Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“Valen.” I grip his wrist.
He closes his eyes, almost wincing. “What?”
“I need to stay here.”
“No.”
“Yes. I need the lab.”
“I’m not leaving you here with him.”
“I think you made it clear that I’m off limits. The whole strangling thing definitely left a mark.”
“It would be clearer if I gutted him.”
“I need you to trust me.” I get up, the blanket still wrapped tightly around me.
“I trust you. I don’t trust him.” He turns his head quickly to the side. “Fuck! I must go.”
“I’ll be safe here. Promise. I’m going to Evie’s room right now. And in the morning, I’ll be in the lab. Gage has his own work or whatever it is he does. Don’t worry.”
“I always worry about you.” He glowers. “Especially when you run from me at your first chance.”
“I didn’t run!”
“I will always catch you.”
“Let me stay. Please. I have to do this. My friends are here, and we can work to save my people. You have to let me do what I can. That’s who I am. You know who I am.”
“Obstinate human.” His eyes narrow. “If he touches you, I will kill him. I’m warning you, kedves verem. I obeyed your wish earlier, but I cannot make that promise again. I will end him.”
“He knows. I’m pretty sure everyone in this bunker knows after how loud we were.” I shake my head.
“Good.” He kisses me hard, clutching me tightly to him. When he lets me go, I keep my arms around him, lingering a little longer.
He presses a kiss to my hair. “I’ll return to you, kedves verem.”
“Please be careful.” I dread what Gregor might do to him. “Come back to me. Promise.”
“Always.” With that, he turns and strides to the door. When it won’t budge, he smashes the control panel and pulls it open. Pausing, he looks at me over his shoulder. “To Evie’s room, my Blood. Now. I’ll kill any man who sees you like this, so hurry if you care, but be assured that I do not.”
12
“You’ve lost weight.” Evie stares at the simple light green long-sleeve shirt and pants that I’ve belted to within an inch of my life. “A lot of it.”
I shrug. “Chic, right?”
She wrinkles her nose.
“Okay, so not that chic.”
“It’ll do for now. We’ll get you some better fitting stuff from the Quartermaster later.”
Our room is a simple cube with a few lockers and storage cubbies along one wall, two sets of bunk beds, and a small desk at the back. Small, but the bed wasn’t too uncomfortable, or perhaps I was just worn out from everything that happened yesterday. I’m definitely sore, and I don’t think it’s from the helicopter trip.
“Ready?” she asks.
“Yeah.”
“We’ll hit the mess, then the lab.” She opens the door into a hallway with numerous identical little pods. Wyatt leans against the wall just outside.
“Morning.” He gives us a little wave. “Sleep okay?”
“Um, mostly.” I slept but woke several times and worried about Valen. The pulsing hum between us is there. I can feel it without closing my eyes now. Whatever link there is between us, it’s still alive. That means he’s still alive. I hold onto that, as tenuous as it is.
“Cool.” He walks along with us as the base seems to be waking up. There are a lot more people passing by today, some of them gawking at me, some with their heads down and papers in hand, some of them armed. The scent of food wafts through the air, my stomach growling loudly enough for me to blush.
“How many people are here?” My eyes widen as we enter the mess hall. What had been empty yesterday is now filled to the brim with people talking, eating, or standing in line along the cafeteria’s back wall that’s lined with food windows into the kitchen.
“Thousands.” Evie hands me a tray as we get in line. “It’s like a little beehive that opened when DC fell. It’s wild to think this whole place was just sitting here totally empty until boom, the world ended and it suddenly inherited all these stray humans. The part we’re in is the secure zone with the military. Though this is like level 4 secure or something? We’re not allowed in levels 1-3, so don’t bother trying to go through any of those doors. The guards will stop you, and they aren’t nice. Anyway, there are more levels with civilians, and people they’ve rescued from the surrounding areas. We don’t get to go there, either. Not sure why. Probably something to do with more quarantine protocols but for regular illnesses, not plague.”
“Are there more places like this? Like, around the country maybe?”
“Maybe.” Wyatt slides his tray along the counter, a worker serving him eggs and what I’m guessing is sausage. “I mean, I hope there are. Like we said, they don’t tell us anything.”