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“Fine. Can we get moving now?”
“Yes.”
Chapter Seven
The sun was setting when we finally got to a place that looked like there might be some sort of life, or had been. From the minute Kaden saidWastelands, I’d gotten a shiver down my spine. The name hadn’t been misleading. It was a ghost town. We strolled through an overgrown suburb. In the not-too-far-off distance, I could see towering buildings that were crumbling against the sky.
“What happened to all the people who lived here?” I asked, looking around, afraid I’d see zombies running out at me at any moment.
“It used to be a bustling world, populated similar to Earth, bursting with humanlike people. A couple hundred years ago, they all died off from a virus.”
“The entire world died from a virus? Everybody?”
“Yes. Some lingered longer, but eventually it wiped them all out. Since then it’s become somewhat of a refuge for people hiding out, including Kradix.”
We walked another few miles, and I was already parched, feeling as if I had a mouthful of sand and dirt. With the sun setting it was easier to spot the lights in the distance. They weren’t city lights, but warm light from the flickering of candles and fires glowing through the windows of homes.
The closer we got, the more I could see this small area of homes and buildings that were still being kept up, with repaired roofs and vines cut away. There were gardens and areas with cows and pigs, with nestled chicken coops. There were a few people walking about that nodded in Kaden’s direction and gave me a once-over. Didn’t seem like too many newcomers showed up at this place.
A couple stood waiting for us on their porch. The man had thick brown hair, tan skin, and a face that looked like he smiled often and easily. He had his hand resting on a red-haired woman’s back. Her large almond eyes looked kind.
“It’s good to see you, old friend,” the man said, walking forward and taking Kaden in a hug. The woman followed closely behind, kissing Kaden on both cheeks.
“You as well, Tiber, Luisca.” Kaden turned toward me, urging me forward. “This is Billie.”
Tiber and Luisca focused all their attention on me. This wasn’t a casual once-over but an intense scrutiny. Tiber’s lips parted and he nodded.
Luisca gripped his hand, smiling. They looked like kids who were meeting Santa or something.
“You’re mated,” Tiber said. It wasn’t really a question, but he was staring at Kaden as if waiting to hear the confirmation.
“We’re mated,” Kaden said, and I felt his hand land on my lower back.
So when he said we weren’t going to tell anyone, we really weren’t going to say much of anything.
I tried to act natural, as if it wasn’t odd for him to reach out and touch me, even though it seemed like he’d been avoiding contact lately.
“I’d like to think this was a pleasant visit to introduce us to your mate, but I sense it’s not,” Tiber said.
I was trying to read this couple, figure out what and who they were, but I was having a hard time getting my brain to focus on anything but his hand on me.
“No. It’s not,” Kaden said.
Luisca waved us forward. “Come in. I’m sure you could use a drink.”
“We might be here a fair bit longer than that,” Kaden said, not moving.
“Yes, well, I was already getting that impression,” Tiber said, and then laughed.
“Even if you weren’t our dear friend, for the first mated Kradix in centuries, our doors are wide open,” Luisca said, urging us inside.
We followed them inside, and I wouldn’t have known I was in a world of destruction. If I could walk through a Thomas Kinkade painting into one of his cottages, this was what I’d imagine it would look like. There were chairs in front of a fireplace with throw blankets ready on the arms. The floors were wood and worn, and the smell of a well-used fireplace warmed the air.
“The girls are upstairs, so it’s easier to talk in the kitchen,” Luisca said.
The kitchen was just as homey as the rest, with drying herbs hanging near cast-iron pots. A wood stove in the corner.
Tiber and Luisca made a plate of dried meats and some cheeses and then brought over a pot with steeping tea. All the while, Kaden was filling them in on what had happened thus far.
