Page 133 of The Darkest Hour

“I’m in a poetic mood.”

“A poetic, yet brutal assassin. Excellent.”

“When I was hunting you last night, I saw a doe. Once we’re done with this, we can hunt and eat it.”

I frowned. “Absolutely not. That doe is my friend.”

“That doe is food, Onyx.”

“It’s my friend.” I ate more mushrooms twisted around oregano. “Don’t make me hurt you.”

“I am not a vegetarian, Onyx. I am a proud carnivore.”

“Well. . .the doe is now our pet so figure out something else to eat.”

“Maybe, there’s a bear.” He grumbled and continued forward.

“Maybe.” Smirking, I nibbled on more herbs and mushrooms.

“Lucky for you I smell more things growing all around here. Especially different vegetables and fruit much further up ahead.” Havoc popped a small mushroom into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “We’ll just have to do some foraging later.”

“Sounds good to me.”

As we walked, I couldn’t help but realize how calming the day had been.

Was it due to the sex with Havoc?

Was it because of our renewed partnership doused in new love?

Or was this mysterious, yet soothing island finally sinking into my bones?

As if hearing me, Havoc turned my way and smiled. “This place. . .it’s perfect. Don’t you think so?”

I nodded.

“I think the longer we are on here, the more we’ll find that it has everything we need, just waiting for us.”

I chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Havoc’s smile widened. “The earth knows how to provide, how to take care of its own. When people just let it be, when they don’t mess with stuff, the earth will grow food and give everything we need. But humans. . .”

“What?”

“We fucking complicate things. We build cement walls and roads. We take over land that is perfectly free and begin dividing and placing price tags on it. We pollute. We kill. And most of these things are done out of greed, not any great sense of love or helping humankind.”

“So you don’t like human beings?”

“I detest them.” He winked at me.

I laughed, but. . .I did understand him as he talked about the island. The more we walked around, the more I felt it was abundant and overflowing with life in every corner.

Havoc discovered another patch of mushrooms and plucked them.

This time I helped

“As long as we don’t mess the island up, it’ll always grow food, always provide for us.”

“Then. . .we won’t starve?”

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