Page 153 of Moon Chosen

Sheena reached out and grasped Nik’s hand. “Thank you for telling me. It makes it a little easier that she and Grace were together.”

“Neither of them suffered. I promise you that,” Nik said.

“Then don’t you suffer either, Nik. Crystal wouldn’t want you to, and she would have suffered, suffered greatly had you not ended it before those monsters could take her away with them.”

Nik nodded, squeezing her hand before releasing it. “How is Captain? I hear the break is pretty bad.”

“I don’t know yet. It isn’t infected, but they’re still not sure if he’ll keep the leg.” Sheena shook her head, staring at her sleeping canine. “He’s not doing well without Crystal and Grace—neither am I.”

Nik swallowed down the platitudes he’d heard so many times after his mother’s death:it’ll get easier with time, she’d want you to go on and be happy, she’s in a better place.None of those words had helped, and worse—they’d seemed to take away from the depth of his loss. So Nik said to Sheena what he’d wished someone had told him.

“You and Captain had Sheena and her Grace for a lot of years. Your love was true and strong. It’s going to be hard to live without them, and when it gets really bad, try remembering that you shared something that some people live a lifetime without experiencing. I don’t know if that’ll make it better, but it might make it bearable.”

Sheena wiped her face. “I’ll remember. I’m just not sure what to do without her.”

“You have to keep moving forward. Life will take care of the rest.” Nik glanced at the sleeping Shepherd. “So will Captain. You have each other, and that’s something worth living for.”

Sheena sobbed a little more and then Nik watched her straighten her shoulders and wipe her face again. Suddenly she seemed to really see him.

“Hey, why are you alive?”

Nik smiled. “I might be too stubborn to die.”

“No, really. What happened?”

“Healers from the Earth Walkers found me and took me in. I would be dead if it hadn’t been for them.” He paused and then added. “Earth Walkers are Scratchers.”

“I know. I’m good with growing things. Before Crystal and I started going on foraging runs I spent quite a bit of time on Farm Island. The women call themselves Earth Walkers.” Sheena leaned against the wall of the nest and crossed her arms, hugging herself as she watched her Shepherd sleep. “Did you actually stay with an Earth Walker?”

“Yep, with two. They’re Healers. That’s why I’m alive. They pulled out the spearhead and stitched me up.”

“No sign of the blight?”

“None,” Nik said.

“What did you think of the Earth Walkers?”

“They surprised me. One of them I liked. One wanted to kill me, so it was harder to like her.”

“I’ve always wondered what they’re like in the wild. They’re so sad on the island, but sometimes—not often, but sometimes—I caught a glimpse of something different in them. When they’re first captured they weave mats and baskets and such—you know, things that would make those floating cages they’re housed in at night more homelike than jail-like. It doesn’t last, though. They fall into the melancholy fast and stop doing anything except tending the crops during the day and weeping inconsolably at night.”

Nik studied her, and then took a chance. “What if I told you they’re completely different in the wild? That it’s the captivity that makes them melancholy and kills them.”

Sheena glanced at him, and for a moment Nik saw a spark of interest in her despair-filled eyes. “I’d say that doesn’t surprise me. Not everyone in the Tribe believes they’re helpless idiots, especially those of us who have spent time on Farm Island.” She shrugged, and the spark died. “But what can we do? The blight makes working in the fields a death sentence.”

“Change isn’t easy,” Nik said as his mind whirred with possibilities.

Sheena looked at him. “You’re different than you used to be.”

He nodded.

“Is that going to be a good or bad thing?” She sounded like she was musing aloud, rather than asking him a question, but Nik answered.

“I can’t tell yet. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

“That’s a deal. Hey, you should know that Thaddeus came back changed, too, though I’m pretty sure his change is more bad than good.”

“What do you mean?”