Page 18 of Such a Feral Little Lamb
Sweat beads at my hairline as we make our way up to the graveyard. Hushed voices reach us from the church, carried on a soft breeze.
Dane walks a step or two behind Nia and Emma, who have done nothing but ignore him this entire way. Callum is behind me, bringing up the rear.
“Who’s in there?” I hear Dane ask.
“There are more than just the three of us,” Nia replies.
“But where would you—” Blake begins, then snaps his mouth shut.
I look back at Callum. “The locked door?”
He doesn’t smile. I would trust him less if he did. “Yes.”
“How did you keep it locked?” We would have heard if someone were holding it shut on the other side, and that wasn’t even the problem. Blake justcouldn’tunlock it, and no matter how much I dislike him, I’m willing to admit that he can usually get in or out of anywhere.
Callum looks at me, but he doesn’t answer, and then we’re walking into the church, so I don’t ask a second time.
Nia’s right that there are more than just three people living in Gravesend, but that doesn’t mean there are many of them. Icount twelve people in here, not including any of us, and not one of them looks younger than me.
Neither of them looks older than Nia, either.
“They’re coming uphere?” a woman asks, stepping forward. She eyes us not just with suspicion, but with disgust.
Others murmur. The air thickens with hostility, and I suddenly don’t like that Callum is at my back. Fifteen in total, counting Nia and the others. Our odds aren’t great, especially considering Emma and Callum have our guns—we wouldn’t use them as our defensive weapons, but they might.
“Seems like it,” a deep voice says behind us.
Immediately, the church falls silent. The voice is male, rough, and carries an air of authority that makes me shiver. I’ve no doubt Nia is in charge of this town. It’s clear from the way she’s led us up here.
The owner of this voice means something else to the people in here. If he’s not respected, he’s feared.
Only…
I glance back. Light blinds me, giving me only his silhouette as he walks into the church. When he moves further in, shadows coalescing into a familiar face, my stomach drops into my boots.
His pale, angular face is already imprinted on the backs of my eyelids. His eyes meet mine and hold, and I feel a sick jolt of something that has my muscles tensing, as though I’m not sure whether I should run or move even closer.
“This is Mason,” Nia says. Her eyes are tight. “He’s been… investigating the zombies this morning.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” Mason says but never takes his eyes off me. He’s far too pale, despite the fact he’s been out in the sun, and his high cheekbones and prominent nose give him a sharp, haunted look.
“Investigating?” Dane asks. His disdain is evident in his tone, and Mason blinks the slow way a cat might, taking his eyes from me only after a long moment.
“Yes.” He deigns to look at Dane, it feels like, and I feel that same jolt as before at the haughty expression on his face. Something has its hooks in my belly, has my heart thrumming against the cage of bones that surrounds it, and I struggle to catch my breath. “And who exactly are you?”
Chapter Seven
Danesputters.Blake’sexpressioncontorts in fury and when I look at Rae and Otto, even they seem uncertain. Neither of them knows what I do, nor saw him last night. I’m sure of it.
From the way Nia is letting this play out, I don’t want to ask her now. Mason clearly has some standing here, and we are outnumbered. No one except for Emma and Callum are openly carrying weapons, but that doesn’t mean anything.
“The Citadel sent us,” I say. I feel bone-tired all of a sudden, though something zips down my spine when Mason turns his attention to me again. “We’re supposed to clear the place. Make it fit to be inhabited again.”
Callum sneers. Emma crosses her arms over her chest, unimpressed, and some of the others in the small crowd grumble.
“We live here,” Nia says.
Yeah, no shit. Mason takes a step closer to me, eyes reflecting some unnatural curiosity, and I keep my feet rooted to the flagstones to ensure I’ll stay where I am.
