by M. J. Haag
“He’s supposed to be watching the house while I’m gone. Honestly, I’m glad he’s not there. The idea of leaving him behind while knowing someone was going to break in wasn’t easy. I know he’s big and stronger. But I was still worried something might happen.”
Richard made a humming noise.
“You sound a little like my daughter with Drav. Protectiveness isn’t a bad thing for someone you love.”
The flush that had faded reignited slightly.
“I’m struggling with it, you know? How can I possibly love someone this soon? I’ve only known Tor a few weeks, and part of that time I had a boyfriend, a person I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with.”
“The world is a crazy place. Don’t worry about what could have been or should have been. Focus on what is. If you love him, you love him. Let it be that simple.”
I gave him a grateful smile.
Chapter Twenty-One
It took us two hours to reach Ryan’s chosen location. Driving that long wasn’t without its risks. The noise of the trucks drew attention. However, fey watched and listened for any signs of infected and often split off to deal with any that noticed us. Their diligence was usually enough to ensure we didn’t have too many surprises once we reached our destination.
We weren’t so lucky this time.
As soon as the trucks rolled to a stop, infected swarmed us from nearby houses.
Richard swore under his breath as the fey were swallowed up by the number. We both slammed the locks on the doors at the same time.
“Start backing up real slow,” Richard said. “The fey will get out of the way.”
Hands shaking, I tried to do as he said. The truck lurched underneath us, almost dying when I let out the clutch too quickly, and I thought of the people in the back. Slowly, I inched us backward as infected climbed up the sides of the truck and hit the windows. Soon, I couldn’t see through the windshield.
“The road was straight. Keep the wheel straight,” Richard said.
His calm helped me keep some of my own.
Suddenly the bodies were ripped from the windshield and Tor’s blood-smeared face stared back at me.
“Stay inside the truck, June,” he said before pivoting to rip away the infected trying to break off my door handle.
I flashed Richard a quick grin despite the seriousness of the situation.
“Tor always knows exactly what to say to lighten the mood,” I said.
Richard chuckled next to me. “I didn’t know they had a sense of humor.”
“Tor does, and I love it.”
Tor, still close to my door, looked up to flash a quick smile at me. Infected spatter got in his mouth, and I made a face.
“You’re not kissing me until you brush,” I said through the window. “That’s gross.”
He scowled at the next infected like it was its fault, which I thought was hilarious.
“I think we can stop backing up now,” Richard said.
I scanned the infected still trying to get to us. There were too many fey for them to reach the trucks anymore.
“I hope everyone in back is okay,” I said.
“We don’t make a big deal out of it, but the fey lock the passengers in with a padlock. The infected wouldn’t be able to open the door.”
“Yeah, I’m glad I didn’t know I was locked in when I was riding in the back.”
He winked at me and continued watching the infected until the remaining ones scattered. A few fey took off after them, and the rest of us waited. Eventually they returned bloodier than before. Those who’d remained behind had started moving bodies into one large pile, clearing the road. Once done, they broke off into groups to clear nearby houses.
A fey stopped by Ryan’s truck for a moment then jogged back to mine.
“Ryan would like to know what Richard’s thoughts are,” the fey said through the window.
I looked at Richard, who thoughtfully scanned the surrounding houses.
“I doubt there’s another group of infected this size waiting to spring a trap, but it’s better to be cautious in case we missed any. Tell Ryan we need to be in and out in thirty minutes.”
The fey grunted and returned to Ryan’s truck while a few fey emerged from the houses, clean and hair dripping wet.
Tor was one of them. He came to my door and helped me down as someone else opened the back of the truck.
“We only have thirty minutes,” I said softly. “We’ll need to work quickly to bring back enough to stand out.”
I heard some of the Tenacity people swear when they spotted the pile of headless bodies and looked at the mass piled close to the back end of our truck. So many infected. I shuddered to think what would have happened if the infected had waited until we’d been out of the trucks.
“Come,” Tor said.
He picked me up, and my usual team of fey fell in around us as he jogged farther down the road. The Tenacity people tended to converge on the closest houses then returned to the truck, too afraid to venture any distance. Typically, I wasn’t overly concerned due to the fey presence. After our current greeting, though, I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t more anxious.
Fallor already carried a stack of totes, which he set outside the first house.
“Food is the focus today. If it looks even remotely like food, toss it in the tote. We clean out the kitchen and move to the next house. We don’t have time for full cleanouts,” I said.
My team grunted in acknowledgment, and I divided them unevenly into three groups. The main group would stay with me. Two teams of two would go to the next pair of houses under the guise of sweeping for infected when, in reality, they would be prepping the supplies. To the Tenacity people, it needed to look like I was doing the gathering so they wouldn’t question the hopefully big haul I’d go home with at the end of the day. The reality was that I would be inside the house, safely held in Tor’s arms, while my team packed everything into totes for me.
