“Review your logs,” Maren said, standing tall with her chest jutting out. “You’ll find they corroborate everything we’ve said.”
Mav propped himself up. If he continued lying down in the hospital bed, he might fall back asleep. That wouldn’t improve Jensen’s mood.
“It doesn’t matter what’s there,” the large Peace Keeper said, face red. “You knowingly interfered with a Peace-Keeper mission.”
“We still had an open job to bring JJ Schmidt back home,” Maren repeated. “He split from us after leaving the hospital. We thought we’d called him down, but then he messaged us about going to destroy Serene. As I told you, we called the authorities and they said they couldn’t afford to do anything to help JJ. Ask Sergeant Finnegan. He told me, directly, that he trusted my judgement. We made our decision, both as a guild with a job and as Wielders with a moral right, to save his life.”
“That doesn’t pardon you from–”
Mav plopped back down. Whether Jensen grew angrier or not be damned. Mav was getting tired of this pissing-match bullshit.
“I’m sorry, are we boring you?” Jensen asked.
“Yeah,” Mav said. “I’m tired of this pissing-match bullshit. Wait? Did I say the silent part out loud?”
Jensen fumed and Maren turned away, but not entirely from Mav. He could see her holding in a chuckle.
“Don’t let me stop you,” Mav said. “Keep repeating the same thing over and over again. I’m sure we’ll understand after another lecture.”
Jensen opened his mouth, then paused. He tilted his head, listening to his earpiece and then he grunted ascent. He turned away and muttered. Maren looked as curious as Mav felt.
A minute later, Jensen turned back around, his jaw grinding. “You have until noon tomorrow to get out of Yoularnon. If you don’t, we’ll press matters further.”
Maren crossed her arms and cocked her hip. “That was fast. Find that we technically didn’t do anything legally wrong?”
“Only because that little shit agreed to your testimony on every account.”
“That little shit is the reason why most Serene members have been arrested,” Mav said. “And why hundreds of military-grade bombs have been destroyed or taken.”
“And why there’s a couple of sinkholes and riots in Howin and why the police station was raided,” Jensen said. “Whatever deal he makes will be too light for him.”
“I guess compassion was never drilled into us during training.”
Jensen scoffed. “What did I expect? Scum defending trash. You were such a waste of time for a hero like Sergeant Allen.”
“A hero like him would have done everything he could to help take Serene down, even while ordered to protect Wilkins. Something you never cared to do.”
“Word is our orders are changing. By this time tomorrow, we’ll be given the clear to hunt for Serene’s most dangerous members. So you meddled in our business for no reason.”
“So after they would’ve attacked Wilkins’ headquarters. Yeah. No reason at all.”
“We did our job. We’re disciplined enough to not question those who know better. Something your puny little brain can’t handle, eh? Now, get out by noon. Or I’ll personally deal with you.”
“Thank you,” Mav said as Jensen turned away.
The large man paused, then glanced back. “You really gonna make me ask for what?”
“For showing me why leaving the Peace Keepers was the best decision of my life.”
With a final scowl, Jensen left the room.
“I’ve never heard you that sassy,” Maren said, trying to hide a grin.
Mav yawned. “Hazard of getting too warm after nearly freezing.”
Maren sat at the foot of Mav’s bed and fidgeted. She didn’t meet his eye. “Did you mean it? About leaving the Peace Keepers?”
Mav looked at the ceiling. There was an odd calm in his chest, like the air after a large storm recently passed.
Mav smiled. “Well, maybe not the best. But definitely one of them.”
Maren turned away, her ears growing red. “I’m glad.”
Mav’s eyes lingered. Maren’s orange hair was frizzy, even pulled back in her two tails. Bandages and wraps covered her bruises which ran along her back, abdomen, arms, and legs. She’d drunk plenty of water in the hours following the fight, but splotches of peeling skin remained and her lips were still cracked.
Despite that, she smiled and turned away, abashed by Mav’s confession. A warm, fuzzy feeling buzzed in his stomach.
Yeah, he’d made the right choice.
Shaking her head, Maren hopped off the bed. She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward a bit. Now, her sports bra presented him with a view which stirred an entirely different feeling.
“So, you know what that means?” Maren asked.
“Uh, I... what?” Mav said, tearing his eyes away. There was an oddly interesting white speck on the ceiling that required immediate investigation.
Maren laughed, hopefully unaware of Mav’s dilemma. “We need to find that last member. We got a couple weeks, but that’ll be here before we know it.”
Suddenly, that spot didn’t demand his interest. “You’re not gonna ask JJ to join?”
Maren straightened herself, also sobering. “I’ll ask, but after all of this, I think JJ has a different path to walk.”