Rune glared. “That’s your excuse to get me to Flesh.”
But Z was smiling. “No, Rune. She’s right. The boy will tell us where to find the cure.”
Rune blew out a hard breath, then nodded. “Okay. What other choice do I have?”
“It’ll be full dark in an hour,” Blue said. “Do we walk in the dark or wait until dawn?”
“We walk,” Rune said. “We don’t stop until we’re there. We don’t have time to sleep.”
“It’s not sleeping I’m worried about,” Blue said. “The night is dangerous.”
Rune snorted. “The days are dangerous.”
“But not like the dark,” Nadaline said.
“We’ll chance it.” Rune looked at Z. “When Jeremy shot me full of silver…I feel like that. Not as bad, but it’s coming. We have to hurry.”
Because she’d be no help to him if she got much worse.
No matter how much she fed.
Z’s stare hardened. “Jeremy. Yes. I remember.”
“We have to hurry,” she murmured.
“We’ll need supplies,” Blue said.
“I’ll slip into Carnage to bag up some things,” Nadaline offered. “It’s just a few miles from here.”
“I’ll go with you,” Blue said. “Roma, you stay here to help Z guard…” She hesitated as she glanced at Rune.
Rune put her hands on her hips. “I’m still strong enough to kick your ass.”
“Sorry,” Blue said. “But as Roma says, without you, we’re all lost. I just want to make sure you’re safe.”
Roma nodded and stepped forward, her chin up. “I will guard her with my life.”
Rune sighed.
Z grinned. “You’re not used to being taken care of.” Then he sobered. “I, too, will guard you with my life.”
“Why don’t we all go?” Rune asked.
“Blue and Naddy are slippery as ninjas,” Z said. “They can navigate the city without being noticed. You’d be noticed. And I’m not leaving you alone to go with them.”
“Get some rest,” Blue said. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
And she and Nadaline were gone.
When darkness fell it fell quickly. One minute it was dusky as the sun faded in a pink sky. Rune blinked, and it was full dark.
Night came, and brought with it a slice of bright moon, twinkling stars, and shadows that seemed somehow full, like pockets in a dark curtain.
Roma walked a few yards away and stood with her back to a tree, slingshot ready, her pockets bulging with ammo.
Z and Rune stared at each other for a long moment.
“Alone at last,” he said, his smile soft. “I still catch myself wondering if you’re real or if this place has finally driven me mad.”
She walked into his arms. “I know exactly how you feel.” She pushed her face into his shirt, inhaling his scent. “After you…”
“Died?” he asked, when she was unable to finish the sentence.
“Yeah. Afterwards, I’d catch a scent or hear a voice or see a certain smile and it would bring you back to me. It felt so good but hurt so fucking much.”
He tightened his arms around her but said nothing.
“Owen,” she said.
“I know him?”
“Yeah. Not well, though. He…” she took a deep breath.
Z stiffened. “What did he do?”
She cleared her throat. “He reminded me of you. Something about him was you.”
He swallowed. “Did you fuck him?”
“No.”
“Rune.”
“Yeah?”
“Strad Matheson.”
She peered up at him. “You remember the berserker?” Her heart ached when she said his name. Berserker.
“I do.” He shook his head. “He’s more vivid in my mind than the others, for some reason. “Maybe because you had a thing for him.” His smile was slightly crooked. And held more than a little pain.
She buried her face once more in his chest. Don’t ask me. Don’t ask me.
“Did you and he…”
“Dammit, Z.”
“Never mind,” he said, quickly. “I’d rather not know.”
But he did know.
That was just one thing he’d forgotten. Maybe on purpose, but there it was. Some things were too painful to remember.
“Z.” She looked up at him once more, her stare eating up his face, his beautiful, shadowed face. “There is no one I’ll ever love more than you. If I love someone else, if I fuck someone…” she shook her head, hard. “It doesn’t matter. I will love you forever. And I will always love you more. That’s just the way it is.”
“Oh, I know that, sweet thing,” he told her. “I know that.”
“I need you, Z.”
“And I need to be inside you.” He took her hand and led her a little farther away from Roma. “Let me make love to you.”
While I still can.
He didn’t say it, but it was there in the softness of his voice and the sadness