“I think I know how to make tea.”
“Anyone can dump water over twigs, but to truly appreciate it you must first respect the ingredients.” He crossed the room in a few short steps, taking the teapot from her hands. He peered inside and tsked softly. The kettle whistled and he poured the water into the pot, swirling it around before dumping it into the waste bucket at his feet.
“What are you doing?” Sanna whispered, glancing over at Zane. “I’m sure he won’t appreciate you wasting it.”
Kai carefully shook dried leaves into the teapot, then poured the steaming water over them and put the lid in place. “Get the cups out.”
She found three mugs under the counter and examined them. They were spotless, like everything else.
“And now,” Kai shot her a solemn look, “we wait.”
She nodded and went about her morning routine, thanks to the pitcher of water and basin at the far end of the counter. Afterward, she shrugged into her coat and slipped onto the porch to check the horde.
They were gone. All of them.
“Maybe they got tired of waiting,” Kai mused as he joined her, passing her a cup. The rich aroma wafting from it was tantalizing. “It has been three days.”
“Perhaps.” Sanna doubted it though. She had a feeling the Infected were called off, like dogs, which meant the voice in the woods had something else up his sleeve. She took a sip and practically shivered with delight. “I gotta say, you really do know your way around a teapot.”
“My mother taught me. I used to make it for her at night, when she got home from whatever market we were hawking our stuff in that week.”
“And your dad? Where was he?”
“Around. Sometimes he and my older brother would go out scouting for things we could sell in other colonies, but mostly he let my mother handle everything. She could drive a hard bargain and was quite an actress when it suited her. Oh, the scenes she’d make...” Kai shook his head, his lips lifting into a half-smile. “I’d seriously want to die, right there in the street. Esme’s a lot like her, actually.”
“Hey,” Zane flung open the door and leaned out onto the porch. “What is this? Why does it smell so good?”
“Tea,” Sanna said. “Kai made it.”
“Tea?” Zane frowned, peering into the cup. “It never tastes like this when I make it.”
Sanna grinned. “Maybe if you teach him how to make it, he’ll part with some supplies.”
Kai took another sip. “Don’t worry, I already made a deal with him while you were out. It’ll be lean, but we’ll survive. Especially if we catch some game on the way.”
They discussed their current location over breakfast, Zane drawing a careful map in his sketchbook. Kai’s face lit up when he realized how close they were to Iris and he quickly finished his meal and gathered their supplies. He dismissed Sanna’s suggestion that they survey the perimeter before leaving, and she feared the prospect of seeing his sister again was making him reckless.
“You know,” Kai said as he slung Zane’s small backpack over his shoulder, which had been swapped for some oddly familiar golden bracelets. “There’s probably a lot of Erling refugees in Sorenson now. Some will be looking for a guide to take them to New Hope.”
Zane smirked. “They’d shoot me onsite.”
“Eh,” Kai shrugged. “I suppose there’s a fifty-fifty chance. They did just lose their home, though, which has a way of lowering one’s standards. I figured you might like to make a bit of money, that’s all. It’s better than rotting away in this treehouse, waiting for your people to show up again.”
Sanna’s gaze caught on one of Zane’s many drawings. An idea struck her, and she hurried to the table to scribble down two quick letters.
“Could you deliver these for me?” She passed Zane the folded notes. “If Haven made it, she should be there. Same with my grandmother. Anne Erling
Zane’s brow furrowed. “I haven’t said I was going.”
“Really? I thought you’d want to see her again.”
“Who? I don’t know either of those people.”
“Yeah, you do. That’s Haven,” Sanna pointed to a yellowed sketch partially covered by a landscape. The young girl’s heart-shaped face was unmistakably hers, from her tilted eyes, to her full lips and luxurious mess of dark curls. Her bold, haughty gaze dared the viewer to approach and promised a fight if he did. She must’ve made an impression on Zane, since her portrait was one of the few with color— her irises were shaded in a mix of gold and emerald.
