by Shéa MacLeod
She walked right into the compound out of nowhere with only the clothes on her back. She had no explanation for where she’d been or why she was there. She claimed to remember nothing. Nothing but her first name: Megan.
She wasn’t a tall woman, but she had curves in all the right places. Her skin was pale and dashed with freckles. Her eyes were the blue of the summer sky, and her hair the fiery hue of sunset. She was almost as beautiful as the women in the magazines from the Before.
Rain hated her instantly.
Unfortunately, neither Sutter nor Elan shared Rain’s antipathy. Both of them were instantly smitten. Sutter even called off the track, claiming the newcomer was a more important source of information than anything they’d find on a track.
“I don’t trust her,” Rain’s tone was mulish as she toiled in the garden next to Padre Pedro a few days after Megan arrived. “I don’t trust her one bit.”
He sighed. “Nor do I, but we have no proof that she is other than she claims. A lost soul seeking shelter from the desert.”
“Please,” Rain snorted. “Does it look like she’s been wandering in the desert?”
He admitted it didn’t look that way. Megan’s pale skin wasn’t even pink, let alone tanned. Her hands and feet were free of scars and calluses. It was as though she’d never seen the sun, nor worked a day in her life. And she continued to shy away from work of any kind, always with some excuse. She spoke little but watched everything. Rain had found her hanging around near one of the weapons stores. When Rain confronted her, Megan’s feeble excuse was that she was lost.
“We must continue to keep a close watch on her,” Padre Pedro agreed, returning to his weeding. “We must behave as though nothing is amiss. As if we trust her. But we must not relax our guard.”
They continued to watch Megan, waiting for her to mess up. To show her true colors. She did, but not in the way they expected.
Rain’s disgust at the two brothers mooning over Megan soon turned to horror as it became obvious the woman was manipulating the two men, playing them off each other. Rain may have technically still been a teenager, but she was well aware of the games men and women played with each other. Though, frankly, she thought such games incredibly stupid.
“You know she’s sleeping with both of them,” she told Padre Pedro one evening at supper. “Sutter and Elan.”
A look of distaste crossed the Padre’s face. “Unfortunately, that’s not illegal, Rain. Even if they are brothers.”
“She’s playing them, Padre. She told Sutter he was the only one for her and the next minute she’s fu ... uh, screwing El in the parking bay. I swear she knows every button to push, that bitch.” She flushed. “Sorry, Padre.”
For once, Padre Pedro hadn’t chastised her for her foul language. Instead he just patted her hand, his face lined with sadness.
Megan’s manipulation of Elan and Sutter continued until one day Rain and Padre Pedro caught the two brothers brawling in the compound yard.
“Stop it,” Rain screamed at them as she and the Padre physically hauled the two men apart. “Fighting over a woman? Are you two insane? You’re brothers for fuck’s sake.”
But it had only gotten worse. Megan had claimed she was pregnant with Sutter’s child, so the two had gotten married straight away, as was custom at Sanctuary. When children were involved, commitments were encouraged for stability.
Meanwhile Megan had continued her affair with Elan, eventually convincing him the child was really his. It was the affair that proved her final undoing.
Late one afternoon, Rain had seen Megan and El sneaking from the compound. She knew where they were headed. The two of them had a spot in the hills not far from the compound. Despite Megan’s marriage to Sutter, or perhaps because of it, Rain had not stopped paying attention to Megan and her little games.
When they hadn’t returned by sunset, Rain started to get worried. Even worse, Sutter was freaking out, having noticed his wife’s disappearance. Rain didn’t dare tell him where she was. Not for Megan’s sake, but for the sake of the two brothers. If Sutter discovered his brother was still sleeping with Megan, there’d be all-out war and Rain couldn’t bear the thought of it even if El was in the wrong.
She slipped out of the compound, armed with nothing but her bow and arrows, some bandages and a bottle of alcohol just in case one of them had been injured. She was also well aware that no single person could bring down a drag, but it was better than nothing. All she could do was hope the dragons stayed away.
She found them exactly where she expected they’d be. They were buck-naked and fast asleep.
“Wake up you idiots.” She kicked at El’s foot and tossed their clothes at their heads.
El opened his eyes and looked around, noticing it was nearly full dark. “Shit.”
“Yeah, asshole. Now get dressed. We need to get back to the compound. Sutter’s freaking out.”
“Fuck Sutter,” Megan snapped. “I’ll come back when I’m good and ready.” She didn’t even bother to cover her nakedness, proudly thrusting her bare breasts forward as though Rain was supposed to be impressed.
With a smile Rain stalked over and slapped the bitch right across the face. It felt good. “Listen, you waste of skin. You will get dressed now and you will return to the compound with Elan and me. You won’t argue. You won’t hesitate. You and your little mind games have put us all in danger.”
“You little piece of ...” Megan sneered. But she never finished her sentence. The scream cut her off.
It was a scream of a dragon that had just caught the scent of its next meal.
“Shit! Everybody down!” Rain threw herself out of the way as dragon fire strafed the spot where she’d been standing.
“Megan!” Elan ran to the woman who was standing in the middle of the clearing, clothes forgotten, looking completely shell-shocked.
