by Toby Neal
Cleaning himself up, a cold and lonely business, brought clarity.
Would he ever be free of her?
That didn’t matter. Protecting her was what mattered.
Jeb had said she was welcome in Grimesville. There would be a place for her homemaking skills there, and doubtless someone steady and dependable who would appreciate her cooking, her kindness, her organizing. But that man wasn’t him.
He’d leave her in Grimesville. They’d lost her brother’s men by taking the river, and even if their pursuers somehow found them again, the townspeople would hide her, he was sure of it. She had already made friends in Maud and Billy. Even Jeb seemed charmed by her.
Cash couldn’t take her to the Haven and have her in the midst of his family and not be with her. He didn’t know how long he’d even be visiting the Haven because he didn’t plan to stay.
He never stayed anywhere long.
And this thing between them? Over and done.
His chest ached. His body felt like lead as he forced his heavy feet back toward the town.
He owed her goodbye, at least.
The back gate of the inn opened as he approached on the dirt path through the woods. Two men with shaved heads and bodies covered in tattoos hustled Sunshine, one on each arm, as she thrashed between them. She screamed, a high, thin sound like a rabbit in a trap, and the cry went straight to his heart like a shot of adrenaline.
“Tiny! Go!” Cash pointed at the men as he shrugged off the heavy pack of meat, his hunting kit, bow and arrows. The big dog charged forward.
“Hey!” Cash bellowed, running after the dog. “Let go of her!” He pulled his knife, the familiar weight a warning and a balm. Cash was dangerous and his life was filled with regrets, but he could protect Jolene. Sunshine was worth killing for.
Tiny leapt onto one of the men, grabbing his forearm, her teeth sinking through the thick wool sweater he wore. The man released Sunshine to punch at Tiny’s head. They fell to the ground, the man yelling.
The other man, a swastika burned into his forehead above narrow beady eyes, had an arm over Sunshine’s shoulder and chest, holding her in front of him as a shield. She fought, scratching and kicking, writhing, and trying to bite. Cash’s laboring heart almost stopped as Swastika brought up a pistol and held it to her temple.
She stilled as the hammer cocking cut through the noise of Tiny and Wool Sweater rolling around on the ground.
Sunshine’s eyes caught Cash’s as he reached the tableau. Swastika smiled a gap-toothed grin. He thought he’d won, clearly one of those fuckwits who thought a gun always won.
Cash fought to keep his expression neutral. “Let her go,” Cash warned, his voice low and harsh, his knife loose and ready at his side. Swastika hadn’t noticed it yet. He’d probably never have time to even see it.
The man shook his head. “Get your dog off my friend.”
Cash nodded. Bending, his knees ever so slightly, he brought his knife arm back, then used the torque of his forward movement to launch the knife into Swastika’s left eye.
Blood burst from the wound and Swastika dropped backward to the ground like a felled tree.
Sunshine stumbled forward from his loosened grip, and Cash caught her in his arms.
“You okay?” He murmured into the velvet of her shorn hair as his gaze flicked to the man in Tiny’s jaws. The man stared at Cash, eyes wide.
“Why do you want her?” Cash demanded.
Wool Sweater’s mouth moved but nothing came out.
Cash bit his lip, his arm tightening around Sunshine. He’d almost lost her. Motion on the other side of the fence spurred him back into action. In a fluid movement he pushed Sunshine behind him, reached down, and yanked his knife loose from the skinhead’s skull, turning to face the gate, ready for whatever might come through it.
Jeb, Billy and Maud appeared. “What the hell?” Billy exclaimed.
Cash pulled Sunshine close against his body. “These men grabbed Sunshine. They were dragging her off. I was trying to get some information from this guy.” He gestured with the bloody knife at Wool Sweater.
“I was coming to warn her,” Jeb explained. “I saw these two in town. They were asking about a couple traveling together: a tall blonde guy and a gal with a shaved head. I told them to get lost, but I guess they came in the back way.”