Zane studied the sketch. “She was in Erling? What was she doing there?”
“She was—is—a nurse. She’s lived with my family for the past five years.”
“Really?” Zane a genuine smile broke across his face. Beneath his grisly tattoos, he was actually quite handsome. “I didn’t think it’d turn out that way for her.”
“What do you mean?” Sanna asked.
“I met her at a flesh market near that old research outpost—Broken Creek. They called her Amber. She was being auctioned off and, I gotta say,” Zane shook his head, still looking at the image, “after all the trouble she caused, I would’ve never pictured her becoming something as docile as a nurse.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Hiking through the Deadlands was its own special kind of misery, one that Kai was eager to leave behind. Out here, he was the weakest animal in the herd. An easy target.
He glanced over his shoulder. Sanna had fallen behind. She seemed fully recovered from her ordeal outside Erling’s gate and now her endurance was the stuff of envy. While he struggled through the thick, icy stew of mud and snow, she simply sailed through it. Meanwhile, Frankie orbited them, pausing to bury his nose in the powdery snow and snort.
They had spent the day heading south. The air was crisp with the scent of pine, and the snow sparkled beneath the late afternoon sun. Kai listened for the river with black rocks that Iris said would lead them to her home. If his calculations were right, they should be coming up on the river at any moment, which meant Iris’s house was less than two days away.
The promise of seeing Esme again kept him moving, even though his toes were like ice cubes and his face felt tight and wind burnt.
“Don’t you think this is weird?” Sanna joined him. “Zane said the Infected were thick over here, but I don’t sense a single one.”
“They’ve probably moved on to Cerise’s encampment. He mentioned it was nearby, and the Infected won’t hang around a place if there’s nothing to eat.”
“I can’t imagine setting up camp in the middle of the forest. How would you defend yourself?”
“Cerise’s group travels in metal trailers. They can circle them up and create their own barriers wherever they please.”
Sanna shot him a curious glance. “So, you’ve met her?”
“Not...formally.”
“Ah.” Her brows inched up and she looked away. “I see. Let’s hope we don’t run into her then.”
Her poor assumption of him rankled. “Cerise calls herself a witch who can cure the infection, but all she does is take advantage of desperate people. I don’t regret stealing from her.”
“So, you tried her cure?”
“It made Esme puke for days. It could’ve killed a younger kid or an old person.” There was no telling how many people Cerise had poisoned over the years, and the thought of it made his blood boil all over again. He decided to change the subject. “You and Zane were pretty friendly this morning. I thought you guys wanted to kill each other.”
“I guess we have a truce. He misses Nico a lot, I think, and it helped him to know I haven’t forgotten about him. I still can’t believe Zane met Haven at a flesh market, though. She never mentioned anything about it.”
“She probably wanted to forget. Those who end up in places like that are either orphans or exiles. Sometimes they’re captured and forced to participate. The work they’re often made to do is dangerous or degrading or both.”
A breeze
ruffled through Kai’s hair, carrying with it the faint chuckle of water over rocks. They were getting closer. He increased his speed, overtaking the next rocky ridge in a few long strides.
“So what was my grandmother doing in a place like that? She’s the one who brought Haven to us. There’s no way she’d be involved in something so awful,” Sanna said. “At least, I don’t think so. She lied about my parents for so many years. I suppose she could’ve lied about other stuff as well.”
He maneuvered around a large boulder. “Markets are often good sources of information. People from all walks of life show up. Maybe she was trying to figure out who your dad was. Or where Iris lived.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you...how well do you know Iris?”
“Not very. I spent a few days waiting out a snowstorm at her place, before coming after you.”
“Zane said the whole thing sounded like a trap.”
Kai stopped mid-step. To be fair, he’d considered the possibility multiple times. “If she wanted you dead, then why would she bother taking you to Anne in the first place?”
“Maybe she didn’t think I’d be a threat to her, but then I changed as I grew up. Now she wants me dead.”
