The Unfinished World (The Armor of God Book 2) by Diego Valenzuela

happened?”
    “No,” Garros said.
    “I saw Ezra falling, looking through its eyes, but it was like time was running different. I could catch both of you in the air, without even hurting you. It was so easy to move, so smooth. I could hear everything, see much farther away. I saw the peak, Garros. I saw Kerek! It was nothing like Phoenix; I felt so much stronger.”
    Garros didn’t say anything.
    “I’m sorry. Baby. Please. Let it go,” she said, finally recognizing Garros’ anger, but she was still smiling—there was powerful euphoria left in her after synchronizing with the Creux. Erin turned around to Ezra and Jena. “I’m sorry.”
    “Thank you for saving us,” Ezra said, and walked over to them.
    “Yes, thank you, but you shouldn’t have done that,” said Jena.
    “I know. I didn’t, though, it—”
    “Wait. You asked me to tell you when you were being reckless or acting strange, so that’s what I’m doing right now,” said Jena. “You had no reason to go anywhere near there, and you shouldn’t sound so happy you did.”
    Erin wanted to reply, maybe remind Jena that it was her who was in charge, but she couldn’t. There was no argument to be made, or had. “You’re right.”
    Garros stepped away from Erin, resentful. “I’m gonna go over . . . there, or something.”
    Suddenly the odd mirth in Erin’s face was gone, and guilt took over. “Garros, please. I swear I didn’t do it on purpose, I didn’t try to synchronize.” When the man ignored her, Erin followed him. They didn’t stop until they were far enough to talk without Ezra or Jena overhearing.
    “I thought both of you had fallen off. I didn’t know what happened to Erin,” Jena said, only to Ezra. “I swear for one second I thought all three of you were done for.”
    “We’re okay,” said Ezra, and she smiled, apparently comforted.
    “So are we going to ignore the fact that Erin just synchronized with that thing?” she asked. “She should’ve been killed.”
    “I don’t understand it either,” said Ezra, and walked closer to Lazarus, wondering if he should try it himself. The way in which Erin described her synchronization made it sound intoxicatingly attractive. “I wonder if anyone can synchronize with him. Or anyone who is C-Compatible?”
    “Too bad you won’t get to find out,” Jena said. “Don’t go anywhere near it. We’ll leave it here, and then when we can we’ll tell Zenith about it. They can study it, we can’t.”
    “Aren’t you curious? Something weird just happened, right?” argued Ezra. “This thing is strong. I didn’t even realize it had broken my fall. It moved too fast. Don’t you want to know?”
    “I want to find Kerek. I want to find Kiv,” she said, and saying his name still appeared to hurt her. “I don’t want to risk my life or yours being curious.”
    “You’re right,” he said, a bit begrudgingly. “That’s more important. We’ll find them, don’t worry.”
    “I know we will,” she said, and looked up at Lazarus.
    He could tell she didn’t trust it.
     
    Jena was still holding on to his arm when they walked around Lazarus’ bent legs and saw Garros and Erin having an argument a few feet into the forest. Garros was leaning against a tree, moving his arms angrily, and Erin could only look up at him, nodding and accepting whatever words he was throwing at her. Ezra could see she was, or had been, crying.
    “Should we go with them?” Ezra asked. They had given them at least half an hour of privacy, and he couldn’t bear the ideas his brain was feeding him. He didn’t want to see his friends in a fight, even if Erin definitely deserved it. They were the stable legs of the group; they couldn’t bend or break.
    “Yes,” replied Jena. “It’s almost dawn; we need to keep moving if we’re going to make it to Kerek today.”
    They approached carefully, and neither Garros nor Erin noticed them coming at all. The only words they could hear in the end, after they