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Lucien is by Kinley’s side, giving her an update on what’s been going on. He’s always been great at making connections with others, much more than me, so I leave it up to him.
“Have you heard anything?” he asks her.
She shakes her head. “Everyone is scared and most families are staying hidden in their homes. No one wants Mad in charge.” Her words quaver.
Lucien holds her hand and reassures her. “He’s going down,” Lucien assures her, and when she glances over to me, I nod. Suddenly, I feel awkward just standing there.
“We need to go,” Lucien explains. “Keep the doors locked until we return, all right?”
“Of course. But put some clothes on or you’ll stand out in the crowd.”
She’s right. Here we are naked. Most in the settlement hold their human forms and rarely walk around in the nude. Well, except old Rog, the oldest member in the tribe, who sometimes forgets where he is.
“I’ll get us some clothes,” I offer, well aware of where Kinley keeps her stash.
The backroom is small and filled with shelves of folded clothes, a variety she collects for anyone in need. Problem is that most are smaller sizes.
Footsteps close in behind me, and I twist around to find Lucien right behind me.
“You think I was going to trust you to get me something to wear?” He grins, and I sneer back at him.
“You’re worried I would get you tights? Don’t worry. No one expects you to look as good in them as I did.”
He grabs folded blue pants and tosses them at me. I snatch the jeans that appear close to my size.
“What the hell? She had proper clothes in the drawer?” I ask.
Lucien chuckles to himself. “Onlyyouwouldn’t check in there, right, tights boy?”
I don’t care what he calls me. I get dressed, tuck myself in there comfortably, and zip up.
When I lift my head, another piece of clothing hits me in the face. “Goddammit.”
He hasn’t stopped laughing to himself as he pulls on a slate gray knitted top, already dressed in a pair of black jeans.
I drag on the long-sleeved deep-green hoodie.
Somewhere in the supplies, Lucien has found us boots. “Try these.”
Taking them, I waste no time and put on the ankle-high black boots with thick soles. “They’re good.”
“Let’s go do this.”
Out in the main room, Kinley greets us with a smile. Despite the fear behind her eyes, she doesn’t voice her concerns. Like the rest of us, she knows that the only way to eliminate a tyrant is to stand up to him. And while that is fraught with danger, it’s the only way to stop him.
One must fight for what one believes in, my father would always say.
“Stay safe,” Kinley says.
In a hurry, we sneak out of her home. The courtyard in front of her house reveals several guards strolling about. No one from neighboring homes has emerged.
I flick a hand at Lucien to follow me as I dart alongside Kinley’s home and down the side to her vegetable garden. Back here, a passage runs the length of all the homes, and across from us stands the settlement woods.
A quick check, and finding no signs of anyone, we both sprint left.
The fortress rises before us, steadfast stone walls, towers… No longer the place I called home, but a danger.
Voices come abruptly from the woods to my right. I pause, frantically looking for where to hide.
