Catastrophic Attraction - Eve Langlais Page 0,68

the homes began to cluster, the tree line pushed back, that she said, “They don’t live inside walls.”

“Nope.”

“They do in the Marsh.” Even the Haven Outpost had a barricade on land. The water, though, required guards.

“Because there are more dangers. But if a place could be called paradise, this area around the port would be it.”

“Eden is a great place,” she defended.

“Yes, it is.”

She’d noticed as they travelled, the line of bluffs remained just as high as ever from the ocean surface; therefore, the dip she could see coming didn’t surprise. What did shock was the size of the valley and how populated it was. If she’d thought Eden, the marsh city, huge, she had no word for Port City.

It sprawled across the land, a ragged tableau of buildings and color. Sounds, too. But no smoke. Not a single chimney spewed garbage into the air. A stream of vehicles entered a large building at the edge of the bowl.

“Parking,” he said.

She could hardly take it all in. She didn’t realize she’d stopped in the way until people cursed at her as they tried to get around.

Roark ran a hand over his face, and when he revealed it, he’d changed only a few subtle parts of his appearance. “No use letting them know we’re coming.”

“If they have spies, then they know.”

“They’ll be expecting us at the other entrance, the north one. That’s the most direct path from the city on the surface. But we used the secret tunnels.”

Meaning they might be able to sneak in.

The line they were in inched toward the giant warehouse, a multi-level affair meant for parking vehicles to keep the city noise and accident free. Their bikes were ticketed and taken away by attendants, leaving them in the exiting throng.

“How come it’s so busy?” she asked.

“Because south of the city are the most fertile lands and even more population, including two more rather large towns. The fact the majority of their goods and citizens live in the south has been part of the reason I think Sapphire left those of us in the Marshes alone.”

She felt very uninformed and unimportant in that moment, realizing how little she knew. How useless she was.

Roark had no qualms. He veered from the crowd of people moving along the road into a sprawling network of buildings, many of them shops, some wafting smells that made her belly growl.

She kept pace with him. “Where are you going? I thought we wanted into the city.”

“We do. But we’re not going through the front door and wandering around.”

Her expression brightened. “You know of a tunnel to get inside.”

“I do, although it’s less tunnel and more of a leftover from an old transportation system.”

“Is it guarded?”

“What do you think?” His disdain was well deserved.

“Are we going to have to fight?”

“Maybe.”

“You sure know how to show a person a good time.”

“Was that sarcasm or pleasure?” he asked.

“How about a bit of both?”

He led them to a fenced-in area at the top of the lip. The metal bars had been spaced barely wide enough apart to stick her arm through. She could see stone slabs set flat in the ground, while others stood as monuments, short, tall, some ornate statues. Even box-like shapes.

“What is this place?” she asked as they entered through the front gates.

“A cemetery.”

The word didn’t match what she saw. “A cemetery is where something leaves the remains of those it’s killed. This is too organized for that.” Not to mention it appeared human.

His chuckle didn’t help. “This cemetery is where people put the bodies of those who’ve died and pay tribute to them.”

“There are dead people in here,” she said as they wove their way through verdant mown grass.

“Yes. Some are in the ground.” He pointed to a flat surface carved with words and numbers. “Others in crypts.” He indicated a stone box inscribed with a eulogy.

She frowned. “What is wrong with their families? Burying the dead in the ground instead of recycling them. That’s so selfish.”

“I’m almost afraid to ask what you mean.” He stopped by a crypt larger than the rest.

“We don’t eat them if that’s what you’re implying.” She rolled her eyes as she grasped what he thought she said. “We use them as bait to capture meat.”

His jaw might have dropped. “You use your own people.”

“Not alive.” She snorted. “Dead is dead. If it could help keep us alive, then no one had a problem with it.”

“We put ours on a barge and set it on fire.”

“Polluting the air.” She