“But they should have come. Why aren’t they here protecting me?” Megan’s voice was plaintive. Like a child who’d been promised a treat which hadn’t been delivered.
Rain had no idea who “they” were or why Megan thought she was so special, but apparently the woman wasn’t entirely in touch with reality. There were bigger predators than her in the world.
In the darkness, it was difficult to see the dragon clearly, but Rain could just make out its outline as it wheeled in the sky and turned back for another run. It headed straight for Elan and Megan.
“El!” Without a thought to her own safety, Rain launched herself at Elan, knocking him to the ground and rolling them both out of the line of fire.
Unfortunately for Megan, she was still standing there in shock, babbling about whoever was supposed to save her. One second silhouetted against the flames from the earlier pass, then the next second screaming as she was engulfed in flame herself. The screams didn’t last long.
“Megan!” Elan’s voice was filled with horror. “Oh, my god, Megan!” He tried to run to her, but Rain wasn’t about to let him sacrifice himself. Not for that manipulative bitch.
She smashed a fist up into Elan’s jaw, knocking him out like a light and very nearly breaking every bone in her hand. She hated having to hit him, but it was the only thing she could think to do.
Unfortunately, there was still the dragon to deal with. She cast about for a weapon that might work. Her bow and arrows would be practically useless.
A smile crossed her face. She pulled an arrow out of her quiver. Ignoring the pain in her damaged hand, she carefully notched the arrow and waited. It didn’t take long. The drag spotted her and swooped in for the kill.
As it drew close, Rain let loosed her bow string, watching in satisfaction as the arrow went straight into the drag’s eye and penetrated its brain.
The thing dropped like a stone, hitting the rocky hillside with a thud, sending up clouds of dust and debris. Rain had killed her first dragon.
“MY GOD. YOU KILLED your first drag at seventeen?” Micah was not only surprised as hell, but he felt a thrill go through
him at the thought. Damn, she was bad-ass. Not to mention one hell of a shot, hitting a flying dragon in the eye.
Rain blushed a little and gave a quick shrug as though it was no big deal. “I did what I had to do.”
“You’re amazing.”
She ignored the compliment and continued her story. “Things were never the same between Sutter and Elan after that. Sutter blamed Elan for Megan’s death. Elan blamed himself. Elan started drinking, Sutter turned into a hermit with an anger problem. Neither of them wanted to admit that Megan had just been an all-around bad person. Not saying she deserved to get burned alive, no one deserves that, but it certainly solved some problems for the compound.”
“But the baby. Sutter must have been devastated. Or Elan or whoever was the father.” Micah couldn’t imagine the pain of knowing that not only had the woman he loved been killed, but that his unborn child had been, as well. His biggest regret Before had been that he hadn’t had time to start a family. Have kids. Babies were precious in this world.
Rain shook her head. “She was never pregnant. Clara did an autopsy. Megan couldn’t even have children. It was just another one of her lies and manipulations.”
“Shit.”
“No kidding.”
“So did you ever discover who she was? Why she was there?” he asked.
“More or less,” Rain said. “About a week later a couple of men showed up. They were from a compound a good two weeks journey to the south. Smaller than ours, but wealthier. Turns out Megan was an old-fashioned con artist. She’d wander into a compound, find the wealthiest most powerful man and seduce him. She’d sponge off the compound until she realized they were on to her then she’d disappear. And a bunch of provisions and valuables would disappear with her.
“This compound had a lot of gold left over from before. Apparently, they were convinced the US Government would be restored and the gold would be valuable again.”
Micah shook his head. He remembered enough from his time at the base to know the United States government was long gone, along with the rest of the governments of the world. There just weren’t enough people left with enough resources to start over. Not with the drags still out there. “Ain’t gonna happen.”
She shrugged. “Some people need hope, I guess. In the meantime, they traded the gold to their local Marine base as part of a protection racket of sorts. They gave the Marines gold, the Marines left them alone.”
“Yeah, the Marines need gold for computer parts and things like that. To keep everything running like the old days.”
“Well, Megan liberated their gold when she left, and they wanted it back. The Marines had started raiding them again. No idea what she did with it. She certainly didn’t have it with her when she arrived. Then again, she didn’t look like she’d been wandering the desert for weeks, either.”
“Ah,” Micah smiled, “there must have been another compound she stopped at.”
“Yep, that’s what they figured, too. We told them the direction she’d come from and they headed that way. Never saw them again. But it was good to know there were other people in the world. That we weren’t the only ones, though maybe we’d have been better off if we were.”
“You so sure about that?” Micah reached down and took her hand. Threading his long fingers through hers, he rubbed his thumb back and forth across the back of her hand. Her palm was slightly rough from hard work, but the skin on the rest of her hand was smooth as silk. He could imagine she felt like that all over.
She glanced down at their joined hands then looked up at him, a slight flush spreading across her cheekbones. She seemed flustered at the display of affection, but she didn’t remove her hand. “I’m a woman. I reserve the right to change my mind.”
He barked a laugh at that. “Good to know. So, where are we headed?” He squinted against the sun. Nothing much to see out there but sand and sagebrush.
