Revenge of the Walker (The Walker Series Book 4)

by Coralee June

  "Am I wrong for feeling happy that it was Allaire and not Maverick? I know he was a friend...once...but I'm glad." I breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting go of the question about ethics that had been haunting me. I shut my eyes, trying to block the image of Allaire's head falling away from his body.

  With gentle hands, Patrick spun me around and started spraying the hazy sanitizing mist over my chest; the cool spray was refreshing. Finally, Patrick replied. "I'm glad it was him. If that makes me a terrible person, so be it."

  Once we were done, Patrick wrapped me up in a towel and returned the wand to Louis, who went inside. Hidden here, Patrick took his time enjoying my naked frame, and his cock hardened beneath my stare. He was beautiful...so damn beautiful that it hurt.

  "Patrick," I began while shuffling closer. I leaned up to kiss his lips then wrinkled my nose when I tasted the sanitizing serum. He laughed, and the sound was like pure music, invigorating me and pushing past the pain of the day.

  I stroked his hair while scraping my nails along his scalp. "You're so beautiful," I murmured.

  "I'm beautiful, huh? Not manly, sexy, or intoxicatingly addictive?" he joked, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to hold back my laugh. Patrick was beautiful, in every sense of the word. It wasn't just his tall, muscular frame, blue eyes, and bright smile. It was the way he put everyone above him. It was in the way he calmed me in times of crises—and today was a significant time of crisis.

  "You're all of that, but mostly, you're beautiful, Patrick," I said again. He cupped my face but paused before leaning in to kiss me, laughing when he remembered that we were both still covered in the gross-tasting sanitizing spray meant to prevent the spread of influenza X.

  "Are you okay?" Patrick finally asked.

  "No, but I will be," when I have all my men back. "This is a dangerous game we're playing, Patrick."

  "I know, Ash. I know."

  I was brushing my hair when Kemper found me. Wearing white after the execution felt wrong today. I didn't want to be Shade for a few hours; I wanted to be Ash. So I slipped into one of the casual outfits Jules wore. Tight pants, form-fitted through the ankle, the material clung to my legs. An off the shoulder grey top was loose on my thin frame, but still comfortable. "You ready for that surprise?" he asked, shuffling his feet and looking down at the ground. "I was going to take you tonight, but it looks like you're going back to Cavil's tower."

  "Yeah," I said with a small half smile. I had spent the last hour worrying about going to Cavil's estate, so an afternoon with Kemper before going back into the lion's den was just what I needed.

  He held his hand out for me to grab before saying, "Let's go," with a small smile. Guiding me outside and down the hall, he paused at the door to put a hat on my head. "Stick close to me, okay? We have a bit of a walk ahead of us," he said. I squeezed his hand, answering him with a peaceful resolution to not let go.

  The air was light and smelled of smoke, and a light breeze lifted the sleek strands of my hair as we walked. The Zone was quiet. All the Walkers seemed to be hiding in their shacks after this morning's execution. Not that the Zone was ever buzzing with excitement, but today there seemed to be an added layer of fear.

  Kemper guided me down the street and around the corner, towards the auction house. I kept my eyes ahead, taking in my surroundings and once again trying to imagine what my life would have been like had I grown up here. "How are you holding up?" Kemper asked.

  I took a moment to consider my answer. "I don't even know anymore. I'm stuck between wanting to be this strong, ruthless woman with a vendetta, and being the scared little victim. I'm getting emotional whiplash from it all. I want everyone back and healthy. I want to go back to Dormas where our biggest obstacle was our feelings for one another."

  I looked ahead and covered my mouth. In the street, a man with boils along his skin was passed out in the road. With blood oozing from his arms, he gasped and rolled over. It was obvious that he was in the last stage of the disease. The poor man would undoubtedly die soon, alone and abandoned in the street.

  Kemper gently pulled me away from him and continued speaking. Strange how desensitized we'd become to X and death. "I think it's okay not to have one singular reaction to things, Ash. You're allowed to be both strong and scared. There’s no right or wrong way to feel, no checklist of emotions you’re supposed to work through. You’re doing the best you can, and I admire you for it."