I was using the fey in the exact way they weren’t supposed to be used. But they all understood what the end goal was. Heck, even if the goal wasn’t to make Tenacity a fey-friendly settlement, I knew they would have still helped me. They were simply that nice, which was why Mya had established the rules in the first place.
Thirty minutes later, I was back in the truck and behind the wheel.
“You did good work,” Richard said. “I counted twelve totes of food from your houses.”
I nodded. “Did anyone question anything?”
“No. Ryan suggested the humans only focus on kitchens while having the fey check for obvious overstock locations elsewhere in the house. One of them got lucky and found a shelving unit stocked with canned goods. They’ll think you were lucky, too.”
Ryan gave the signal and climbed back into his truck.
“Let’s hope we have a quiet ride home,” Richard said.
I started the truck and eased forward behind Ryan’s, checking the mirror to make sure I didn’t clip the body pile. An arm moved.
“I think one of the infected is still alive in the body pile,” I said.
“Unlikely. They only pile them up once they’re headless.”
Frowning, I glanced at the mirror again. Nothing moved this time.
“They give me the creeps on so many levels,” I said.
“Agreed.”
The drive home was relatively uneventful with only a few car blockades and infected to clear. I spent a good deal of the time watching Tor run. The man was droolworthy, and he knew it, too, because every time he caught me looking, he winked and flashed his teeth at me. However, when the truck stopped, he wasn’t the one to help me down.
My gaze swept the surrounding fey who unloaded the supplies, but Tor was already gone.
The chaos inside Tenacity’s walls was greater than the day before since we’d returned much sooner than usual. The long line of people waiting to be fed stunned me, and I hoped the fey inside the soup kitchen were managing all right.
/> I hurried to fill a tote with everything I could carry from my take. There was a lot to choose from. This time, I made sure to weigh it down enough that I would need to stop and take breaks. My back would hurt tomorrow, but I knew someone who would willingly rub it for me.
Nat’s group of men was a lot smaller than the day before. And he wore a fairly impassive mask compared to the hateful one he’d previously sported. Wondering if he’d found my note, I started forward with my heavy burden while he watched the people line up for fey-prepared food. My forearms started to ache before I reached him. Unwilling to be too obvious in my provocation, I didn’t set the tote down.
When I’d almost reached him, his gaze found mine and dipped to the supplies I struggled to carry.
“Lose a few people to the soup kitchen line?” I asked with a smirk, not stopping my progress.
“Unlikely. I’m sure they’ll show up soon. Looks heavy. Need help?”
“No. I’ll manage fine. I always do.” I passed him and didn’t look back. However, I didn’t make it much farther before I needed to stop for a break.
The people in the line eyed the supplies while I shook out my arms.
“How was it out there?” one woman asked.
“A little nerve-wracking,” I answered honestly. “But the fey handled everything the infected threw our way. It’s worth going out there.”
She glanced at the food near my feet and nodded slightly before her gaze shifted over my shoulder. I glanced back and saw she was looking at Nat. Did she know he would be a potential problem if she went out? If so, how did so many people know and let him continue his stealing?
I reached into the tote, plucked up a can of something, and tossed it to her.
“Give it a try tomorrow. I’ll be going back out.”
“If you’re giving handouts, I’ll take some,” a man behind her said.
“It’s not a handout. It’s proof that you all can do something to feed yourselves if you stop letting fear rule you.”
He blustered and tried making excuses. Bad back. Bad knee.
“The fey carry you. All you have to do is grab the food from the cupboards and put it in the totes. They carry the totes out.”
“I ain’t letting some man carry me around.”
I shrugged and picked up my food.
“Hope your pride keeps you company while you slowly starve to death.”
He flipped me off and would have likely come at me if that wouldn’t have meant losing his place in the handout line.
I managed to give away five more cans of food, which didn’t seem to lighten my burden much before I reached the end of the line. They all went to people who were curious about going outside the walls. Hopefully, they would join tomorrow’s group of supply runners.
By the time I reached the house, my arms were burning. I set the tote down, opened the door, and pushed my haul inside, too tired to try lifting it again.
Tor and another fey were speaking quietly by the stairwell as I shut the door and dragged the tote to the kitchen.
“They are in Matt’s basement. He will watch over them until we have the rest,” the other fey said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Five men came here, looking for yesterday’s supplies. They were angry when they saw no food and the paper with writing. They read it and left again. Turik was watching from outside and followed them to their homes. When they came out again, he took them to Matt. Matt is keeping them.”
“What do you mean ‘took them?’ Turik grabbed them off the streets in front of everyone?”
The other fey flashed his teeth at me, showing me his humor.
“Turik made sure no one saw. He said that others are looking for the men and are angry that they can’t be found.”
I wasn’t sure I found it as funny. Especially when those men disappeared after coming here for food. Although, maybe this is what we needed to push the haters into acting rashly.
“Tell Turik thank you for me. Did any of the men see you when they came in?”
