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I laughed huskily.“Leadership?”
“Yeah.”He opened the door, his hand going to my lower back as I stepped in, and then he dropped it as he shut the door.The minute the door was closed, a low-level light came up, showing the dinge of the walls as we started down a flight of stairs.He directed me to continue down another one and then a third.When we reached the bottom, he paused, and I studied him.
He was ruggedly handsome, with a scar down the side of his face and neck.How did one of our kind get such a scar?
He touched the marred tissue.“The humans.They cut me with a double alloy blade, and I was bound.My body couldn’t repair itself, and it healed this way, as I was left in the sun.I’m sorry you have to look at it.I kind of like it.It reminds me of how vicious and evil they are.”
“Do not be sorry.We all carry scars.”
He nodded and then pulled open the last door.As he did, I was shocked by the level of noise beyond.There must have been two hundred people below us in the chamber, and they went silent as Gideon and I stepped forward.
Whispers ran like wildfire over the group, and all eyes stared up in amazement.“Is it really her?”a child asked.
“Why are they all looking at me like that?”I asked Gideon into his mind.He turned to me.
“Because they have been waiting for someone to come and rule them.They know that your sister and many of the elders are sequestered for safety so that they can return and take back our world, but they need—want—someone to rule over them.That is you, Angelina.”
My gaze went back to the group of people below.They all looked hopeful—well, most of them.
“We had heard you were searching for someplace safe, and we have been looking for you.I’m glad I found you last night.You will be safe here, and these people will help you with anything that you need.You can call this home for now.”
Home?
Was it possible to stay in one place and have a life during these times?I wondered as I stared at the crowds below.
Gideon curled his fingers around the railing in front of us and began to address the people below.“I promised all of you that I would find her.”He glanced my way and smiled.“And I have.This is Angelina Michaels, the daughter of Burke Michaels, the sister of our Mistress Kristin Armstrong.Angelina is a reborn, a woman of power, intellect, and beauty, and she will look over us and lead us.”
I stared at the side of his head like he had lost his mind.“What the fuck, Gideon?I never said I would do that.”
He glanced at me with a brow raised in an abstract direction because of his scar.“Yes, you might not have said that—yet, but you will.”
“It’s nice that you know what I’ll do before I will!”I hissed at him.
He smiled at the crowd as if I hadn’t said a thing.“I know you all want to speak with Angelina and hear what she has to say, but Angelina is tired, and she has been traveling for a long time.Let’s help her get comfortable, and then once she is acclimated, she will speak to you all.”
There were murmurs among the group, but no one seemed upset by that decision—well, except the five guys and two girls over on the far left.Those people didn’t appear happy to see me.That would be where the proverbial knife would come from when they tried to stick it in my back.
Gideon turned and nodded at me.“Follow me.I’ll show you where you can put your things, and we will get you food and clothing.”
“I’m not hungry.”I tacked on softly, “But thank you.”
He eyed me carefully.“Yes, you are.I can feel your hunger.”
Of course, I was hungry.I had never felt this hungry in my life, but it wasn’t for food.I had no problem compelling people to pretend I wasn’t there so I could get what I needed, either from their fridge or their vein.What I was hungry for was conversation and companionship.I had never gone so long without sex, but that would have to wait till later.
I wanted to know what others had heard about the war and if anyone was doing anything about it.I did not doubt that Portage was planning something, but as of now, I didn’t think he had tried anything.Maybe these people knew something different.
If he was planning something?Would I want to get involved?It would almost be like getting in bed with the enemy.Although the enemies these days were the humans and not a faction of our breed.
I also had no idea where Portage was hiding—and I had tried to find that out.If he had been hard to locate before, he was even further off the grid now.He was completely off the radar, almost like he too was inside the compound, hiding.Now wouldn’t that be fun if he were within the same walls as my sister?
I yanked my mind back to where I was, frustrated that I had let it divert off track.That was a dangerous thing when I was around so many people that I didn’t know.
As Gideon and I took the stairs, most people in the crowd remained where they were, waving and smiling at me.The closer I got to them, the more people I noticed who didn’t appear as excited as others at my arrival.
When we hit the main floor, a path opened for us, and we walked into the crowd.My instincts were screaming at me to stop—to go back—but I didn’t.I had been on my own for so long that being around anyone made me jumpy.It was no wonder my gut was telling me to run.
Gideon spoke to a few of the people, but most were quiet.We were about to turn the corner into another hallway when I spotted a man that I knew.It was Truman from Dangers in the Darkness.He inclined his head my way, and I smiled in greeting, happy to see at least one person from a more joyful time in my life.
