Veridian grinned at Kayla. “Chance lets me use his special tools, but I’ll bet he’ll let you try them out too. Chance is really cool. You'll like him.”
When Skye stood, Leo leaned in close and whispered, “Be careful, baby. I'll go talk to Chance and see what happened while we were gone. Keep the kids away from Daryl as much as possible.”
Skye nodded. She’d do her best, but Daryl had a way of turning up at the worst possible moments. Taking Kayla and Veridian’s hands in hers, she led her young wards down the corridor, hoping she could protect all of them from whatever Fate had in store.
A soft whimper woke Skye. Reaching over, she put her hand on Kayla’s back and the child stilled. She waited until Kayla’s breathing was once again deep and regular before removing her hand. This was at least the fourth time that night she’d awakened, but it was impossible to begrudge Kayla for her nightmares. The trauma of the building collapse earlier would probably continue to plague the child for a long time. It would have been hard enough for an adult to handle, but to a child, such scars might never heal.
She listened, but it didn’t sound like Kayla had disturbed anyone else. Light snores and other nighttime noises filled the room as the majority of their camp slept. Niko and a few others who had been injured had been moved to another part of the building. A few people were awake in other parts of the camp to monitor them and also to watch for emergencies or possible thieves. Everyone else tended to congregate in one main room while they slept. It helped conserve energy and resources, especially since part of the building had been damaged during the storm. She and Leo had pulled their sleeping mats to the far corner of the room, and both children were sleeping beside them.
Leo wrapped his arms around her and murmured, “You need to get some sleep too, baby.”
“So do you,” she whispered, burrowing against his chest. In the relative darkness, she could enjoy such small intimacies with him. He stroked her back, seemingly content to hold her. He often did this when something was troubling him, and she didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what it was.
While they were gone trying to scavenge for artifacts, the rest of their people had returned from being stranded during the storm. There were a few more injuries, but thankfully, no one had died. Skye’s risky attempt at getting a message to their people had worked, but now they were facing more challenges. The few tradeable items their campmates had brought back weren’t nearly enough to cover the camp’s supply deficit. Daryl had been on the warpath ever since. She’d barely had a few moments to catch her breath before tumbling into bed.
After several minutes, Leo sighed and kissed her hair. In a quiet voice, he said, “I should get up and head out. Do you mind getting up with me? I want to check your hand before I leave. We didn’t have a chance earlier.”
She made a noise of agreement and got up, leaving the children sleeping on the floor in their makeshift beds. Keeping her footsteps quiet, she followed Leo down the hall and into a room where some of their storage was being kept. Most of the crates were empty, another reminder of their dwindling supplies and the pressing need to acquire more resources soon.
Leo turned around. “I won’t be gone longer than the two days Daryl gave us. I’ll try to hit as many camps as possible to see if anyone knows anything about Kayla’s camp. While I’m gone, try to keep the kids away from Daryl. If he doesn’t see them, he won’t think about them quite so much.”
Skye arched a brow. “You think it’s possible to hide a couple of kids that age in a camp this size?”
Leo grinned. “If anyone’s creative enough to do it, you are.”
Skye smiled and moved closer. “I’ll see what I can do. But I won’t abandon her to a family camp, Leo. She’s an innocent child. You know what could happen to her there.”
Leo’s expression turned grim, and he ran a hand over his short hair. “I know. We’ll figure it out. Hopefully, she has someone who will take her in.”
Skye frowned and didn’t say anything right away.
Leo lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “What is it?”
“There’s something about her,” Skye admitted, biting her lip. “When we were down in those ruins, I thought I heard a voice telling me she needed me.”
Leo’s brow furrowed. “Her mother? She asked you to take her to safety.”
Skye shook her head. “No. It was before we even discovered them. It felt like something was leading us to them. And when I look at Kayla, I get the feeling I need to protect her. She was frightened at the thought of being returned to her camp. I can’t help but believe she’s supposed to be here… with us.”
