Wild Hunt - Kali Argent Page 0,16
but Cade bit his tongue and refrained from asking. “Okay, no oatmeal. How are we feeling about those pancakes?”
“With syrup?”
Cade grinned at her hopeful tone. “Of course.” He had no idea if syrup would be included with breakfast, but they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. “You rest. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He glanced over his shoulder at the black screen of the television mounted on the wall. “There’s no cable or anything like that, but there’s a box of DVDs in the cabinet. Do you want to take a look?”
“Maybe later.”
“Okay.” He patted her hand gently as he rose from the bed. “I’ll be back.”
Walking away from her was harder than it should have been, but he forced himself to keep going and not look back.
He didn’t know how the Revenant had found the small rural hospital or the qualified people to staff it, but it was one of the better safe houses he’d seen. The hotel in Kansas City had been spacious and comfortable, but it had been too exposed in the middle of the city. The medical equipment had been rudimentary at best—bandages, aspirin, iodine. Anyone suffering from serious illness or injury rarely survived.
From what he’d seen, the hospital was well stocked and highly operational. Even better, they had an actual doctor in full-time residence, as well as a couple of nurses. He didn’t know if they’d worked at the hospital before the Purge, or if they’d gravitated there along the way, but the refugees were lucky to have them.
Currently, there were sixteen residents staying at the hospital. The patient rooms provided relative comfort and privacy. Hot water flowed from the showers, and the kitchen was often replenished with supply runs from an adjacent town. Even better, the isolated location offered everyone a chance to venture outside with only minimal risk of exposure or discovery.
Of course, it wasn’t permanent. Everyone there was just passing through, using their time at the hospital to rest and gain strength before starting the next leg of their journey. Some of them would travel to other safe houses, while others would head directly to the haven rumored to be in Washington.
Cade had never seen Olympus, but everyone talked about it like it was some magical Eden. The only permanent settlement in North America where Gemini and humans lived in safety and harmony.
“Hey,” Roux greeted when he entered the kitchen through the double, swinging doors. “How is she?”
“Tired. Traumatized.” His stomach rumbled, and his mouth watered at the scents wafting through the room. “I think she’ll be okay, though.”
“Did you find out anything about where she came from?”
“A Hunter camp. She didn’t give a location, but I’m guessing it’s not far from where we found her.”
Roux nodded thoughtfully. “That makes sense. I doubt she could have traveled too far with all those injuries.” Her contemplative expression morphed into pure disgust. “I fucking hate Hunters. They give humans a bad name.”
Cade hated them as well, but the depravity they inflicted on the world had nothing to do with being human. Gemini had proven themselves just as capable of cruelty, a fact he’d experienced firsthand. What he was beginning to understand, however, was that there was still a lot of good in the world, and just like evil, it didn’t discriminate when it came to race or creed.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Yeah, sure.” Roux led him over to a long table set up like a buffet that contained silver dishes filled with pancakes, sausages, and even fresh fruit. “What’s up?”
“Did you feel drawn to Deke before you found out you were his mate?”
“Not right at first, but the way we met was a lot different. I thought he was trying to kill me.”
Cade remembered that night in Trinity Grove well. It had seemed like the worst possible thing that could have happened to them, being captured and held against their will, but honestly, it had probably saved their lives.
“I did trust him a lot faster than I probably should have, and I remember feeling safe with him. Which, as you know, made no sense at the time.” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I want to protect her,” Cade admitted. “I mean, I don’t even know her, but even being away from her right now is hard.”
“Maybe it’s different with werewolves. I mean, vampires can hear their mate’s thoughts. Deke said that shifter mates have this kind of glow to them. There’s no one-size-fits-all with this.” Her hand came to rest