“We’re headed to a little place I know. A place the Marines will never find us.”
Chapter 16
RAIN SQUINTED AT THE setting sun. Fossil was still several hours’ trek north. They needed to find a place to shelter, and soon.
She led Micah down into a ravine where a shallow stream of muddy water trickled sluggishly through the rocky bottom. The ravine dead-ended about a quarter mile in, but Rain had no intention of going that far. A short way in, she began to climb back up the steep wall, using jutting rocks as hand and foot holds.
“Rain, what in the hell are you doing? We just came down and now you want to go back up?” Micah sounded exasperated.
She ignored him and kept climbing until she reached the large boulder about halfway up. Only then did she turn to smile at Micah.
Micah watched as Rain turned and smirked at him, then she vanished from sight. “What the? Rain! Rain!” No answer. “Dammit.” Powerful muscles flexing, Micah quickly scaled the side of the ravine after her.
When he reached the giant boulder in the side of the cliff, he discovered her secret. There was a space between the boulder and the cliff face just wide enough for her to wiggle through. Micah wasn’t convinced there was enough room for him to squeeze, but he was game.
Clinging to the side of the ravine, he shrugged out of his pack and tossed it through the space. Then exhaling as much air as he could, he wedged himself into the gap. It was a tight squeeze. A very tight squeeze. Halfway through it felt like his rib cage was being crushed, but somehow, he managed to get through.
He paused to catch his breath and take in his surroundings. Behind the boulder was a small cavern in the side of the cliff just deep enough to fit two people lying down. If they really liked each other.
Rain sat cross-legged on the floor eying him warily. “We used this place sometimes when we were tracking.”
He raised an eyebrow. She spoke of him often, and he had wondered at their relationship. He knew it was stupid to be jealous of a dead man, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. “You and Sutter?”
Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, and she sniffed them back as though determined not to let him see. “Yeah.”
He cleared his throat. “Very cozy. Romantic.”
She stared at him like he’d grown a second head. Then she cracked a laugh. “Romantic? Me and Sutter? Are you nuts?”
Well, that answered that. The green-eyed monster slunk back into its corner. He felt like an idiot. “I just thought ... you seemed so close ...”
“Yeah. We knew each other since we were kids.” She rolled her eyes at him. “He was like my brother. I don’t know what you do where you come from, but where I come from you don’t have sex with your brother.”
“Good to know.”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Why don’t you get the bedrolls out while I get the fire going? “
“Won’t the fire draw the drags?”
“Not in here. The winds in the ravine disperse the smoke and the boulder blocks the heat and light. Never had a problem.” She turned her back on him and busied herself near the entrance of the cave.
Micah shook his head. He’d never met anyone like her before. Prickly, exasperating, smart, fearless and downright sexy. Holy crap, he was in trouble.
RAIN STARED AT THE bedroll, her heart thumping somewhere up in her throat. She hadn’t noticed until after they finished eating. Instead of making two separate beds, he’d made one big one.
Her mind returned to the scene back in the compound cavern. When Micah had kissed her. When she kissed Micah. The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy. Part of her wanted to yell at him and part of her couldn’t wait to crawl in and get cozy with the man.
“So,” amusement colored Micah’s voice, “right side or left?”
Rain had never shared a bed before. Not to sleep, anyway. She’d always been a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of girl. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Good.” He grinned at her. “I sleep on the right.”
“Fine with me.” Her voice was a little hoarse. “I guess we should g
et undressed?”
His smile widened. “Yeah, that would be a good place to start.”
She ignored him and unlaced her boots, kicking them to the side. He whistled tunelessly as he got rid of his own boots. Then his shirt, revealing the golden skin and rippling muscles underneath. She gave him a good glare, which he ignored.
She had no idea why she was so flustered by the attraction between them. Nor why he was so calm about it. As if it was ordinary. She frowned. Maybe for him it was.
Maybe he’d had dozens of women and he’d felt the same about each one of them. Maybe this was normal for him. What did she know? And why was she getting so worked up over it anyway? It was just sex, after all.
She watched him furtively out of the corner of her eye as his hands smoothed the blankets back. She imagined those hands smoothing over her naked flesh. Her face heated.
Rain hesitated, her hands at the snap to her jeans. Micah raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong, Rain?”
“No.”
He gave her a long look then sank down next to her so he was sitting inches away. He tilted her head up, making sure she was looking him in the eye.
Damn, he was big. His shoulders were ridiculously wide, his legs long and thick with muscle, lightly dusted with silky, dark hair. Rain wasn’t used to big men. Padre Pedro was the tallest man she’d ever known, and he was under six feet. And why on earth was she thinking about Padre Pedro?
“Truth, Rain.”
His eyes were so ridiculously blue. And fringed in such thick lashes. Lashes like that should be illegal. She heaved a sigh. “I’m not used to ... I don’t ...” She gave her head a shake. “I don’t feel things.”
He frowned. “What are you talking about? You feel lots of things.”
“No, I mean,” she flipped her finger back and forth between the two of them, “man woman things.”
“Don’t tell me you don’t get turned on because I know that’s not true.”