Page 87 of Deathless
I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet, but I processed my surroundings slowly, piece by piece. Reaching down, I found Tezca’s head on my belly and scratched that velvety fur. His purr started up as he licked my hand, the healing rumble soothing all my aches as my injuries announced themselves. There was another rumbling too, a vibrating sensation underneath and all around me.
“Where are we?” I rubbed my eyelids, which felt like they had been welded shut.
“In my truck bed. Torr’s driving. Santos and Devin are up front with him. Right now, I’d say we’re, oh, about three hours away from Four Corners.”
A wave of relief immediately washed over me knowing that Torr, Santos, and Devin were okay, but the first thing out of my mouth was, “Four Corners? The fuck?”
“Yeah, you’ve been out for a minute.” Val’s hand returned to my shoulder. “It’s over, Pres,” she whispered. “We did it.”
I wanted nothing more than to sit all the way up and demand that she tell me everything, but my injuries forced me to move slowly. And when I finally did open my eyes, I was in for another surprise. Val, Tezca, and I were not alone in the truck bed.
My eyes met those of four girls sitting against the right and left sides, all looking to be between the ages of three and eight.
“Uh, hi.”
None of them replied as I slowly sat up. The younger two seemed curious. The others, suspicious.
“I went back to the safehouses for my truck after they got you out of the hole,” Val explained. “Then Torr and your dad agreed we should find the kids immediately, and Tezca led us straight there. So,” she nodded at the four silent girls sitting with us, “here we are.”
“Was...” So many questions hit me at once, and it was a struggle choosing which to ask first. “Was there another battle?”
Val lifted one shoulder. “I wouldn’t call it much of a battle. We...took care of most of them at the settlement.” She spoke carefully, eyes flicking toward the children. “And the remainder were not a problem for us. The kids were kept hidden away, and once we found them, we didn’t let them see what had happened.”
“She won’t tell us anything,” declared one of the older girls, mean-mugging me as hard as she could with her arms wrappedprotectively around one of the smaller children. “You kidnapped us!”
Val gave her a sympathetic look. “I know it seems that way now. But one day, you’ll understand we are not the bad people in this situation.”
“You havemenwith you!” the girl argued. “They’re going to hurt us just like mama said!”
“No one is going to hurt you.” This time Val cast her eyes toward me, a weary expression on her face.
Yeah, that look said it all. It was going to take years of patience, love, and therapy to un-indoctrinate these kids.
I wanted to ask Val more about what happened after I’d fallen in the hole, but gruesome battle details probably weren’t kid-appropriate conversation.
So I opted for more basic questions instead. “How many kids?”
“Twelve in total,” Val said. “Paige is riding in the other truck with the rest. None of the guys are in close proximity to them, for obvious reasons.”
I nodded. “Did we lose anyone?”
Val shook her head, and I sagged with relief. “Some injuries, but you were the worst off.” My cousin’s expression went grave. “I had to restart your heart in front of your men and your dad. Talk about working under pressure.”
I brought my hand to my chest, feeling the bruised flesh around my sternum for the first time. “You always did love to tit-punch me.”
“Yeah, well, it was actually necessary this time.”
A sudden thought hit me as I remembered blank, empty eyes and a hand that had been scraped raw. I scooted closer to Val, keeping my voice low so the children wouldn’t hear. “A man’s body was in the hole. The cult forced him to dig it before killinghim, and there’s probably more. We have to recover him, and the sacrifices—”
“We will.” Val took my hand and squeezed. “I promise you we will, cuz. But we have to get you and everyone home first. Get these kids checked out. The dead will be honored, but they can wait a little longer.”
I was quiet for a long while, letting it all sink in. “It’s really over then, isn’t it?”
Val squeezed my hand harder and grinned. “Yeah. It is, President.”
Torr didn’t stop drivinguntil he pulled up to the hospital in Four Corners. The kids were ushered into the pediatric ward, and I was immediately sent to emergency surgery to get the bullet out of my shoulder. I kicked up as much of a fuss as I could, telling the doctors to look over my people first, but they were having none of it, and I was out like a light before I knew it.
When I came to, my head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton, but the pain was blissfully gone. It was also much easier to open my eyes now, but that didn’t prepare me for the person I saw sitting next to my hospital bed.