Dread curdled Cash’s stomach. Jolene’s brother had found them. “These woods and the town should be better patrolled.” Cash’s voice was rougher than he intended.
Jeb bristled. “If we had more men they would be.”
Cash shook his head. Not his problem. Not his town. “We have to leave.”
“Is there something going on we should know about?” Jeb crossed his arms, pulling his scruffy brows together.
“Sunshine has enemies. I’m trying to get her to safety.”
“I’m sorry.” Sunshine looked up at Maud. “My brother is a dangerous man. I led these people into Grimesville.”
Wool Sweater nodded, finding his voice. “That’s right, he is, and he’ll find you. Jolene. He won’t ever give up.”
Tiny shook her head, growling, shaking the sleeve still in her teeth and the man shut up.
“You have enough trouble in your midst without taking us on.” Cash didn’t want to put the people of Grimesville in danger. “We’ll be on our way. Thanks for all the help, and you can keep that deer I brought in. I’ll just take a little meat for our journey.”
“We’ll put this guy in our town’s holding cell until we figure out what to do. And I’ll make sure this body gets buried.” Billy held Cash’s gaze. He understood. “Good luck, you two.”
Maud opened her arms, and Sunshine fell into them, hugging the older woman. Cash unbuckled the handsome, silver-studded belt to draw it out of his pants, but she waved a hand. “No. Keep it.”
They bid a brief goodbye to their newfound friends after packing their supplies. As they left Grimesville, heading back the way they had come, Cash shook his head ruefully.
Far from breaking up with Sunshine, he’d just cemented her to him even more. Hard conversations lay ahead, but their safety took priority right now. They needed to return to the cabin.
Cash squeezed her hand, unable to speak the words he must to end things with her.
He was too weak, too tired, and too scared she’d be taken from him. They needed to get to their safe little cabin on the river before any further personal business.
Chapter Seventeen
Sunshine
Sunshine gripped Cash’s hand, trying to ground herself. But even as her feet continued forward, her mind was sucked away, pulled back into the darkness.
Tremors of terror shaking her body. A cave, wet and cold.
Water trickled nearby, the sound echoing in the chamber. She was spread-eagled on a platform, tied down.
Dwight had always loved caves; he’d played in them since he was a boy. She’d never been welcome, until now. Until the Scorching.
Voices in the distance. Chanting.
Her teeth chattered and she clenched her jaw, trying to control herself, to have some kind of control.
Orange, dancing firelight reflected against the shining wet stone of the ceiling. She turned her head, searching for the source.
A robed, hooded figure stood at the entrance of the chamber, a flaming torch held aloft.
“Jolene.” His voice slithered through the room, creating echoes.
Dwight.
He crossed the space toward her. “Are you ready?”
“Please. No,” Jolene’s voice was a whisper. He didn’t seem to hear it.
Smoke from the torch swirled above Dwight’s head, making him appear to be a ghostly spirit. Pure evil.
Dwight stood over her, his face shrouded in the shadow of his hood. A tattooed hand took hers as hot tears streamed down her cheeks. Her throat was too tight to beg—not that it would do any good.
Footsteps rang on the stone, and Jolene closed her eyes as the chanting grew clos
er.
Her sweat-damp skirt clung to her legs. Leather bindings at her wrists and ankles cut into her flesh.
Nausea permeated her. She’d been sick for weeks.
They’d buried their mother in the mass grave, standing with other surviving families, half of whom were coughing. Dwight had whispered to her, “they deserve it for their weakness. They all deserve it.”
She could not end her life on this planet standing by her bigoted brother’s side. But when they got back to the double-wide trailer her mother had inhabited for the last five years, and Jolene packed her bag to leave, Dwight blocked the door.
“We did this!” His voice rang through the small, musty space as he raised his fist toward the ceiling. “Pure white men released this disease, this plague of judgment to destroy the weak, the unpure and unworthy.”
“What are you saying?” Jolene gripped her bag, seeing the dream of returning to her apartment next to the elementary school evaporate. Dwight was nuts.
