Recruits (Keeper of the Water Book 2) by Kevin George Page B

tell, though, all the women live the same here so there’s no reason why I can’t make peace with everyone.
    Anne snorts as I head toward the back of the group. Along the way I pass by the Keeper – closely guarded by half the tribe – who strolls peacefully along as if she doesn’t have a care in the world. The Keeper also looks all around at her surroundings but doesn’t appear to be nervous like her Amazon protectors. Instead, she’s wide-eyed and open-mouthed, staring in wonder at the darkness. She reminds me of a small child seeing the outside world for the first time…
    “What is she doing coming to our area?” I hear a voice say.
    We’ve been walking all night and the black sky is turning a lighter shade of dark purple. The sun will creep over the horizon shortly. I can just make out the women at the back of the pack. They wear similar sneers of contempt, though I’m sure things would be different if the Keeper was closer. It’s disappointing that so many Amazons have already formed an opinion of me; it’s even worse that amongst them is one of the women I thought might be an ally.
    Twin blades clang together, forming an X in front of me and blocking my path.
    “What are you doing back here?” asks my other recruiter.
    I figured she was just easily annoyed but apparently her crankiness had everything to do with her hatred of me.
    “I wanted to let you know how much I want to be here and how sorry I am for not coming sooner,” I tell my recruiter. “But isn’t someone else missing from the group?”
    The woman who spoke out against me is nowhere to be seen. I spot one of the Queen Clan who glances back.
    “She will return soon,” my recruiter says. “Protecting our rear is the most dangerous job and she always volunteers for the duty. She doesn’t want the rest of us putting ourselves at risk so she does it alone.”
    I look into the woods behind them but see nothing, no sign of danger or the woman. It looks very ominous in the dark but I have to prove that I deserve to be here.
    “I will go talk to her,” I tell the other women.
    The women look at each other, suddenly nervous. But I don’t give them the chance to stop me. I hurry around them and head farther into the forest. I haven’t been nervous the entire trip but as I walk away from the rest of the Amazons, the thought enters my mind that I might not come back…
    Any signs of the first morning light disappear when I walk beneath the canopy of trees. I expect to find the final Amazon just behind the rest of the tribe but I have to walk several minutes before I hear a rustling ahead.
    “Hello?” I whisper.
    “I told the four of you I’ll be right back,” the Amazon says.
    I find her kneeling on the ground with a handful of stones, shuffling them into some sort of shape.
    “What are you doing?” I ask curiously.
    When she sees that it’s me, she drops the rocks and stands up, readying her short sword. My bow is slung over my shoulder and I put my hands up to show her I mean no danger.
    “It’s none of your business,” she snaps at me. “Now get out of here.”

CHAPTER NINE
    “We have to get out of here now,” Cassie says as she drops my bow.
    I’m still standing in place, staring down at the dead soldier with the arrow sticking out of his chest. His lifeless eyes are blank and I wonder if that’s what I looked like when I was daydreaming again. Luckily, the others also stare at the dead man, shocked by what just happened. I turn to Cassie, who looks different from the Amazon who hated me yet somehow eerily similar. She might not remember who she once was but apparently the killer instinct is still inside her.
    Celeste has apparently witnessed this kind of violence at some point in the past, but she and my mother appear just as shocked by Cassie’s current callousness. But it’s Jack’s reaction I’m most interested in since he has no idea what craziness has been happening today. Strangely enough, he looks calmest of