All The Pretty Ghosts (The Never Series Book 1) Jamie Campbell (best life changing books .TXT) 📖

teeth. She probably glowed underground. “That sounds like Jet. So he’s let you go twice? He must like you.”

“Actually, I escaped myself the first time.”

“Impressive. I bet he hated that.”

I couldn’t stop the chuckle escaping from my lips. “No, I don’t think he liked it much.”

“He’s nice once you get to know him,” Aurelia said, seriously again. “It’s amazing what he does for all of us. We never go hungry because of him.”

My mind thought back to all the boys in his gang, how they would go out on raids for supplies. Was he acting on a much larger scale? Stealing enough for everyone I had seen underground? “He steals food for you all?”

Aurelia shook her head, blonde tendrils bouncing. “Only sometimes. He showed us how to grow food. We have a whole garden bed that we use to grow fruit and vegetables.”

“Underground?” I couldn’t fathom the concept. Sunlight was the key ingredient in getting anything to grow. It wasn’t like they had any of that down below.

She gave me a sly smile. “There’s a lot more to those tunnels than you realize.”

I didn’t press her for more because I knew I wouldn’t get it. Aurelia had probably already told me too much, the others could do unfathomable harm to her if they knew about it. I certainly wasn’t going to tell on her.

Instead, I returned to the original subject. “So how do you know Jet?”

“He saved my life once.” Her gaze went skywards again. “I got lost one day and couldn’t find my way back to the tunnels. Perry had told me not to go out by myself but I didn’t listen to her. It got dark and I was so scared. Until Jet found me. He helped me find Perry and lied for me.”

So some girls Jet played good Samaritan to and others he tied up and tortured. I wondered what criteria he used to ascertain which way he would go. Or perhaps there was no thought to it at all, he simply reacted according to his mood. Maybe when he saw me he couldn’t resist harming me. Perhaps Aurelia was cuter, bringing out the protective side of him.

I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I didn’t need to know anything more about Jet to understand he was a liar. He obviously knew everything about the people in the tunnel, including the adults, and he didn’t deem me important enough to share the information with.

“He must have liked you,” I finally replied, realizing Aurelia was waiting for me to say something. She still had that dreamy look in her eyes. I wondered if she had a crush on Jet. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen at the most, maybe he was old enough to be swoon-worthy for a young girl. He was pretty good looking if you could forget about his personality.

Aurelia’s face lit up. “Jet’s really nice.”

To some people.

It was time I tried to get some real answers from the girl, I had engaged in enough banter with her for one day. “Do you know about the other people that live in the tunnels? The older ones?” I needed to be careful of my words, just in case she didn’t know about their existence.

“The adults?” Aurelia asked. Clearly my concerns were for nothing. I should have predicted Perry’s sister would have known all about them.

“Yeah, the adults. Do you know much about them?”

She shrugged, sadness crossing her eyes. “Perry says I shouldn’t talk to them. She doesn’t want people to bother them.”

“Don’t you think it’s strange they survived?” I prompted. All the openness she had previously radiated was shriveling up now as she censored herself. Aurelia wasn’t comfortable with the conversation, it was as plain as day.

“I guess some people were lucky,” she finally replied. “Perry says I shouldn’t talk about them.”

Perry was a bitch.

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.” Any guilt I felt about coercing a young girl was overridden by my need to know. I had to have facts about the adults, perhaps I didn’t need Jet after all.

Aurelia’s eyes flicked up to meet mine. She studied me like she could tell I might be lying. She might only be a young girl, but she was smart. Perry would do better by paying her more attention rather than see her as nothing more than a little sister.

She wasn’t talking. I racked my brain, trying to remember how I would convince my own sister to do something she wasn’t sure about.

There was only one thing that would work. “I’ll pinkie swear on it, if you want me to.” I held out my pinkie finger, seeing if she would shake it. Her gaze flicked between my hand and face. At least she was considering it.

“Aurelia!” The sharp voice cut through our quiet moment. The girl instantly jumped up.

“I have to go,” she said, already backing away.

“Aurelia! I know you’re out here, come here now.” I looked down and caught sight of Perry, stomping around below.

I pulled my legs in from the ledge and shuffled over to make sure she couldn’t see me. Peering over just enough, I saw Aurelia catch up to her sister. They disappeared into the building opposite, swallowed up by the ruins. Their secret tunnel had to be in that building.

At least Aurelia gave me one clue. Now I knew where to watch for an invasion of the mole people.

I remained on the floor, watching the area for more movement. I still needed to speak with Jet. Despite Aurelia’s promises that he was a nice guy, I was never going to believe her. He was a criminal, a sadistic, horrible person who had kept me hostage against my will – twice. She had made him sound like a saint. I knew the truth.

Nobody else passed through the area all