  I nodded my head. I knew this, didn't I? I knew that I was capable of many emotions and reactions. I knew that part of growing meant riding each wave of the human experience. Kemper's words hit me harder than most. He was gradually learning that perfection wasn't real. By accepting me, he was accepting the beauty in the mess.

  "Where are we going?" I asked, changing the subject of the conversation. Kemper was always good at providing me with a semblance of normalcy during the chaos.

  "What, you can't handle a surprise?" he asked with a chuckle. There was a certain bounce to his step, despite the grim day and setting. We kept walking, and between two buildings was an alley. He gripped my wrist and pulled me towards the shadows, planting a kiss on my lips and pushing me against the wall.

  "I'm sorry," he whispered over my lips like a cool secret meant only for me, and I shivered at the sound of his husky voice. "I promise to bring you to the surprise, but first I have to do this."

  Kemper's kisses had a healing quality about them that I craved. He took great care of my lips, my tongue, and my soul. He kissed me like he was thankful I came into his life, and as we devoured one another, I was completely, utterly lost. He could have taken me right here, against the wall in this alley.

  He pulled me off the wall and wrapped his arms around my back, snaking his fingers up beneath my shirt and gliding across my hot skin. I wondered if it would always feel like this. I’d become so starved for affection in the Stonewell Manor that I burned for more. The last five months I’d turned off my need for physical contact, but once I opened the gates to my heart once more, the craving was so intense that each little kiss, each touch, each caress was like a drug. He peppered kisses along my jaw, traveling to my neck, and I looked up at the sky as clouds passed overhead. He continued to drift lower, licking and sucking on my skin right above my plush right breast. I sighed. "Is this, uh, the surprise?" I asked. My voice sounded throaty and laced with lust.

  "I didn't plan on it, but now I can't seem to stop," he said with a groan. I leaned back a little more, and Kemper placed his ear against my chest, listening to the thudding of my heart and tapping against my wrist with his hand in time to my pulse.

  "I love you, Ash," he whispered.

  My vision went blurry from unshed tears. "I love you too, Kemp. We keep doing this, you know? You always seem to find shadowed alleys for us to kiss in," I said with a laugh. Kissing Kemper on the streets of Ethros was one of the few good memories I had of our time there.

  Kemper closed his eyes, squinting them shut in embarrassment. I knew he was mentally chastising himself. “Not that I’m complaining,” I quickly added, hoping to stop whatever spiral of self-deprecation he was in.

  Kemper looked at me like he wanted to toss me over his shoulder and carry me back to the manor—or back to Dormas—but once again, he made even the dirty streets of the Zone feel like paradise. “I swear to you,” he began. “The next time we kiss like this, it’ll be in my bed, and I won’t stop. Not until you come apart while I’m inside of you. And then we’ll do it again, and again, and again,” he growled out.

  We continued down the street, our breathing heavy from the brisk walk and our kisses. We didn't stop until we arrived at a shack on the outskirts of the Zone. "Ash," Kemper began with a nervous whistle. "Maybe I shouldn't have...fuck..."

  Kemper looked down at the ground then back at me. I took in our surroundings, taking special notice of the shack in front of us, with it's chipped blue door and rusted metal roof. "Where are we, Kemper?" I asked.

  He let out a shaky brea
th. "When I learned the database from Louis, I found out where your childhood home was. They burned it down when your parents died..." he said, and I frowned. "But there was still something here...in the concrete," he quickly added.

  Kemper leaned forward, pulling me down with him to stare at the concrete sidewalk. There, imprinted in the street, were three sets of handprints with names traced above them:

  Claire

  Daniel

  Ashleigh.

  I gasped, tracing over the indent of my mother's hand and letting the love of the parents I never got the chance to know, fill me up. Grief was fickle. I went years without thinking of the parents I could barely remember. All I knew of my childhood was Josiah and Stonewell Manor. It was rare that I remembered anything from before the auction. My life in the Zone was nothing more than a fuzzy, distant memory. I sometimes doubted that it was even real. But this, this permanent and concrete marking proved that my childhood was real.

