Page 9 of Darkness I Become
Leo sighed and rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. “There’s only so much I can do if the man won’t do the exercises I prescribe. He’s just gonna yell at me for not wasting drugs on it.”
“I know,” Cade said with a shrug. “Nobody said he was a great listener.”
Leo left with another huff. Cade dropped his bag on the ground and took a seat in the grass across from Asha, who had started to feel paradoxically nauseous with hunger.
“When’s the last time you had water?”
Asha shrugged. “Don’t know, but I learned my lesson on drinking water direct from rivers. I was the sickest I’ve ever been in my life last time I did.”
He reached for a flask at his hip, unfastened it from his belt, and held it out to her.
“Here,” he said. “The trick is to boil it first. This stuff is fine.”
She hesitated briefly, but she was so thirsty that she couldn’t stand it. She took the flask from him with shaking hands, and the first drop of water on her tongue was pure heaven. She couldn’t help it—she started to chug.
“Hang on,” Cade warned, catching her wrist. She flinched, and he let go abruptly. “You’ll make yourself sick if you drink too fast after being dehydrated. Go slow.”
She surprised herself with a small giggle. “I thought you were stopping me because I was drinking all your water. Sorry.”
A small smile curved those attractive lips of his. “No. Drink up. Just…slowly. You hungry?”
Starving,she wanted to reply. It was the honest answer…but she was still wary of showing weakness, even though he’d helped her. She didn’t want to need him in any way, if only because he might be gone tomorrow. Just like everyone else she’d ever known. Besides, his kindness was such a rarity that it made her strangely nervous.
Unfortunately, her stomach answered for her, choosing that moment to growl louder than ever. She flushed, embarrassed, but Cade chuckled.
“That’s what I thought,” he said, rummaging in his bag. He unwrapped a bundle of cloth to reveal a sparse meal of dried jerky and a small stack of dense, hard drop biscuits. He held it out to her. “It’s not much…but you can have it.”
Asha hesitated, but her hunger had grown too powerful to ignore. She devoured the jerky first, which was dry but flavourful. The biscuits, however, were hard as a rock, powdery, and tasteless. A flash of amusement crossed Cade’s features when she coughed after biting into one of them.
“Tastes like shit,” he agreed, “but it’s better than nothing. Ask Dom nicely, and he might find you some plants to eat.”
Asha raised an eyebrow. She got the odd impression that he was distracting her on purpose, but it wasn’t working. For hours, she’d wondered what she’d gotten herself into with this group—Guardians, or Blackguard, or whatever the hell they called themselves—and Leo had given her a bunch of non-answers.
“What’s going to happen to me?”
Cade pinned her with a look from those steely eyes. She didn’t like how his gaze made her feel exposed, naked, like he already knew all her secrets.
“I guess that depends.”
“On?” she prompted. “Look, I need to be prepared. I’m not an idiot; I know you helped me for a reason. So, if that reason is to sell me on at the next stop…well, a warning couldn’t hurt.”
He studied her for a moment in silence, making her even more uncomfortable. She crossed her arms and stared pointedly at the ground.
Finally, he replied, “It depends on whether you’d rather be my woman or not.”
Her eyes snapped wide. “Yourwoman? Like…how? Like ownership?”
“Yes,” he said, point-blank, and she scoffed. “Look, that’s how it is with the Guardians. Men are in charge; women are extensions of their men.”
“And I’m sure you delight inthat,” Asha shot back.
“My opinion is irrelevant,” he answered coolly. “Just like yours. It’s how it is, and we have to make the best of it.”
She chewed her lip. “What’s my other option?”
Cade mimed covering his heart with his hand. “I thought you liked me, darling.”
“My liking you or not is irrelevant.”
