CHAPTER 169: _ TIME TO GO “HOME”

"Val..."

"I mean it, Heidi, I’ll rip their tongues out and feed them to the pigs..."

"Val," Heidi grabs her arm, stopping her before she does something regrettable. "We don’t need more fights. We need to go home."

Val’s nostrils flare, but she exhales through her teeth, muttering, "Fine. But one day, boo boo, I’m going to punch one of these idiots right through their teeth."

"Looking forward to it," Heidi says, trying to sound lighter than she feels.

That doesn’t stop Val from muttering curses under her breath, still ranting about Sierra’s family tree and where she plans to bury it.

They haven’t even made it down the first set of stairs when Helena and Jia appear from one of the side corridors, dragging bags that look heavier than both of them combined. Heidi’s mouth parts in surprise. Yes, the school informed them through the overhead speakers that they could go home with the clothes and accessories the school provided them with.

However, nowhere in the announcement mentions they could strip the entire room—empty as it is— of its possessions.

Jia groans. "Finally! You guys took forever. I was about to leave without you."

Val throws her an unimpressed glance. "You wouldn’t survive two minutes alone, Jia. You’d get distracted by a shiny window."

Jia flips her hair dramatically. "Excuse you. I’m an independent woman."

Helena snorts. "Independent of common sense, maybe."

Heidi can’t help laughing softly as she adjusts the strap of her bag. "I see you two are still trying to kill each other."

"Trying?" Helena raises a brow. "Oh no, sweetheart. We’re succeeding. Slowly. One brain cell at a time."

Jia rolls her eyes but grins anyway. "You’re just jealous of my resilience." Then she sighs so loudly that everyone looks at her. "Ugh, I really don’t want to go home. My assigned family is dirt poor. Like—mud-poor. The father’s a mechanic, the mom’s always working three jobs, and they’ve got six kids who think I’m an alien."

Val tilts her head. "Maybe it’s your attitude."

"No, it’s my hair color," Jia says with exaggerated seriousness. "Apparently, pink streaks mean I worship demons. Now, after meeting the so-called demons, I feel offended. Those dirty, blood thirsty, dark, and grotesque creatures? Eew!"

Helena laughs so hard she almost drops her bag. "To be fair, you kinda look like you do."

"I do not!"

"Do too!"

The argument spirals again. Heidi lets the noise, the friendly insults, the chaotic energy that somehow feels safer than silence wash over her. For a moment, she forgets she’s the one the entire school is whispering about.

The euphoria that comes with the chaos of a normal day where they don’t have to run from demons in a maze has finally revealed all the light the Moon Blessed lost in the labyrinth. It is now that Heidi is actually getting to meet the real personalities of her fellow survivors.

They reach the bottom floor just as Andre appears from another hallway, his duffel slung lazily over one shoulder.

"Ladies," he says, spreading his arms as if the world’s spotlight just hit him. "Leaving without your favorite hero?"

Val crosses her arms. "Favorite is a strong word."

Helena adds, "So is hero."

Andre clutches his chest dramatically. "You wound me."

"Not yet," Val says sweetly, "but give me a reason."

Heidi smiles, shaking her head. There’s something about Andre’s ridiculous confidence and his sharp humor that’s oddly comforting. He’s like a walking rebellion against the heaviness she carries. To say they were always on each other’s necks at the labyrinth for their differing opinions on survival tactics back when she used to simply call him "Alpha Boy."

As they file toward the exit, Andre turns to Heidi. "So, Castell. What’s the plan for Monday?"

"What plan?" she asks, pretending she doesn’t already know what he means.

"The Sierra situation," he says, lowering his voice. "You got evidence? A strategy? A miracle?"

Heidi exhales slowly. "None of the above."

The group grows quiet. Even Jia stops fiddling with her hair.

Andre whistles low. "Then we’ll find something. Right, Moon Blessed?"

Val nods firmly. "Damn right we will. That snake won’t get away with this."

Helena raises her hand. "I vote we burn her shampoo."

Jia gasps. "What? No, her bedsheets. That’s more personal."

Andre fakes a gurgling sound. "You guys are terrifying."

Heidi counters. "They’re loyal."

Val bumps her shoulder against Heidi’s. "Damn right."

Andre waves his phone. "Okay, so here’s the thing — I made a group chat for all fourteen of us. We’ll use it to share updates, leads, maybe memes if we’re losing our minds."

Helena laughs. "Which we will."

Heidi blinks. "Fourteen? You got everyone?"

"Almost." He taps his screen. "Still missing a few numbers."

That sends Heidi’s mind back to Darien. How he gave her his phone for security purposes against the traffickers, how she got attacked, but was somehow able to dial him, and how his prompt arrival saved her. All the things that followed; the banters, the sex, and then, the ignoring...

She could have sworn back then that he cared for her. Cared enough to arrive like a storm and play the part of a guardian angel. But maybe that’s what it was—he was only playing his part and making good on his promise of protection as long as she helped him apprehend the culprits and gain favor in the face of his father.

Well, she could need some of that protection now. Damn his arrogance and abandonment of her. Even though she feels used that he’d shun her as such after sex. For now, she needs to let down petty emotions and get all the help she can as her wolf had told her.

It pains her to give in to his submission to his mates, but maybe this time, the wolf is right, Heidi decides.

She raises a hand reluctantly. "I, uh, don’t have a phone."

Andre looks at her like she’s just confessed to living under a rock. "You what?"

"I don’t have a phone."

"Not even a cheap one?"

She shakes her head. "Sierra’s mom—uh, the Castell matriarch—doesn’t like ’distractions.’ She says communication should be face-to-face and for a Moon Blessed, getting a cellphone is not a wise idea. Whatever that means."

Val snorts. "Translation: she doesn’t want Heidi having a life."