Leo was quiet for a long time. “I’ve never discounted your hunches, baby. I’d be a fool to start now. If I find her camp, I’ll see what the situation is before we agree to anything.”
Her shoulders relaxed, and Skye nodded. She trusted Leo’s judgment implicitly. Placing her hands against Leo’s bare chest, she felt the reassuring rhythm of his heartbeat under her fingertips. “Be safe when you’re out there. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”
Leo cupped her face and murmured, “I hate leaving you here alone, especially knowing our supplies are so limited. Daryl’s getting desperate, and I’m worried about what he might do. If we can get some of our people out scavenging soon, maybe we can turn things around.”
“We’ll be fine here,” she said gently, giving him a small smile. “You just focus on finding Kayla’s camp. The supplies will get sorted. We always bounce back from this stuff.”
Leo nodded. “I talked to Chance earlier. He’ll try to run interference if things get bad, but Daryl doesn't usually listen to him. He won’t be able to do much without risking his place here.”
“I’ll be fine,” she promised, standing on her toes and pressing a light kiss against his lips. “Just come back to me soon. I always miss you when you’re gone.”
Leo wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. He leaned down to nuzzle her neck and murmured, “Fuck, Skye. I have a bad feeling about leaving you here.”
She traced a pattern against his chest, comforted by his surrounding warmth. “I tried asking Kayla about her camp a little bit. She won’t talk about them and shuts down any time I bring it up. But the woman in the ruins was probably her mother. When we were down there, the woman said a partial name: ‘See-air’. Maybe someone will know who she was talking about. It might be their camp leader.”
“I’ll see what I can find out. I have a few contacts in other camps who might have heard something. Maybe they’ll also have some medical supplies for your hand. We should have cleaned it as soon as we got back.”
Leo reached down and captured her bandaged hand. Skye frowned, watching as he carefully unwound the wrapping.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered, staring at her unblemished palm in shock. “How is this possible?”
Leo frowned, his gaze darting up to meet hers before lowering to her hand again. “This couldn’t be from the metabolic booster. We would have seen effects before now, and nothing this dramatic. Has it been bothering you at all?”
She shook her head. “Not since we were in the ruins.”
His frown deepened. “Did you touch anything down there?”
“No. I was wearing my gloves the entire time, but…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered running in the ruins and the strange sensation that had flowed through her. “Do you think it’s possible that whatever directed us to Kayla was also responsible for healing my hand? I felt a warmth when we were running toward them.”
Leo ran his fingertips over her palm. “I don’t know. I’ve heard about weird things happening there, but nothing like this. Maybe I should go back with Chance when things settle down and check it out. If there’s something down there that can heal an injury that severe—"
A strange chill settled over her, and goose bumps broke out along her skin. Skye shook her head at the sense of wrongness pounding inside her chest. The thought of Leo going b
ack there terrified her. She’d never have survived this long if she hadn’t learned to trust her instincts. “No. We need to stay away from that chasm.”
When he hesitated, Skye gripped his arms. It was more than just her worry about the earth shaking, but she wasn’t sure she could describe everything she’d experienced down there. “Please, Leo. I can’t explain it, but I need you to promise me you’ll stay away. You can’t go back there. Not now.”
“Hey,” Leo took her hands in his again, “I won’t go. If it worries you that much, I’ll stay away.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I don’t think we should tell anyone either. They might want to go down there themselves, and I think that would be dangerous.”
“You’re probably right,” he mused, turning her palm upward again and running his thumb across it. “If anyone asks, we’ll say the metabolic booster worked better than we expected.”
She blew out a relieved breath and nodded. “I think that would be best.”
“Whatever the reason for this, I’m just hoping it healed clean.” Leo lifted her hand and placed a kiss against it. “Try resting your hand as much as possible over the next couple of days, just in case.”
