“
What are you doing?” I fired back. “Why are you following me?”
“
I needed some air,” he said with a nonchalant shrug.
“
Listen, I…” I turned to yell at him but then our faces were only inches apart. His eyes locked with mine and I forgot how to breathe.
“
I am listening,” he said softly. “Always listening.”
“
I was just going to see if she would…”
“
She won’t.”
“
But I wasn’t going to…”
He stopped my words with two fingers against my lips. I tried to be furious, but it was like trying to move a mountain.
“Eva, I have waited so long for you.”
I wasn’t sure when he stopped using his mouth to talk. He put his hands up to cradle my face.
“
Dominick,” I breathed.
He brought his face closer to mine and we probably would have kissed if Elizabeth hadn’t picked that exact moment to interrupt us.
“
Am I interrupting anything?” she asked sweetly — and loudly.
I pulled away from Dominick as if I had been burned. My eyes were wide — perfect picture of guilt. I straightened my hair and tried to calm my heart. Why was my breathing so ragged?
“
Not at all,” Dominick said very calmly. “As always, dear sister, your timing is impeccable.” My face flamed red.
“
You really shouldn’t be out here,” she said turning to me. Her voice was suddenly very serious.
I puffed out my cheeks and looked down at my feet. “I…,” I stammered. Of course I shouldn’t be out here, I scolded myself. I had almost kissed Dominick Letrell. What was wrong with me?
“
Why?” Dominick asked.
“
They have her picture everywhere.” Achilles’ declaration made my head snap up.
“
Yeah,” Elizabeth continued, “the whole city is looking for you. The news is calling you an unstable SH.”
“
Unstable?”
“
Because they couldn’t keep a hold of you,” Dominick smiled down at me. My heart flip-flopped and my lips tried to involuntarily smile back at him. “Let’s get you inside,” he said, grabbing my arm.
Elizabeth and Achilles followed us inside.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“
We have to get out of the city now,” David concluded after hearing what Elizabeth had discovered.
“
First we have to get Nadia,” I told him firmly.
“
Nadia is gone,” Marcus called from somewhere in the large apartment. As soon as Elizabeth had informed everyone that the VC was looking for me, Claudia and Marcus had immediately sprung to action. They set a large bag on the table and were filling it with the things we would need once we got out of the city.
“
You heard her heartbeats though, she’s not gone yet,” I reminded Marcus.
“
I didn’t mean…”
Claudia stopped long enough to lovingly stroke my cheek. “He didn’t mean she was dead dear. Only that she is no longer in the city.”
“
Do you know where they will take her?”
“
To Alcatraz.” The name sounded ominous, or maybe it was just the slight shiver that ran through Claudia when she said it.
“
How far away?”
She spread out a large map on the table. “The states are primarily divided into three sections,” she explained to the group that had formed around us. “The nomads are here,” she pointed to the center of the map. “These people travel often from place to place. They live in large tents that they pick up and carry with them. Very much like the Indians of old times, they follow the water or the herds, or the weather. And this area,” she traced a large circle around where the nomads lived, “are the villages. The people stay in their villages — raising all their own food.”
Next she pointed to four locations along the edge of the map. “And these are the cities; where most of the humans choose to live. And all of this,” she gestured to the entire map, “is Ryan’s land.”
“
Who is Ryan?”
“
Ryan the warrior?”
“
Yes — the warrior. Ryan and his brother Drake have a whole gang of third generations that they themselves created. Their female — Sophia — was killed by Rueben and Paris.”
“
So they hate the Letrell’s?” We had something in common.
“
How many?”
“
Last count was eight, but it could be higher by now,” Marcus answered.
“
We believe Neleh must have told them to stay out of the cities because their reign of terror only goes as far as the villages.”
“
Neleh knew about this gang and didn’t stop them?” I couldn’t believe it.
“
Yes, her attention was…elsewhere.” Claudia gave me a pointed look.
“
So what about the colony?”
“
Alcatraz is here,” she pointed to a spot inside the villages. “It’s named after a famous prison that was supposedly inescapable. The colony of Alcatraz is considered a village in and of itself and it boasts the same claim — inescapable.”
“
It’s the only colony still active.” Marcus put several gadgets inside the bag and zipped it shut.
“
So how do we get there? Porter or auto?”
“
Neither,” she frowned.
“
Then?”
“
The states have secluded themselves from the rest of the world. Therefore, we don’t get a lot of the technical devices. Like porters and autos. Only the militia have autos and only a few along the border.”
They still hadn’t answered my question. “Will we have to walk?” I asked sarcastically.
“
We’ll go by horseback,” Marcus finally answered.
“
You mean like on the back of a horse?” Dominick chuckled until I glared at him; then he laughed outright.
“
Don’t you know how to ride Eva?” Elizabeth asked innocently.
“
Eva has never ridden before,” David told her.
“
Oh, but brother,” Dominick contradicted him, “she has.” He winked at me.
I sighed heavily. “There has to be another way.”
“
It’s the fastest way.”
“
Do they have horses in the city?” David asked.
“
About three miles outside of the boundaries. There’s a saddle man.”
“
Eva?” All eyes turned to me.
