from one kingdom to another, some things didn’t change. “And is that when you decided to become a king?”
“I was a child then. My biggest concern was my next meal and not becoming something’s dinner.”
“I remember that feeling.” That first night in the Wasteland, barely out of the Creche, she and Cam had huddled together, terrified something with teeth and claws would come after them.
“What’s your story?” he asked.
Perhaps it was the intimacy of the fire. The fact that she still felt his kiss, but she told him something few knew. “Cam and me, we were made inside an Incubaii dome. Not a tank though. Our mother was one of the Madres used for womb breeding.”
“She was inseminated?”
“Or raped. That was never quite clear. I do know we were watched carefully in the Creche from a young age.”
“Why?”
“Because of our bloodline. I began showing signs of an active Deviant gene at an early age.”
“And your brother?”
“They kept waiting for him to manifest. He’s got a very strong Deviant marker.”
“But he’s not activated.”
She shrugged. “Maybe. It’s been a long time since anyone tested us.”
“How did you escape Enclave custody?” Now that he’d started, he kept talking, and she allowed it. Which would have surprised just about everyone who knew her.
“We got loose during a transport. One of the guards moving us was a pervert. He stopped the truck and thought he could climb in the back with me and do disgusting things.”
“Fuck.” He gasped. “Casey. I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked quite seriously. “You didn’t do it, and it doesn’t change the past. This happened over twenty years ago.” Her lips twisted. “The guard didn’t survive the attempt.”
“You killed him?”
She shook her head. “I hid in the shadows. Cam handled it for me.” He was always a big kid. “Your turn. How did Charlie’s mother die?
His lips turned down. “I’d rather not.”
“You’re still going to.”
He heaved out a heavy breath. “Ambush in that public square you saw the other day. By the sweets shop.”
“Ambush how? Targeted? Accidental?”
“Some Enclave soldiers found Eden and attacked. Theona, Charlie’s mother, shoved me out of the way of gunfire but couldn’t save herself. I barely escaped with Charlie.”
On the surface, the story seemed horrible and a little too noble. Like something to make the dead sound good, perhaps to a child. On a hunch, she said, “Now that I know the version you told Charlie, give me the truth.”
“What makes you think that wasn’t?”
“Because I’ve seen what you can do. You would have thrown up a shield and deflected it.”
He eyed her, his gaze a stormy gray and blue sky. His expression grim. “You are astute.”
“Meaning I’m right.”
A sigh heaved out of him. “The truth is Charlie’s mother was a conniving spy.”
Chapter 12
“I’m going to need more details,” Casey demanded.
Admit his shame? His shoulders slumped. “I met Theona by accident in the Marsh.”
Accident? Not quite. But he didn’t know that until much later, after he’d analyzed every moment that led to the betrayal.
He’d come across Theona while on a return trip from the port city. He’d gone to see his brother, a man he’d found out only by accident when Darius came looking for a father that was no longer alive.
The paths back to the marshes were many and varied. Back in those days, they were wilder, too, with the Enclave having chosen to concentrate their protection more on the area around the city. Since the game was plentiful, and his grumbly vehicle more than capable of lugging a beast, when he saw some promising tracks, he chose to stop and hunt.
Roark perched in a gnarled tree, bow at the ready, when he heard the sounds of a battle. Snarls and screams. Human screams.
He’d never been one to stand by idly. Not after what happened to his father.
When he came across the ruins of a caravan that had been torn into by something with cruel claws, he’d meant to strip it of valuables and move on. Only he heard a noise.
Inside the crushed cabin of a tipped-over vehicle, he found Theona of the long platinum hair, the sweetest, soft smile. Her shy demeanor intrigued Roark. He did his best to coax her out of the bashful shell she hid behind.
Given she was terrified and abandoned, sobbing that her parents died in the attack, he’d brought her back to his home via a dangerous circuitous route that involved her being partially blindfolded along the way. Because being besotted with the pretty woman didn’t mean he was completely stupid.