It's dark when I finish talking with Celia and I can't see Gabriel anywhere. I ask Nesbitt and he says, "Try his tent."
I didn't even know Gabriel had a tent. Nesbitt nods to the one at the end of the row and I can see a green light coming from it.
I go over and drum my fingers on the canvas, saying, "Gabriel?"
(A/N: The italicized portion is a section of the third book of the Half Bad Trilogy, Half Lost, by Sally Green, on page 105 of the 2016 edition published by Viking. No copyright is intended.)
I don't get an answer, but I'm sure Gabriel's in there, so I cautiously peel back the opening to the tent.
Sure enough, Gabriel is inside, laying on his side, a book open next to him. He makes no move to show that he notices me.
"Hi," I venture cautiously.
He doesn't look up from his book, and doesn't reply, either.
I feel a sudden burst of bravery, and I say, "I hope you're just pretending to read, and in reality you can't concentrate on the book because all you can think about is beating the living shit out of me.
"I don't know what living shit is, but you're not far from the truth, Nathan." Gabriel looks at me, with a hard glare in his eyes and I can see that he's serious—he really would like to beat me up. I'm bent over, and the tent isn't really big, and it feels awkward stooping over like that, so I kneel down.
"Do you want something?" Gabriel's voice is venomous, and I gulp.
"Um. Yeah. . .I think we need to talk," I say softly.
"Ha!" Gabriel scoffs. "Coming from you, that's almost funny. But strangely enough, I'm not in a humorous mood."
I sigh and shift so that I can look him in the eyes. "I really wish you told me you thought that Annalise had been caught."
"I really wish you told me about your attacks on the Hunters," Gabriel shoots back, looking away.
"I-I did tell you," I protest quietly.
"You told me some things, later on, when you knew you couldn't hide them anymore," Gabriel says accusingly, turning back to glare at me with those brown eyes, the golden flecks swimming around frantically.
I bite my lip. "But you were hiding stuff about Annalise! The Hunters didn't even affect you—"
"Didn't affect me?" It comes out like a snarl. "A group of eight Hunters, eight Hunters, that close to camp didn't affect me? Nathan. Get. Out."
"W-what? Gabriel—"
"I told you to get out, Nathan," Gabriel shouts. "Get out, before I hurt you."
And I see that he is serious.
"Out. Now."
I leave the tent, and start jogging at a fast pace.
I keep running for hours.