  My parents were real.

  "Kemper," I said while clutching my chest. "How did you...this is so..." My tears covered the pavement, and I closed my eyes, trying to remember when we did this. I now had names for my parents. This was a gift I'd cherish forever.

  What little memories I had were fleeting, and in the height of this moment I found myself feeling unsure of what they were like. I pictured a tall man as my father. Big eyes and callused hands. He would have been thin from malnutrition but toned from his job at the junkyard. He was hard working. Maybe a playful smile covered his face when he came home to us.

  I imagined my mother, a woman that looked like me, with curly hair and fierce but kind eyes. I imagined us huddled together over the wet concrete, feeling mischievous. Maybe they whispered to themselves while carrying fear in their hearts. They didn't know if they'd survive X, but they knew that this would be a permanent memory, a permanent fixture in this world. Something that could prove that we all were once together and that we were happy.

  "Thank you, Kemper," I choked out while turning to hug him, it was like I couldn't squeeze him hard enough. Being here was the greatest gift anyone had ever given me. "This is amazing. Thank you."

  Kemper stroked my back, rubbing little circles as I held him tightly against me. "I'd do anything for you, Ash. Anything."

  Chapter Nineteen

  I didn’t want to go back to Cavil’s tower again. Tonight’s event was expected to be a dinner party, so I couldn’t hide away with Maverick or Cyler like before. I wore a long, elegant white dress with jewels covering the torso. It dipped low, revealing my cleavage in a tasteful but seductive way. Jules did my hair up in an elegant twist that pulled the strands of my hair so tight against my scalp that I winced with every pin she placed. Something told me that she enjoyed torturing me, going so far as to say, “Beauty is pain, little Walker Queen.” She, too, added a condescending tone to the nickname that Madam B gave me at the Resistance meeting.

  Since having to up the timeline of our attack, the brothel owner was frantically making plans. Kaye came up to me with a frown. “I need you to deliver a note to my sister in the kitchens,” she told me as Jacob led me to the transport taking us to Cavil’s tower. “I haven’t heard from her in two days, which is uncommon for her. I need to make sure she’s still prepared to poison the drinks.” Kaye placed a note in my palm, and I slipped the tiny scrap of paper into the hidden seam in my dress, which also contained the pill that would make me puke should another member of the Elite try to claim me for the night.

  I still wasn’t sure about her plan. It felt wrong killing every member of the guard. I knew that she and her people would make sure the good ones didn’t attend, but I didn’t like the sort of power she had over deciding who was worthy of being saved and who wasn’t. “Okay,” I told her. “How will I know who she is?”

  “Her name is Lilac. She’s young, but crazy smart. I’d go see her, but I don’t want to raise suspicions. Your men can sneak you in and out.”

  “Okay,” I said with an exhale. “I’ll get this to her.”

  Huxley grunted beside me, and I left to load into the transport. Just as I was about to dip into the seat of the transport, Huxley leaned over to whisper in my ear. I shuddered when his breath feathered over my exposed neck. “Don’t deliver that note if it puts you in danger,” his gruff voice said.

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, Hux.” Once more, I was about to move to sit beside Lowe when he gripped my arm and whispered once more.

  “Be safe and come back to me. I’ll reward you.” Huxley wasn’t one to say much, but that little promise already had me growing warm. He kept his hand on my arm and pulled me up to him, grabbing my ass with his free hand and kissing me so hard our teeth clashed.

  “You better come home,” he growled into my mouth before nipping my bottom lip and slowly easing me into the transport. When the door shut, the entire transport let out a sigh.

  “Damn girl, he had me panting. That was hot,” Lowe said while fanning herself.

  Cavil’s tower seemed to have more people this time, and the moment the elevator doors opened, Cyler was nearby, inconspicuously waiting to snatch me up the moment my shoe hit the lobby. I worried that Cavil would think he was too eager and would investigate further, but I also couldn’t help but think that, in the drunken state he was in, he wouldn’t remember much of the night. Besides, he was nowhere to be found, and other Elite men snatched up Jade, Lowe, Kaye, and Blythe the moment the doors opened too.

