Map of Flames (The Forgotten Five, Book 1)

At the far end of the table was Seven Palacio. He was thirteen like Tenner and Birdie and sat camouflaged by shadows and the black parachute-­fabric clothes he wore. Next to him, Cabot Stone, eleven-­going-­on-­thirty, ran a hand over her buzz-­cut hair and cast a worried glance at Brix to see how he was holding up. He d stopped crying.

Tenner dropped into the log chair next to Birdie. Are you doing okay? he asked her. He looked at his food, then pushed it around with his fork. For once he had little appetite.

Better, she said. Thanks. She caught his eye and smiled sadly.

Tenner lowered his gaze. No problem, he mumbled, then dropped his fork in the dirt and muttered under his breath. After retrieving it and wiping it off, he looked around the table. Everyone was red-­eyed and exhausted. It had been the longest day. They d never buried anyone before.

Louis had told them what to do when the time came, but that hadn t made it any easier. Pushing dirt over his wrapped-­up body . . . It had been the hardest thing Tenner had ever done. Birdie and Brix had been sobbing. Seven had leaned on his shovel, his arms shaking, unable to do anything but comfort those two. Cabot had stepped in, her face a mask. She d dropped the first handful of dirt. Then she d taken Seven s shovel. Tenner had helped her with the rest of it. He d cried in the ocean later.

Tenner wanted to go to bed and forget this day. But there was one thing that still needed to happen. A few weeks ago, Tenner had brought Louis some soup and sat next to him to help him eat it. Louis had put down the spoon and taken the boy s hand.

You can go your own way, Tenner, Louis had said. His hair was only beginning to gray, and it spread wildly on the p