Page 38 of The Pale Rider
Aeron grinned and stretched on the bed.
“We totally would have shown up to your game in tutus to get your attention.”
I started giggling. “You might have met the bad end of Smurfette. It sounds like you’ve always been looking for me.”
“Isaiah has been on our radar for a long time. Way before Armilus started pitching their water supplement. He kept you this big secret. He kept you close, but no one knew he had a daughter. His name is not on your birth certificate, and you never had his last name. All of your schools just thought you were his ward.
“He slipped up. He’s a crafty asshole, but there’s no firewall Leif and I can’t get through. All the data from the clinic you were at as a child was on a cloud server. He sequenced his DNA and one other person. We looked at the DNA and knew right then and there he had a child somewhere.
“This was after you ran away, so it took some time to find you. We built a dossier with what we could find out about you. We decided the best way to approach you would be that chatroom. We didn’t want to bring Isaiah’s attention back to you by approaching you right off.”
“What’s with all of you and Isaiah? You’re younger than he is. I know he’s evil because he raised me. How did he get on your radar?”
Aeron looked uncomfortable. He was about to sidestep the truth again because he either didn’t think I could handle it, or he’d already told me this, and telling it to me again could trigger my memories and hurt me.
“You could say Isaiah Nahum is my mortal enemy.”
“Then what am I here for? Are you just going to kill us together when we get to the White House?”
Aeron grabbed me and yanked me back down to my chest. He squeezed me so hard, I couldn’t breathe.
“Never think that, Ariel. When we found out he had a child, we knew he experimented on you. What we managed to find out was that you got away. Isaiah left you alone for years, but we also knew he was moving pieces for something big. We were trying to find you to protect you from him.
“We approached you in that chatroom because we wanted you to feel safe enough to come to Mexico and hide. Leif and I weren’t counting on us all hitting it off. Yeah, I guess you could say we fell for you, even though we hadn’t met in person. We told you the truth, and you agreed to come. I was the one that jumped the fucking gun and alerted Isaiah the three of us were coming together. If I hadn’t crossed the border to get you, Isaiah would never have known. We would have had time for you to cross to Mexico, where we could’ve kept you safe from him. It’s my fucking fault you don’t have your memories, Ariel.”
I buried my face in Aeron’s neck and squeezed him back.
“Aeron, it’shisfucking fault. He was the one who did all this, not you.”
“You don’t understand, Ariel. It’s my job to stop him. When we found out about you, it was up to us to keep you safe.”
“I don’t know what any of that means, and I’m sure you aren’t going to tell me, but I’m still alive. My memories are coming back. I might get us banished from California if I don’t magically remember how to give a tattoo, but I’m not dead yet. I may killyoubecause I get so pissed off at you that you are keeping secrets from me that don’t involve my memories.”
“You forget something, Ariel. Most of the things you are asking about, we’ve had that conversation before. I know exactly what your reaction was the first time I told you. I can’t keep you safe if you flip your shit and run.”
“Aeron, cannibal corpses are running around, and I slept through World War III. My father did experiments on me, and something in my blood reanimated corpses. I think I’m doing okay with fucked up.”
“I know it doesn’t seem like it, but things can and will get even more fucked up. I found you just in time.”
Aeron might frustrate the piss out of me, not telling me things, but I knew he was doing it to protect me. I hadn’t thought about the fact that he already knew how I would react because we’d had this conversation before. Aeron had spent this entire journey trying to make the apocalypse as less shitty for me as he could.
Aeron was doing all these things for me, and sure, I’d helped having his back looting stores, but I needed to do something for Aeron right now. I fought my way out of his arms and sat on his chest. I pinned his arms by his head, and he just let me. I got right by his face.
“Listen here, Aeron, with no last name. I will break your face if you keep insisting all of this is your fault. I don’t remember shit, but there’s one thing I do know.You will always find me.You will keep me safe no matter what. Youalwayshave a plan, even if it’s crazy and involves your horse murdering corpses. We went the long way, but we did finally meet in person, and I’m remembering. Eventually, I’ll remember everything, and you can tell me the truth. Even though I can’t remember everything we talked about and you frustrate the shit out of me, I’m glad it was you that found me. I’m glad I’m on the road with you. I’m glad you kissed me that day, and I want more kisses. I enjoy sleeping in your arms. I want—”
Aeron didn’t let me finish. He wrestled me onto my back, and now I was the one pinned down. His silver eyes were doing that thing again where I swore they were glowing. He nipped at my nose.
“Speedy wants more kisses?”
Aeron looked flat out dangerous right now, and I didn’t care. I liked Aeron like this. I could feel his erection pressing against my stomach, so I started grinding against it.
“I want it all, Aeron. I want you.”
The fire went out in his eyes. He rested his forehead on mine.
“This is wrong. You don’t remember me.”
“Does it count that I like every frustrating inch of you I’ve managed to get to know since I woke up?”