All of Jolene’s hard work, her small victories along the narrow path she was plodding to success, were gone.
She should never have come back home.
Dwight smiled, his eyes sparkling with conviction. “I told you I was part of a movement, Jolene. I told you we were taking this country back. And now we have.”
“I’m leaving.” Her voice wavered with fear. She tried to push past, but Dwight grabbed her arm and flung her so that she hit the couch and rolled onto the carpeting. Jolene crawled toward the door, desperate to escape being this sister, this daughter, this abused woman.
Dwight had punched her, hard enough to send her right back to the terror of her childhood. Jolene curled into a ball, the breath knocked out of her, but Dwight carried her to his truck. He’d put her into the cave in his stronghold and kept her locked up. She refused the food, so his soldiers forced her to eat, shoving food into her mouth so that she could hardly breathe, holding a knife to her throat until she swallowed.
The taste of cold, viscous beef stew still coated her tongue as she lay strapped to the table, the chanting echoing in the chamber as Dwight loomed over her in that ridiculous robe.
Dwight placed his palm on her forehead, running it along the smooth expanse of her recently shaved skull. “I’m so proud of you, sister. You’re the perfect specimen. I have big plans for you.”
Jolene squeezed her eyes shut, her teeth chattering. Fear enveloped her. He was going to do something terrible to her.
The flat side of a blade touched her cheek, caressing her, the angle shifting, the point coming to rest by her eye.
“Look at me, sister.”
Jolene opened her eyes reluctantly. Robed figures surrounded them now, holding torches. Their chanting filled the cave. Dwight’s face drew close and he lowered his hood. The light of the flames reflected on his shiny bald head. Dwight’s eyes had gone dark, shrouded in shadows.
His soul was gone!
“You’re pure. Do you understand that? Our people are the superior chosen race. You will bring forth our next, pure generation. It is your destiny.”
Jolene nodded, hating herself for agreeing with him, but what else could she do? She already knew too well how he responded to defiance. Better to endure and try to get away somehow.
Dwight’s lips slid back from his yellowed teeth in a smile that made her shudder. What had happened to him?
“Good. I’ll mark you now.”
“No! Please, Dwight!” Jolene shook her head, pleading with her eyes, but his gaze had already drifted away from hers. He brought the blade up, dragging the point across her temple as he stepped around to the top of her head.
Sharp pain, a line of burning. Warm blood on her cold skin.
A scream tore from her throat, echoing in the chamber but drowned by the chanting. It wasn’t loud enough to make him stop.
“Sunshine!” Cash’s voice penetrated the screaming in her head. Sunshine blinked through lashes wet with tears. Cash’s face hovered before hers, his hands on her shoulders as he shook her and called her name again.
“Cash.” She forced the word out.
“Sunshine, are you okay?” Cash crouched beside her as she lay on the ground. She must have tripped and fallen while lost in her memory.
Sunshine reached up, tracing the scar at the back of her head, waves of nausea passing over her. “I remembered.”
Cash drew her into his arms, and she breathed in his scent: fresh pine and man. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his chest, squeezing him tight as tears rolled down her cheeks. “They’re so filled with hate.”
“Who?” Cash stroked her back, his voice low and close to her ear.
“My brother and his men.” She began to shake. The memories had reignited terror in her bones.
“What are you saying?”
“My brother. He wanted to breed me with someone, to populate the new, pure race.” Sunshine squeezed her eyes shut, overcome by humiliation. What kind of person was she? She and Dwight had the same DNA.
“Breed you?” Cash’s voice was tight with anger.
“He planned to give me to one of his men.” Hank. His name was Hank.
Hank loomed in her memory: a giant of a man, big and blond with huge hands. They’d known each other since they were children. Hank had been a sweet boy who grew up into a terrifying man. She shuddered. People changed.
Cash wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb, his face unreadable.
“The worst part is…” Sunshine bit her lip, staring up at Cash. “He…” she couldn’t say it.
“It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay.”
“Dwight is a member of that cult, Great Nation America, that released the plague.”