I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek. “I could carry you,” Dominick offered. “I’d probably be just as efficient as the horse.”
“
I can ride on a horse,” I said through clenched teeth.
Dominick laughed again. “Ha, now you shall see what my Eva is made of.”
“
I’m not your anything,” I muttered.
The saddle men, I learned, were a group of horse owners spread out from village to village. They had up to thirty horses at different stables along the way. For a small fee, a person could rent the horses to ride to the next stable and so on until they reached their destination. The saddle men provided the only transportation across the states.
“
Are you going to be laughing like that the whole way to the stables?” I snapped at Dominick.
My anger only made it more amusing for him. Soon Elizabeth joined in with him, even though she didn’t know why he was laughing. Or maybe she did. One thing I was sure of, I would be able to ride a horse.
My confidence started to waiver some when we actually made it to the stable. The horses all stood in a line, swatting their tales and stomping their feet. “How many horses you need?” the saddle man asked.
“
Seven.”
“
Can we ride in the same saddle?” I whispered to David.
“
Stables are twenty-five miles apart,” the man continued.
“
If we ride double, it takes longer,” David whispered back.
“
Ok.” I nodded several times. The saddle man named his price. “I didn’t do so well last time I tried to ride a horse.”
“
What happened?”
“
I fell off.” He looked at me quickly to see if I was kidding. I wasn’t.
“
I’ll ask if we can ride double.”
“
No.” I put my hand on his arm to stop him. “We need to hurry.”
“
You’ll be ok.” He stepped away from me to join Marcus and Claudia. The three of them exclaimed happily over the beasts.
“
Nervous?” Dominick appeared at my side.
“
No.” Did I answer too quickly? “You?”
“
I will save you if the need arises.” He let his fingers brush lightly against my arm.
“
Eva,” Claudia called. “This will be your horse.” She led a large grey colored horse to where I stood. “Her name is Princess,” Claudia grinned.
“
Princess? Someone named this beast Princess?”
“
This is a beautiful horse.” Claudia patiently helped me onto the horse and explained how to use the reigns.
“
You look like a pro up there,” Elizabeth said with a smile.
I could barely look at her. “We should go.” Why did my voice have to sound so breathless?
“
She is right. Sunrise will be here before we know it,” Marcus came up beside me on a light brown horse.
I tried to breathe as little as possible as we rode along. Although I never completely relaxed on the reigns, I was able to remain in the saddle all the way to the first stop.
I didn’t want to ask for help down so I just slid down the back of Princess and landed in a heap on the ground. “What are you doing down there?” Dominick asked with amusement.
“
Collecting rocks.” His laughter belted out, making me roll my eyes.
“
Are you making my brother laugh again?”
“
What can I say Elizabeth, I am just an amusing person.”
Dominick helped me up, keeping a hold of my hand even after I was on my feet. Almost like we were friends, Dominick and I walked hand in hand to where the others stood.
“
At least I let go this time,” I laughed.
“
Yeah, before you hit the ground even,” his laughter joined my own.
“
Eva?” I looked up guiltily. The others were all staring at us in shocked silence.
Reluctantly but quickly, I dropped Dominick’s hand. “When do we leave?”
“
We…um…” Claudia giggled. “We better leave right away.”
“
Nadia is waiting for us,” David brought us all back down to reality.
Claudia once again helped me into the saddle. This time my horse was a huge black animal that stomped a lot. I sat stiffly in the saddle, teeth clenched.
We made several similar stops throughout the day, rarely resting. David promised that it would get easier for me, but he was wrong.
Night was setting in again by the time we reached the final stable. With shaking legs and numb hands, I gladly gave up the reigns to the saddle man. “Where do we go from here?” I asked with an equally shaking voice.
“
Alcatraz is less than ten miles from here,” Marcus said.
“
We will find a place to camp tonight,” Claudia added, “And figure out what to do next.”
“
Couldn’t we go tonight?”
“
You can barely stand up,” Dominick teased.
“
I am…”
“
We will rest tonight,” Marcus’s deep tone left little room for further argument.
When it was clear that I would considerably slow down the group, Dominick hoisted me onto his back and carried me along. It wasn’t long before we stopped at a place declared perfect by Marcus.
The “camp” was only a small fire. I was the only one who needed sleep or warmth so I curled into a tight ball as close to the blaze as possible. Dominick settled himself close to me.
“
Do you remember when you were shocked that I would start a fire inside my house?” he asked fondly.
I smiled at the memory. “Your whole house was made of wood. It just seemed foolish.”
He laughed and shook his head. “It’s easier for me to laugh when I am with you, Eva.”
I couldn’t help but think of all the terrible things he had done since those few fateful days in the woods. “Did you…” I hesitated, “did you watch me…while I was growing up?”
“
I started to.” His expression became pained. “But when Neleh began treating you badly it was difficult for me to listen without interfering, so I left.”
“
Where did you go?”
“
I went back to Hilgar for a while, although it is now known as Noir Valley. It has been Noir Valley for a very long time.”
“
Do you still have your wooden house?” I grinned.
“
I do, but much has changed in that area.” His eyes became clouded and I longed to ask him why. What were the changes? Were the wolves still there?