The fey shook his head. I asked him to wait while I downloaded all the footage from the cameras. The men were clearly visible from several angles, including when they snuck in and their reactions to the missing food. As soon as I had it downloaded, I gave the memory stick to the fey to deliver to Matt. He left through the back door.
“How often do the fey sneak around Tenacity?” I asked.
Tor grinned at me then pulled me into his arms to hug me close.
“This is where most of the single females are.”
“That’s not really an answer.”
“Isn’t it?”
I shook my head, looking up at him.
“You guys need hobbies.”
He kissed me thoroughly, giving me an idea of what hobby he would like to have.
“We need to be more careful,” I said, pulling back. “We’ve kicked the hornet’s nest now. They’re going to respond.”
Tor grunted in acknowledgment, and I eased from his embrace to put the supplies away. If I were someone out to steal food, I’d wait until dark. Leaving all the supplies in the tote would make it too easy to grab, and I wanted to make sure that the cameras caught everything. Most of the food went into the cupboards. I opened a bag of chips and set it on the couch. Then I randomly placed a tower of canned goods on the coffee table like a work of art.
Tor’s gaze grew hungrier as he watched me move around the room. I knew what he was thinking. He wanted me up in the bedroom so we could have a repeat of last night. I wanted that, too, but wasn’t sure how smart it would be.
“What do you like for dinner? I could make spam and rice again,” I said, looking through the supplies.
“I want you.”
I glanced up and shook my head at him.
“I’m aware. But it wouldn’t be smart to be caught with our pants down.” I set the spam and canned veggies on the counter along with the rice I’d grabbed.
“I very much want to catch you with your pants down.” He started to stand, his moves taking on a predatorial edge that made my heart race.
I held up a hand.
“Sit, Tor.”
The words barely left my mouth when there was a knock on the door. I glanced at Tor, and he moved up the stairs, just out of sight, as I went to answer.
Matt and Nat stood outside.
“Can I help you?” I asked.
“We’d like to come in if that’s all right,” Matt said.
“Do I have a choice?”
“Is there a reason you don’t want our fine leader inside the house?” Nat asked. “You hiding something?”
“No. Protecting something. I just walked through town with a tote full of food and two men show up at my door. I’m not stupid. Why else would you be here?”
“We’re not here for your food, June. I promise,” Matt said, pulling my attention from Nat. “We’re looking for some missing people.”
“And you think they’re here? Why?” Even as I asked it, I stepped aside to let them both in. Nat’s gaze went straight to the food on the counter.
“It’s mine,” I said. “Stop drooling and start answering my questions. Why would you think your friends are here?”
“Someone said they were seen near your house,” Nat answered.
I glanced at Matt. “Well, if that isn’t a sign they were looking to break in, I don’t know what is. I’m glad you came to check up on me. If the men did break in, though, they were likely disappointed.” I met and held Nat’s hard gaze. “I made sure to eat yesterday’s supplies before I left.”
His jaw ticked, and I knew Matt’s presence was the only thing keeping him from crossing the room and beating me like they’d beaten Adam.
I glanced at Matt again. “If they are here, shouldn’t you have brought more people to check over the house and not one of their friends?”
“That’s not why we’re here. Nat thinks you did something to them.”
My surprised laughter wasn’
t faked.
“Me? Against…how many are missing?”
“Five,” Matt said.
I faced Nat. “This is bullshit and you know it. I was gone all day. Why are you really here?”
“He thinks you’re hiding a fey to protect your supplies.”
I rolled my eyes and waved a hand at the house.
“Go look. Make sure to check under the bed. I hear that’s where imaginary monsters like to hide.”
Without acknowledging the jab, Nat left to search the house. While he looked, I started dinner as if I wasn’t panicking on the inside. It didn’t matter if the fey were good at hiding outside. There was no way Nat would miss a huge grey man hiding in my closet, or wherever else Tor might have hidden.
The water for the rice had just started to boil when Nat returned to the kitchen. He looked seriously pissed.
“Find any fey?” I asked.
He didn’t answer. He walked right out the door, slamming it behind him.
Matt, who hadn’t said anything, shared a look with me.
“Be careful, June.”
“What’s life without risks?”
He shook his head and left. I locked the door behind him then continued making dinner, waiting for Tor to reappear. It didn’t take him long. A brush of noise on the stairs alerted me.
“Where did you hide?” I asked.
“On the roof.”
“You went out a window?”
He grunted.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I said as I started cutting up the spam to fry. I didn’t like that Nat suspected I had a fey with me. Did that mean he and his gang wouldn’t come tonight?
“I’m thinking about licking your pussy again.”
I jerked my head up from what I was doing to stare at him.
“Tor, be serious. It’s not good that Nat thinks a fey is staying with me.”
Tor shrugged.
“Vorx said that the men left and went to other houses. The human knows they didn’t disappear here. He used that as an excuse to get inside and see how quickly you were eating your food. He and his men will be here soon after dark. Cook faster, June, and I will have enough time to lick you the way you like before they arrive.”