Touched by the sweet gesture, Skye smiled up at him. “You can’t help but worry, can you?” Before he could respond, she kissed him lightly. “I’ll be fine. Just concentrate on finding Kayla’s camp. I’ll take care of everything here.”
A sound from somewhere within the camp made her turn. It didn’t sound like Kayla, but she could wake up at any moment. Skye frowned. “I should get back to the kids before Kayla wakes anyone.”
“Skye, wait,” Leo said, pulling her tightly against him.
He fisted his hand in her hair as he claimed her mouth. She let out a moan, meeting his need with hers, and poured every ounce of her worry and fear into that kiss. It was impossible to know what tomorrow might bring, so they needed to treat each moment together like their last. She’d learned at an early age never to let the people she loved walk away without letting them know how she felt.
“I’ll be back as quick as I can, baby,” Leo promised. “Now that your hand’s healed, I want both of them on me again—and soon.”
She smiled up at him. “Then hurry. I want that too.”
Chapter Seven
Skye wrung out the cooling cloth and leaned forward, pressing it gently against Niko’s face. He mumbled something incoherent and tossed his head as though trying to escape. Skye frowned. Not even sleep was a deterrent from the pain chasing him.
She dipped the cooling cloth back into the water and wrung out the excess moisture again. Niko had been steadily getting worse. Despite their best efforts, it was unlikely he’d recover. The only thing they could do was to try to make him as comfortable as possible.
Alanza was sitting across from her, and the young woman’s eyes were red and weary. She’d barely left Niko’s side since he’d been injured. Skye could relate; if it had been Leo in Niko’s position, nothing would have prevented her from being there for him.
“Daryl offered Niko something to stop his heart,” Alanza whispered, taking Niko’s hand in hers again. “I’m not ready to say goodbye to him yet, Skye. I don’t want to lose him.”
Skye sighed and ran the cloth over Niko’s arms. “I know, but this decision belongs to Niko. He’s in a lot of pain, and the tonic is barely touching the worst of it.”
“That’s just it. Daryl hasn’t really tried to help him,” Alanza retorted, her eyes welling with angry tears. “He’s just anxious for me to get back to work. He told me Niko’s taking up a lot of time and valuable resources. You, Leo, and Chance are the only ones who truly care.”
Skye winced and dipped the cloth again. Daryl had never been the most tactful person, but he wasn’t evil. They simply didn’t have the resources available to help Niko. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything she could say to Alanza that would make this situation better. With a sigh, Skye ran the cloth over Niko’s other arm. At least he’d stopped thrashing in his sleep and appeared to be resting a little easier now.
Alanza sniffled. “That seems to have helped. How long will he sleep?”
“Not long,” Skye admitted, folding the cloth and placing it beside Niko. “We might have an hour or two before the tonic wears off and he wakes again. If you want to get some rest, I can stay with him for a while.”
Alanza shook her head. “I appreciate it, but I can’t leave him. I need to be here in case he wakes up. I don’t want Daryl to push him into anything. Maybe Leo’s been delayed because he found a lead on a bone mold and medicine.”
A lump formed in Skye’s throat, and she didn’t respond. They both knew it was a false hope, but Alanza desperately wanted to believe it. Skye wouldn’t take that away from her. The time for hard truths was rapidly approaching, and no one could cheat Fate.
“Try giving Niko more of the tonic when he wakes up,” Skye said, picking up the bottle to gauge the amount that was left. Unfortunately, they were nearly out. She’d have to make another batch soon, but that would require a trip outside OmniLab territory to gather the ingredients.
When she was growing up in one of the family camps, her mother had taught her to make the tonic with some of the plants that grew nearby. It wasn’t as effective as OmniLab’s medicine, but it was helpful for minor ailments. They’d been giving larger doses of it to Niko to allow him a bit of rest, but the effects were minimal. It had never been intended for such serious injuries.
