God of Monsters (Juniper Unraveling #4) - Keri Lake Page 0,171
back of the cab and take off. A game plan we went over a number of times, in the event we ran into marauders on the road. The world may have made a number of advancements in technology over the last few decades since the Dredge, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the opportunists, the predators who take without asking. Even if women aren’t nearly as scarce these days, men still outnumber them, and kidnappings are just as common as they’ve always been.
To this day, the nightmares about someone swiping up Thalia still plague my sleep, and leaving her alone for so much as a second on these roads has my stomach twisting.
As if sensing my unease, the old man says, “You ain’t gotta worry about your wife out here. Don’t get many marauders on this road. Word travels quickly.” He points toward the three objects I noticed on our arrival—the crucified bodies that set my alarms blaring earlier. “Last marauders who came through here met your Alpha friends.”
The comment makes me smile. “Seems I’m headed in the right direction, then.”
A female Rager snaps her teeth, growling at me, as she barrels forward then skids to a halt, cowering at my feet. A chain connected to her throat stretches from the wall, where she’s been tethered at the back of the building. Useless, when she backs herself away from me, hissing in defense.
Hard to tell how old Ragers are, given the mottling of their skin, but the few strands of gray sticking up off her head are a good indication that she’s at least in her sixties.
“I thought you said your wife passed away,” I say to the old man standing beside me.
“She did. This surely isn’t my Vera anymore. She was a beauty. Prettiest girl in the whole state of Florida.”
“She’s the reason you left Harmony Hills.”
His bushy gray brows lower as he nods. “She was bit. I been keeping her alive, feeding her animals, but hunting ain’t as easy as it used to be.”
“So, why don’t you end her life yourself?”
Lips flat, he shakes his head. “Can’t do that. Nope. Won’t do it.”
Rubbing a hand down my face, I inwardly groan at the task he’s asked me to carry out. There was a time killing was an everyday part of my life. These days, it’s a pain in the ass. “Fine. I do this, you’ll tell us where to find Harmony Hills?”
“Yep. You’ll have my gratitude.”
Unenthused, I step toward the Rager who continues to claw and hiss, but a clutch of my arm brings me to a halt.
“Wait. You won’t … hurt her, right?” The concern etched in the man’s expression is a reminder that even if she’s more animal than human now, she was someone important.
Like my own Thalia.
“I’ll make it quick and painless.”
Nodding, he pats my arm and steps back. “Okay, good.”
“You want to step away while I do this?”
“No. I need to watch. Helps.”
Anxious to get back on the road, I approach the Rager crouched against the building, still hissing and clawing. I kneel in front of her, an unsettling feeling sweeping over me, as I imagine Thalia in her place. Another glance back at the older man shows him wringing his hat in his hands, undoubtedly nervous, edgy for what’s to come.
I turn my attention back to the Rager, and even though her eyes are black and void of life, her comprehension and humanity chewed away by the disease, I gentle my voice for her. “Vera, it’s time to rest.”
Something seems to flicker in her eyes. A sadness, maybe. Or maybe I’m just imagining it, as I reach for her throat past hands that claw at me, dodging teeth that snap. With one hand, I hold the back of her neck. The other, I press into her throat, hard. Harder. Growls intensify. Her claws scrape across my skin, but fail to break through. One quick twist and the growling ceases at the same time her mangled body stills in my arms.
I’ve killed countless Ragers, but something about this sits heavy in my gut, and I can’t bring myself to look back at the old man, for fear of seeing my own reflection in those tired, old eyes.
I lay her carefully onto her back and lower her lids, shuttering the vacancy in her eyes. If not for the decay that’s taken its toll on her skin, she’d look like any normal, older woman, resting peacefully.