“Naw,” Kai shook his head. “Iris wouldn’t have spared you just because you were a baby. She’s a bit like Theo. Cold. Methodical. Not really big on emotions.”
Sanna kept her expression smooth, but Kai sensed something still troubled her.
A bush trembled to his right, sending a cascade of snow to the ground. He jumped, nocking an arrow out of habit, and took aim.
“It’s Frankie. I think he’s after a rabbit.”
Maybe she really can sense the Infected now. Kai lowered his bow, and they continued on in brittle silence.
A hearty gust knifed through the worn seams of his coat, chilling him. His stomach was so empty it ached. After all these years, hunger still got to him. He envisioned the food he’d bought from Zane; oats, cheese, some dried meat wrapped in a rag. Hopefully, they’d run across some game as well and have a proper feast tonight.
They hiked a steep hill next, forcing Kai to trade his bow for an ice pick while Sanna navigated the slippery surface with uncanny ease.
“What about Frankie?” she asked as they neared the summit, not even out of breath. “I don’t see where he went.”
Kai eyed a thick tree root curling above him. He grabbed hold of it and climbed the final ridge. “He’ll follow us. He always does.”
Thick, snow-frosted forest surrounded them, undulating over hills and valleys that extended into Canada. The brilliant blue of Lake Superior peeked through the dense canopy.
Sanna stopped beside him and took in the view. Her skin was flushed a pale pink from the climb and her ponytail glinted in the sun like molten gold. She caught his stare, and his pulse quickened. “We should, uh, keep our guard up as we near the river. The Infected like to gather around water, even if they hate it.”
She smiled. “I know.”
“Okay, then.” He started down the rocky slope, putting space between them. The gurgle of water grew louder with each step, until a spectacular series of waterfalls appeared, gushing over ebony boulders like liquid silver. The river wove through the woods in a silky black ribbon and the snow dusting the banks and trees glittered in the bright winter sun. Kai inhaled a deep, clean breath, drinking in the scenery around him. It was like an ice-glazed fairyland.
“You like it?” Kai asked the moment Sanna caught up to him.
“It’s gorgeous.” She took in the view. “We’ve crossed outside Erling’s territory, right?”
“Yeah. Zane’s place was on the border.”
She shook her head, her expression a mix of wonder and disbelief. “This is so beautiful, and it’s been here all this time. I know it’s crazy, but I’m kind of envious of you.”
He arched his brow. Now that was a first.
“I mean, you’ve been all over, right? I bet you’ve seen all kinds of places like this. You’re so...free.”
Free. The word tasted sour. Freedom meant living a life of inescapable danger, in a world that had robbed him of his childhood, his family, and his future.
“Sorry.” Worry tinged her voice. “I didn’t mean it like that. I know you’ve been through a lot, and I’m lucky to have grown up in a colony, but...I’ve been thinking that if I’d only left with you sooner, or never even lived in Erling at all, how things might be different. Now everything is gone.”
She looked so lost, that Kai found himself desperate to help her, even if it meant sharing something he’d kept hidden for a long, long time.
“You know,” he started, gruffly. “I thought my world was over when I left New Hope. And it was. I doubt I’ll ever have fancy clothes, or more food than I could eat again—man, was I soft. One thing I learned, though, was that a home isn’t a building or a place, it’s the people you care about. As long as you have someone who loves you, you have a home. Erling might be gone, for now, but your grandmother and Haven are still alive, I’m sure of it, which means you’ll always have somewhere to come home to.”
A faint smile broke across Sanna’s sad expression. It was small and serious and didn’t quite banish the emotion from her eyes, but the sight of it made Kai feel oddly accomplished.
“You’re terribly sweet for a member of the Inferno. I’m surprised they ever let you join in the first place.”
A rare laugh took him by surprise. “I guess I was a goner from the start.”
As they continued upstream in companionable silence, Kai recognized the strange feeling fluttering inside his chest. Hope.