“I figured as much.” Cash’s grip on her tightened in anger. Sunshine whimpered.
“I’m sorry.” Cash released her, flexing his hands. He shook his head, not looking at her, and stood back up. “I didn’t mean to grab you like that.”
Was he angry with her?
Sobs racked Sunshine’s body. “I’m so sorry. He killed your brother. He killed so many people!”
Cash didn’t say anything, but Tiny came and sat by her side, shuffling in close. Sunshine wrapped her arms around the big bear dog, and poured out her grief.
Cash gently touched her head. “It’s not your fault. You didn’t do it.”
“But I didn’t stop it.”
Cash crouched next to her, rubbing soothing circles on her back. “Sunshine, none of this is your fault.”
“I should never have gone back home.”
Cash cocked his head.
This story was too long to tell on the side of the road. “We should go. This isn’t the place to talk.” Sunshine shook her head, pushing the memories aside and concentrating on the moment: Cash and Tiny, the bite of cold in the air, the scent of winter on the wind.
“I don’t want to rush you, but it’s going to be dark soon,” Cash’s hand felt warm on her back.
“I understand. We need to keep moving.” Sunshine took his hand. She was here now, with this man, on this path: a new, better way.
Cash pulled Sunshine to her feet and Tiny licked her hand, letting her thick furry shoulder brush against Sunshine’s hip. Her brother’s cruelty, her mother’s voice, even the imposing figure of her betrothed were just memories. They could not harm her now.
Sunshine would always bear the scar her brother had inflicted, but she would never belong to him again.
She’d rather die.
Chapter Eighteen
Cash
Sunshine had scared the shit out of him. One moment she’d been jogging beside him, the next she’d fallen to the ground, eyes rolled back, twitching and moaning. He’d thought she was having a seizure.
A memory that powerful might cause a seizure when it returned. Getting to the cabin, where they could rest and have some measure of safety, was the priority. Night had fallen when they finally reached the rickety porch.
“Good thing I got e
xtra firewood last time,” Cash said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Sunshine nodded but didn’t look at him.
He wanted to know more about what she’d remembered. He wanted to know everything about her past. But first they needed to eat, and he needed to tell her the truth about himself, too.
Cash opened the door of the cabin with a flourish, dropping his pack inside. “If Your Highness would prepare our repast, the succulent rump of deer with truffles and pears, perhaps with a soufflé on the side, your servant will start the fire.”
Sunshine smiled as he lit the half-burnt candle on the windowsill. Color had returned to her cheeks, and the sparkle in her eyes warmed him. “Yes, my Prince.”
A zing of desire shot through him.
But he wasn’t a prince, even though she made him feel like one.
Cash turned on his solar-powered camp light and hung it from a hook on the wall.
The single room smelled like the meal they’d enjoyed on their last visit, nutty and fragrant. The place was as cozy as he’d remembered. He glanced around the small space, deeply shadowed with just his lamp and the candle for illumination. The rickety platform bed frame, the tiny kitchen, and the wobbly table and chairs were still inviting. The rush of water over rocks from the waterfall soothed Cash as he set to work getting a fire started in the little potbelly stove and the fireplace.
As Cash pulled his hunting knife out of his pack, he caressed the sleek fighting knife beside it. Sunshine’s brother was one of the men responsible for the Scorch Flu.
Dwight needed to meet his blade. He would find a way to make that happen.
Cash cut strips of meat off the haunch of the deer, filling a bowl with scraps for Tiny as Sunshine threaded the meat onto the same long-handled toasting forks they’d used to cook the rabbit days before. “Milord. Your feast awaits.”
They sat side-by-side, roasting the meat strips in the fire and eating them, so hot they burned their fingertips. Cash couldn’t help noticing Sunshine’s sweet pink mouth and her rounded, delicious shape. She shouldn’t lose any more weight. He wanted her just the way she was. “Here. The chef was particularly masterful with this bit.” He tore off the tenderest chunk of his meat. “Close your eyes and open your mouth, Princess.”