Page 13 of Deathless
I froze mid-chew. When I resumed, my jaw worked in slow, methodical movements. “Thank you,” I said when I swallowed.
“No need,” Malik said. “I’m only saying what’s true.”
I liked this man already. The perpetual constriction in my chest released a little as we continued our meal together.
All because he’d told me something I never knew I’d needed to hear.
5
RORI
Everyone watched as LJ marked three places on a map we’d haphazardly pinned to the wall. “These are the directions we saw the Sisterhood go after they split up.” He capped his marker and stepped aside so everyone could see. “The group heading south, obviously, is coming toward us and would be the easiest to engage, if we decide to do that.”
“Uh,yeah, we wanna do that,” Val declared from her armchair. “Shit, let’s take out each group one by one. Might as well start with the closest.”
“Easy, road captain.” To LJ, I said, “Could you tell if these groups were split up in any particular way?”
“Yes. The southern group looked to be four older women with a single baby in a carrier.”
“Pffft, piece of cake. Let me handle the grannies by myself,” Val said. “I’ll be back before lunch tomorrow.”
I bit back my laugh. Only a few minutes left of playing president before I could let my hair down. “And the other two, LJ?”
“The northwestern group consisted mostly of children, plus a few armed adults.”
“How many?” Torr asked.
“We counted twelve children and three adults.” LJ pointed at the other X on the map. “Heading northeast appeared to be the bulk of the adult women, most of them unarmed. We counted twenty unarmed, three armed.”
I looked to the Saint and the Bull, the two of them sprawled on one of the couches and having stayed mostly silent during the meeting. “Do you two agree with these numbers?”
“Yes, President.” The Saint bobbed his head emphatically while his cohort only gave a slight nod.
“So altogether, this cult is thirty adults strong.” I crossed my arms and chewed idly on a fingernail. “Seems like a small operation for all the resources they had to build the resort.”
“There may be other settlements,” Santos pointed out. “That may be the reason for the 3-way split. They could be reinforcing at other locations.”
“I’ll bet you the four on their own are the leaders, the ones in power,” Torr said. “The armed ones are the muscle, the rest is the flock. The devoted followers breeding the new generation.”
“Sure fucking hope they don’t have any more Hudsons,” Devin muttered. He stood next to Santos, who nodded his agreement. Devin had also been oddly well-behaved for this meeting, which threw me off more than I expected. I’d come prepared for barbs at every turn, having every decision questioned. But he’d seemed content to stand and listen.
“If they do, we’ll find them. Well, actually,youguys will find them,” I said.
“Not too keen on getting shot by the person you’re trying to save?” the Hunter cracked, which earned some snickering from the peanut gallery. Apparently, the guys found it hilarious that my first time meeting Hudson resulted in a bullet taking a chunk out of my calf muscle.
Men. Gladiators. Bunch of Neanderthals.
Good thing I knew exactly how to deal with them. I picked up a throw pillow and flung at the Hunter’s head. “Exactly! You see what I do for you fuckers?”
Fighters erupted in cackles and crude jokes, shoving playfully at the Hunter as he brought his arms up to block the pillow assault.
“So yeah. It can be one of you assholes getting shot next time instead of your president.”
“I will take a bullet for you any time.” The Saint placed a hand over his heart. “Send me out, Aurora.”
“Alright, let’s focus and I can let you animals loose for the night,” I said, pointedly ignoring him. “I do think we should scout the closest group. It’ll be me with a small team.” I scanned the room, weighing my options. “Me, Val, LJ, the Butcher, and the Saint. We ride out tomorrow.” I looked at Torr. “You’re in charge while I’m gone.”
“Yes, President.”