SANNA WOULD’VE NEVER guessed Kai could be so sentimental. The way he’d talked about home and relationships warmed her heart, especially since he seemed to have so little of both. It also explained his devotion to his sister.
She wondered if Esme knew how much her brother cared for her, or the lengths he was willing to go just to keep her safe. She doubted it. She’d taken her own grandfather’s love for granted, until he was gone. Now she awoke each morning with an aching hole in her heart and a thousand words she wished she could say to him, most of which began with “I love you.”
But some things could only be endured, not changed, which left her to focus on the days ahead. She cast Kai a sidelong glance as they hiked the rocky path leading to the first waterfall. “So what’s your plan after all this is over?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far in advance.”
“Liar.”
He tripped, his arms flailing, but recovered. “What are you talking about?”
She wondered what got him so rattled. “You’re the kind of person who always has a plan. Like Haven.”
Kai swallowed. “I guess I was thinking we’d stick around. For a while.”
“Anywhere in particular? I guess Erling isn’t an option anymore.”
“I was thinking I’d scope out some of the large unclean settlements. See if there’s someplace decent where the Inferno wouldn’t find us.” Kai bounded over a massive log blocking their path and faced her. Their gazes caught. He grinned, offering his hand with a flourish.
She stared at it, awareness sizzling down her spine. A schism opened between them as a realization dawned.
She was falling for him.
This strange guy with his sharp edges and soft heart. Despite all that had happened, she knew it with the same crystal clarity she now sensed the Infected.
She didn’t want a relationship—it would only end in death and heartache, just as it had with Nico.
And yet, her body was changing, she was changing. Every day she woke up feeling slightly different. Less human. One day her heart might shrivel like an unused limb, and she’d become a husk devoid of all emotion. Like the Infected.
This could be her last chance of having a human relationship. Of falling in love.
She wanted the next few days and weeks to be filled with memories that could keep her warm long after her feelings dimmed
. Long after she became whatever monster was her destiny and lost all human connection.
She slipped her hand into his.
He lifted her with ease into a brief, sweet embrace, her body pressing against his own. Even through the layers of leather and wool, she felt the heat of his skin.
The sound of the rushing river filled her ears, or perhaps that was her own blood coursing through her veins. The desire to kiss him, to feel his calloused fingers trace her jaw was a sweet, keening ache.
She was tinder, longing for a match. And he was the spark that she needed.
He set her down and grinned, then held her hand tight as they continued their climb, faster than before. They reached the third waterfall, small and elegant, and headed for the bank, laughing when their feet skidded beneath them. Kai reached the bank first and stopped her from sliding right into the glimmering water.
His hands gripped her upper arms, steadying her. He was going to kiss her. Or maybe, she’d kiss him. Either way, she wanted it. The air between them vanished. His breath warmed her lips.
Infected. Their presence formed a frost across her skin, chilling her to the bone.
She pulled away as Frankie darted out from the trees up ahead and raced to the river, using a fallen log to cross it. His long coat was tangled with so many leaves and twigs he looked more like a forest creature than a dog.
A small child slid down the bank and followed him, no more than ten, and dressed in a muddy sweatshirt and ripped jeans. His hood was pulled over his head, hiding his face. He slipped on the log, one sneaker plunging into the icy water, then recovered, disappearing into the forest on the other side.
“Something’s chasing him.” Sanna slipped out the axe Zane had given her. “Something big.”
Branches cracked in the distance. The sound grew louder until the very ground shook beneath their feet. An Infected emerged from the bushes, crawling out of the forest like a giant, fleshy insect. He skittered to the riverbank. His head was sunken into his shoulders, making observation difficult, so his whole body moved to the right, then left as he sniffed the area, searching for the boy. He snarled in Sanna and Kai’s direction, his small red mouth stuffed with razor-sharp teeth, then he squatted low and bounded across the rushing water. He climbed up the other bank and disappeared into the forest.
Alive Like Us Page 24