The Unfinished World (The Armor of God Book 2) Read Free

bath,” Erin replied, and rubbed her eyes, exhausted. She seemed ready to collapse.
    “I’ll go with her, then,” he replied and walked towards the trees. It was difficult to admit that his friendship with Garros and Erin, which had been so strong back in Zenith, had degraded significantly since leaving it. He still liked them, and knew he needed them, but now, more than anything, there was resentment.
    They didn’t believe him.
    They didn’t believe that he saw what he saw during his last moments in the facility. The horrifying scene had played in loops in his mind since that day: Ezra, trapped inside the Minotaur, helplessly seeing two of his friends and teachers get murdered in cold blood by a betrayer.
    Sometimes, in his dreams, he would crush the murderer using Nandi’s powerful fist, and those were the times he wished he could have done something when he had the chance.
    How could they not believe him? Why would he lie to them?
    Thinking about it still forced him to unconsciously clench his jaw so hard it hurt.
    Ezra crossed under a small patch of tall trees, and it was cool beneath their rich branches. At the other side, there was a small slope leading to a body of water.
    It was hard to tell where the water was coming from. There were mountains nearby, but no visible river leading to this island in the desert, this oasis. It also looked fresh, like the rest of this capsule, unaware that the world around it had died. Ezra’s hypothesis was that maybe there was a clean network of tunnels beneath the crust, but he had no way to know for sure.
    When he came closer to the water, he finally saw her.
    Her clothes were scattered by the edge of the blue pool: the full Zenith uniform, boots and socks. She was submerged all the way to the shoulders, long, dark hair sticking to her slender back.
    He had been staring for at least half a minute when she finally turned around and noticed him standing there.
    “I’m almost done here,” she asked him. “I thought you were asleep.”
    “I was,” he replied and began to strip to his underwear. “Or at least, I was trying. They woke me up.”
    Jena chuckled. Out of all of them, she was the only one whose personality had remained almost intact. “Holding a grudge and resenting them is only going to make everything a lot harder.”
    “It’s not a grudge,” he said in a way that betrayed his words, and stepped into the water. It was very cold, and he knew that going in slowly would be more difficult. He took a deep breath and submerged his entire body, feeling like the coldness of the water would crush him.
    When he emerged, Jena laughed again. “I should’ve warned you; it’s cold.”
    He was shivering, but she appeared to be very comfortable. He wondered why. Swimming was a new experience for both of them. Outside of baths—an absolute luxury in a city where every drop of water was recycled, and one only a family like his could have—he had never experienced anything like this.
    “It’s not a grudge. I don’t understand why they don’t believe me—”
    He paused and looked into her eyes.
    “Wait, tell me something. You believe me right?”
    It was something he had not asked her yet, having always assumed that she did. Now that she was taking a few moments to reply, it became obvious that she didn’t know what to say, and the answer was clear.
    “Please tell me you believe me—dammit, why would I make this up!”
    “You wouldn’t. No one thinks you are,” said Jena, and handed him a piece of cloth doused in herbs to scrub himself with. “You just need to understand how it sounds to their ears. They’ve known Tessa for years; you expect them to believe that she would just kill two people, two of our friends, at face value?”
    He felt the acid in his stomach boil.
    “Don’t get angry,” she said, reading his expression with ease. “They told you already, Ezra, and I agree with them. We don’t think you’re lying, but—”
    “It wasn’t a