Book 1 - Page 28 (1/2)

“We should save the smaller ones for travel. Eat some of this stuff now.”

“‘Creamed corn,’” I read aloud.

His pale eyes flickered. “How do you know that?”

“I can read, some. Not as well as Fade.”

Stalker stared at me, and then he asked, “What does that mean?”

How could he not know? And then I remembered how he’d come up, no Breeders to teach him anything at all. The only things he knew, he’d learned the hard way. n.o.body like Stone had shown him anything or made sure he showed up for basic brat training. It was a wonder he could talk, let alone read.

“The letters here,” I pointed. “They spell out what’s inside the tin. I don’t know what ‘corn’ is, but I’m hungry enough to eat almost anything.”

I got out my tiny knife with all its funny blades. One of them punctured the tin, so I did it repeatedly, until I could pry the top off. I peered inside at the yellow goo. Stalker c.o.c.ked his head and sniffed.

“Doesn’t smell bad.”

My fingers were clean enough from the pond that I dipped them in and tasted. Sweet. Not like the cherries, in a different way, but good. Following my example, he gave it a try too. I ate until I didn’t want anymore and then got out some of the bottled water we’d found. So far I hadn’t tried drinking it; I’d only washed off in it. But we didn’t have any choice now. I cracked the bottle open and took a drink. It tasted funny, but not dirty. I made myself down half of it, then I offered it to him.

“It’s not very good, but I think it’s clean.”

He took it, leveling a strange look on me. I realized he wasn’t used to the idea of sharing. What he wanted, he took. But it didn’t work like that, now. And he had to understand that.

I narrowed my eyes. “You realize, you’re not in charge. You never will be. Fade thinks your blades will come in handy on the trip and he’s probably right. But if you try to hurt any one of us, especially Tegan, it’ll be the last thing you ever do.”

His pale eyes narrowed, drawing up his scarred cheeks. “Don’t threaten me.”

“It’s not a threat,” Fade said, coming up behind me. “It’s the truth.”

Tegan growled low in her throat. “He can’t change. We should just kill him.”

“There’s been enough killing.” Fade put a hand on her arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on him. He won’t hurt you.”

Part of me didn’t like the new additions to our group. I missed when it was just Fade and me against the world, even as I acknowledged we needed the help. There was no telling how far we had to go. He hadn’t found any maps in the library, showing us the route. We only had his dad’s stories and the hope we might get out of these ruins if we walked far enough. Right now it seemed impossible.

We lived in a dead world. The idea if we went far enough, we might find living people, who had fires and homes and food to eat—I might as well wish for those pale, lovely winged people to come down from the stars and take us there, as long as I was hoping for things beyond my reach. But giving up wasn’t an option either. I’d put my faith in Fade’s sire, and the fact that his stories must be true.

“Have some creamed corn.” I pa.s.sed the huge tin to her, and she smelled it, much as Stalker had done. It would doubtless make her mad to find out she had anything in common with him. “It’s better than it looks.”

If the water had been bad, I would know soon. Stomach pains, coupled with quick eruption, marked the dirty disease. So far, so good. I missed proper baths with soap, but the clumsy cleanup at the pond would have to do. All things considered, it was a small complaint.

Shouldering my bag, I found a dark corner and rolled up in my blanket. Tegan lay down on my other side; she still had my club, I noticed. She kept one hand on it even as she fell asleep. Fade put his body between Stalker and us. He didn’t seem to care.

No harm came to us while we slept. I woke first, roused by the noise Tegan was making in her sleep. I put my hand on her shoulder and she came up swinging. She landed a solid punch to my face before she realized who I was. I rubbed my cheek and smiled at her.

“That’ll teach me to wake you up.”

“Sorry.”

“Sounded like you were having a bad dream.”

Her gaze cut over to Stalker. “You could say that.”

“About him?”

“Well. No. But about what he let his Wolves do to me.”

“I thought you said he took all females first.”

“Not if someone else brought the girl in. He had the right to claim anyone he wanted, but he was usually generous.” Her anger sizzled. “He made an exception to that rule when you showed up.”

“You blame him for not helping you.”

“Of course I do! He was in charge—they listened to him. If he’d asked them to stop or leave me alone, they would have.”

“Can you fight?” Stalker demanded from the other side of Fade. I hadn’t realized he was awake, but she wasn’t being quiet, either. “Hunt? Can you make clothes or any other useful item?”

Tegan glared at him. “No!”