  “Hey, Babe,” he growled into my ear while hugging me tightly. “I’ve been so fucking worried. Are you okay?”

  I nodded as his lips tickled my earlobe and neck. Each of my nerves were firing off at how close he was. Looking around the beautiful gathering room, I wondered if Cyler and I could sneak off. “Dinner will be starting within the hour. We need to stay here. We can go over and find a seat if you’d like?”

  I patted the seam of my dress, remembering my promise to Kaye. “Could you take me to the kitchens? I need to get a glass of water. The drive left me parched.”

  Cyler cocked his eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, not quite catching on. I wasn’t sure how much I could say or who was listening. I leaned in, nuzzling against his neck. “I have a message to deliver,” I whispered.

  Cyler went rigid and began pulling me towards the opposite side of the room to a less crowded area. “What’s going on?” he asked once sure no one could hear us. I looked around, wondering where Maverick was.

  “Kaye gave me a note to give her sister in the kitchens,” I replied.

  Cyler dragged his eyes over me with that fiery intensity I loved before saying, “Okay, it’s risky, but if we hurry, we can go before dinner.”

  I nodded and followed him down the maze of hallways. “Where is Maverick?” I asked, making sure to keep my voice low.

  “We decided to keep him away. He can’t keep his eyes and hands off of you, and it would look highly suspicious if both of us suddenly became smitten with the same Companion. It might make Cavil pay more attention to you.” Cyler went quiet and nodded at an Elite man and Companion passing us. He was already a bit buzzed, grabbing the Companion’s hip as they made their way towards the gathering room.

  Once they were out of earshot, Cyler continued. “I didn’t really mean for him to see us together, to begin with. I never meant to put another target on your back, Babe. He’s been paying close attention to everything I do. And every time I turn down his offer to give me a Companion for the night, it becomes almost like a challenge for him.”

  Winding down the hallway, I tried to feel concerned or fearful about what Cyler said, but all I could feel was happiness. I was glad that despite not knowing if we’d ever see each other again, Cyler and Maverick stayed true to me. “How much farther?” I asked.

  Cyler took me down three more steps, bypassing a room that was all white with screens filling each wall. “We’re here.”

  A swinging door with Walkers entering and exiting drew my attention, and Cyler scanned the hallwa
ys, as if ready for someone to turn the corner and attack us. “I’ll wait outside and keep watch. Go in and out as quickly as possible.”

  I nodded, suddenly feeling nervous. This was my first small, yet official, duty for the Resistance. This was the sort of thing I’d been yearning to do, I’d wanted to feel useful and add to the cause. So why did my heart race with uncertainty, like I was headed towards danger?

  I gave Cyler a quick peck on the cheek then went inside, immediately regretting not coming up with a reason for being here when I came face to face with a kitchen full of bustling cooks, Walkers, and curious stares.

  “Can we help you?” a rude chef with dim black hair and a scowl the size of Cavil’s tower asked. She stirred her pot and jetted out her hip as she took in my revealing attire.

  “I’m here looking for Lilac?” I said, not sounding nearly confident enough.

  “Why? Who are you? Aren’t you supposed to be in the gathering room?” I shut my eyes, momentarily gathering myself and trying to think of a way to respond that would garner some sort of cooperation from this woman. Walkers were bustling by, taking extra care to avoid her which meant that she was the person in charge here.

  “I work with her sister…” I began, trying to search my brain. And when the answer came to me, I almost felt ashamed for my excuse. Grief was the only thing that tied all Walkers together and would hopefully be what allowed me to find Lilac. “She contracted X. I wanted to let her know…” The chef’s eyes softened for a brief moment, and I knew that she was remembering someone that she had lost to the virus. We’d all lost someone, hadn’t we?

  “I-I,” she stuttered, coughing back whatever emotion was rising in her throat before continuing. I wondered if her loss were recent. “I’m sorry to hear that. Lilac is washing dishes. You have three minutes. Don’t keep long, or I’ll find the Companion Coordinator and make sure she lets Cavil know you weren’t in the gathering area.”