the rest of the day and all through the night to get to the community.

Jennifer kept us at a cruel pace, and I felt as though I was going to die from lack of air as we kept running and running.

By the time we made it to the community though, everywhere was in complete chaos.

"Nadine!" Amy yelled from a spot in the crowd, and her voice carried across the noise that everyone stopped to stare at us.

The first thing that registered in my mind was relief that they had gotten here safely.

But the second thing was the downright hostile glares that was thrown in my direction.

What the hell was going on?

I spotted Camden a few feet away, and there was a smug look on his face, mixed with rage as he held my gaze.

"Well well. If it isn’t the people we were expecting," Solomon drawled. The crowd parted as he came into view, and there was an amused smile on his face as he took us all in.

A sinking feeling spread across my stomach. Something Joshua said to me about a symbol tugged on my memory, but before I could say anything, Solomon spoke first.

"Let’s head to the council meeting room. We have something important to discuss."

Then he turned around and left, not even bothering to check to see if we followed.

Rowan reached out to hold my hand as he tugged me after Solomon. I looked around as we walked, and when I saw Edith, I tried to smile.

But she looked away from me.

My heart sank into an abyss in my stomach. Amy fell into step behind us, and I felt her gaze burning up my back as she stared at me.

I didn’t see Joshua, but I knew he would most definitely find us before long.

And true to my suspicions, he walked in right after us, his gaze meeting mine immediately.

"Shut the door, please," Solomon’s annoyingly sweet voice floated through the air, and Joshua closed the door behind him before leaning against it.

"Nadine."

I folded my arms across my chest as I held his gaze, but I said nothing.

Solomon said nothing at first too, letting the silence drag out between us significantly more than it should have. It was almost as though he was trying to make us — me — uncomfortable, because his gaze was intensely trained on mine and no one else’s.

Rowan moved into my line of sight, his body breaking the contact between Solomon and I.

"Look, I don’t know what you are on, or what Camden told you when they got back here. But we are in danger. This place is not safe. We believe Trent is around here somewhere, waiting to attack."

Solomon cocked his head to the side at Rowan’s words.

"And who told you that? Nadine? How could she possibly know where Trent is, if she isn’t working with him?"

The stupid smile never wavered from his face, but his gaze turned hard as they found me again. My blood ran cold.

"So you think I am the snitch too."

It wasn’t a question. I was just confirming what I already knew. Rowan’s hands curled into fists, and he looked like he was going to say something explicitly scorching, but Solomon beat him to it.

"Was this your plan then, Nadine Tyler? Did you ask me for help to save all those people just as a cover to lead Trent back to us? Is that it?"

"That’s ridiculous. Nadine would never work with the General and you know that. Don’t let Camden get into your head," Joshua snapped.

Amy took a placating step forwards. "Nadine saved my son. She got him back for me, after I thought he was dead. Nadine would never betray everyone. Never. Camden is just speaking out of anger and grief."

I held my hands out and stopped everyone. "Stop it. I don’t need anyone to defend me. Look, Solomon..." I started, but before I could say anything else, a loud, shrill sound filled the air.

It was an alarm.

My heart ricocheted in my chest at the sound and what it could possibly mean.

The door banged open, and Sam ran inside.

"We are under attack. The monsters are swarming us!" he yelled before running back out. My heart started to slam violently against my chest as if it was about to explode, and my hands started to tremble.

I was right.

Fuck, I was right. Trent had followed us here after all.

"What the fuck? What the fuck! What the actual fuck does Trent think he’s doing?" Solomon yelled, and there was something about the way he spoke that made me frown.

I turned to face him, and he was turning knobs on his radio very frantically, his eyes darting around with fear and panic.

His behaviour made no sense. We were all supposed to be out there, trying to keep the people safe, but Solomon’s act was strange, and it kept us rooted to a spot.

Edith and Lilian banged in right on time to hear Solomon yell into the radio.

"Trent you bastard. I paid you to keep the monsters away from my community. I delivered Nadine to you on a fucking silver patter and you have the guts to attack my community? Have you lost your goddamn mind?"

My heart stopped beating. Literally. It took my brain several moments to actually understand what he was saying.

And as if the universe decided that I had not gone through enough, as if the universe wanted to turn me into the most miserable person ever, the radio buzzed in Solomon’s hands, and we all heard the voice of the devil.

"Your money is not enough to keep you safe anymore, Solomon. Nor is your little spy mission. This is where it ends. I have rigged the entire place to blow in half an hour. That’s enough time for my monsters to get rid of the weakest of the lot. It was nice working with you, Solomon. But everyone has to die now."

And as if on cue, the world went to flames.

The war between the monsters and the humans has begun.