Page 69 of Darkness I Become
“No,” Asha shot back. “The last time I saw them, I was fleeing for my life.” She buried her face in her hands. “What does this mean?”
A long pause. “I don’t know, darling. But you’re safe with us now. We won’t let them hurt you.”
Some time later, Davy announced, “No survivors, Captain, and the place is ransacked. Probably not even worth scavenging.”
Asha bowed her head. A bizarre sense of shame set in;herpeople had caused this destruction, and undoubtedly would cause more.These people, Wastelanders though they were, didn’t deserve to die the way they had.
“I’m sorry, my angel,” Cade murmured to her, touching her shoulder before standing again. “Alright. Nothing left to do here. Move out, guys.”
He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet.
“It’s not your fault,” he told her a few minutes later. “Not your fault that you survived and they didn’t.”
Asha loved and hated how well he read her. “I know that.”
“Helps to hear it sometimes, though.”
He had a point. She nodded reluctantly.
“What do you think it means?” she asked him.
Cade shrugged. “They’ve become a gang, just like the rest of us. So, it means the same thing it always means when a gang wipes out another settlement. More competition.”
Asha’s stomach dropped. “For what?”
“Survival, darling. Always survival.”
Chapter 21
It took a few days to return to the Nest. They’d take a couple weeks’ break before they headed onto the eastern Settlements, including the newly conquered Rockland. They emptied their wagon of supplies, with food going to the kitchens, clothes to Lana and the women to sort, and so on. The largest two wooden boxes were full of weapons.
“Dom will get those,” Cade said to Asha when he noticed her staring at them. “He’ll make sure they’re stored safely.”
“Why do we need so many?” she asked. “Most people in the Nest have guns, even if those outside don’t.”
“But there’s always room for more, right?” Cade joked, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. Asha got the strange impression he wasn’t being entirely honest.
He distracted her with a kiss that took her breath away, backing her up against the near-empty wagon.
“Now that we’re home,” he murmured in her ear, “I plan to use our bed to its full advantage. No more sleeping on the edge for me.”
Asha laughed. “You’re getting cocky, soldier.”
He nuzzled his nose against hers in the sappiest gesture she’d ever seen him make, and that only made her laugh more.
“You’re melting into a puddle right in front of me,” she teased.
“I know,” he said with a shrug. “I just don’t care. I’m long since gone for you, my angel.”
Is this what it’s like to be happy?Asha wondered. Being with Cade like this made life far more bearable than it’d seemed otherwise.
When they got back into the house, Cade kissed her again, pressing her against the wall, and she moaned into his mouth. They both jumped at a knock on the door, and Asha groaned in protest when Cade moved to answer it. He grinned at her.
“Lana,” he said in greeting, and stepped aside to admit her. “What a nice surprise.”
Lana’s strawberry blonde hair was up in a messy bun, and Asha liked how the stray pieces framed her pretty, peaches-and-cream complexion. She found it hard to look away from Lana’s lush, full lips.
“Just came to see how the first trip was for Asha,” Lana replied kindly, touching Cade’s bicep. She was carrying a covered basket in her arms. “You look like you’re doing well, Cade. Travel agrees with you.”