Alanza nodded but didn’t look away from Niko. Skye stood and quietly left the room, her heart breaking at the pain in Alanza’s eyes. The minute Skye was outside, she leaned against the wall. Tears filled her eyes, and she hastily wiped them away. No matter how many times people she cared about were hurt, it never got any easier.
Taking a steadying breath, Skye headed down the hallway in search of the children. After sitting in the room with Niko and witnessing his suffering, she desperately wanted to hold her son and reassure herself he was safe. The sound of Veridian and Kayla’s voices caught her attention, and she headed toward the room where they’d moved some of their computer equipment.
They were sitting on the floor together, and Veridian was showing Kayla some of the tools spread out on the floor near them. Skye paused for a moment, watching as the next generation of ruin rats worked side by side. With a pang, Skye realized one day something might happen to her too, just like it had with Niko. Veridian would be left alone, without anyone to guide him—just like Kayla had been abandoned.
Pushing aside her dark thoughts, Skye walked over to them. “It sounds like you two have been busy in here. What’s going on?”
Veridian beamed a smile at her, making her heart hurt a little at the innocence in his eyes. “Kayla wants to learn how to fix the computer. I’m going to teach her. Chance said we could work on this one.”
Skye arched her brow and sat on the ground. “Not a bad idea. Walk me through it. What’s the first step?”
Veridian frowned, his expression turning serious as he studied the computer in front of him. “We have to make sure there’s no power going to the unit before we take off the cover.”
Skye made a small noise of approval, watching while Veridian checked the connections. He showed Kayla how to adjust it, and Skye only needed to make a few minor corrections to his explanation.
Once he’d finished, Veridian turned to Kayla. “Ready for the next part? We’re going to take it apart.”
Kayla’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. Skye leaned back and watched them. Kayla still wasn't talking much. She seemed to have an almost insatiable desire to learn, absorbing every detail around her. The only one Kayla seemed to open up with was Veridian, and he’d taken her under his wing to tell her everything he could about their camp.
As the only child within the camp, Veridian was only used to interacting with other adults. This experience was good for him, and Skye suspected it was helping Kayla with some of her grief. At least, she hoped. It would be
better once Kayla was reunited with her former camp, assuming everything checked out okay with them. But if Skye was honest, she'd miss Kayla. She’d already begun to develop a strong affection for her foster daughter. Her intuition was telling her Kayla was supposed to be here with them—at least for now.
It had been three days since Leo had left, and no one had heard anything from him. Worry was beginning to set in. He should have been back by now. A hundred things could have happened to him. If his speeder broke down or he got caught in a storm, there was no way to track him. That was one of the reasons they usually traveled in pairs. But Skye couldn’t risk leaving the children alone with Daryl, especially since he was eager to get rid of them. She wasn’t even sure where to start looking for Leo.
“Yeah, now we just slide off the cover,” Veridian said to Kayla, showing her how to remove it.
“That’s it?”
Veridian nodded. He reached into Chance's toolkit and frowned. “I don't know where the testing meter went. Did you see it?”
Skye glanced around the floor but didn't see any sign of it. “Chance may have taken it with him to work on some of the outside equipment. He was going to find an alternate site to mount the new antenna.”
Veridian shook his head. “No. He was helping Daryl move some crates. He said he wouldn't need any of his tools this afternoon.” Veridian's frown deepened. “I can't lose it, Mom. Chance trusted me with all his tools. I don’t want to let him down.”
Skye put her hand over Veridian's and squeezed it gently. “We'll find it, V. It's got to be around here somewhere. Maybe it just didn't make it back into his kit.”
She stood and started checking around the communication equipment. Chance was usually pretty organized, but it could have been accidentally misplaced. With everything being moved around after the storm, nothing was where it should be.
Kayla bit her lip. “What does the testing meter look like?”
“It’s about this big.” Veridian held out his hands to indicate the size. “It has dials on it and a solar cell on the top for power. There’s a big scratch on the side from when Chance dropped it. He says it’s his lucky testing meter because it didn’t break.”
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