Thicker Than Blood (Thicker Than Blood #1)(22)
I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Whereas Lawrence had appeared easygoing, always had a smile on his face, was well spoken, and moved in a way that wasn’t at all threatening, he’d actually been the very opposite.
People, I’d come to learn, were rarely congruent to the face they put on. Lawrence certainly hadn’t been, and Alex wasn’t either. Evelyn, however, Evelyn was always herself. The one person I could always count on for honesty, the one person I could always trust. She was my constant, my rock, my heart, and I loved her for that.
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I whispered tearfully. “I don’t blame you for taking care of yourself. You didn’t owe me anything.”
“But I did—I do,” he said, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes flashing fire.
I watched him internally battle his anger, and yet I was strangely not afraid of him. It was the smiles that now worried me, the gentle touches and the softly spoken words that turned into something much more horrifying. Thanks to Lawrence—who had been at his most calm and his happiest when hurting me—Alex’s sharper, much harsher demeanor was almost comforting.
“I owe you my humanity, Leisel. Or what the hell is the point? What are we trying to survive for?”
I opened my mouth, an instinctual response when someone asks you a question, only to realize I didn’t have a ready answer, and more tears fell. Through blurry eyes I saw Alex’s hand rise, and for the first time in three years, I didn’t flinch at the sight of it. But before it could reach me, his hand suddenly stilled a hairbreadth away from my cheek, and hovered for a moment before falling away.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, all the anger now drained from his expression.
I didn’t want to repeat myself, to tell him again that he had nothing to be sorry for, not after he’d confessed what appeared to be something that had been weighing so heavily on his mind for some time now. To do so would be to dismiss his pain, and I knew better than anyone what that felt like. Never would I wish the same on another person, to ignore the wounds they carried within them.
“Nothing,” Evelyn announced, and we turned to her, finding her expression crestfallen. Kicking at some debris in her path, she made her way toward us. “Not a single thing.”
The three of us stood there for a moment, not looking at one another, not looking at anything in particular. We were all hungry, dirty, and the weather was quickly turning. Soon the days would no longer be warm, and the nights even colder.
“Without gas, we’ll be traveling on foot soon,” Alex said, both sounding and looking grim. “And dead if we don’t find anything to eat.”
“What about other people?” Evelyn asked. “There must be other survivors.”
Alex turned his hard stare on Evelyn. “Trust me, we don’t want to find other survivors. You think Whitney was a ba—”
“Evenin’, friends.”
My head spun left toward the new voice just as Alex grabbed my arm. I barely had time to see who it was that had spoken, only getting a glimpse of a dark figure that looked decidedly male, before Alex yanked me backward and nearly threw me into Evelyn. Quickly, he moved to stand in front of us, shielding us both with his body. Evelyn’s hand immediately sought out mine and we both squeezed each other tightly.
“You look hungry,” the voice continued. “And tired.”
“We’re fine,” Alex snapped. “Just passing through.”
“We’ve got food, friends, and—”
“I’m not your friend,” Alex fired back, sounding more agitated than I’d ever heard him before. I watched, barely breathing, as his shoulders tensed, the muscles in his back bunching under his clothing.
“Are you sure about that?” the voice replied, sounding casual, easygoing, and far too jovial for my liking. “We could all use a friend these days.”
A crash sounded from behind us, just as a bright light temporarily blinded me. Gripping Evelyn’s hand tighter, as well as my gun, I blinked rapidly, aiming my weapon uselessly, trying to see against the blaze of light. All around me I could hear shuffling, muffled curses that sounded like Alex, unfamiliar murmurs, and then all at once Evelyn was ripped away from me.
Momentarily alone, I flailed, fear holding my scream hostage in my throat, until hands suddenly grabbed at me, and pain erupted in my skull. Like from a blow to the gut, breath whooshed from my lungs as my knees gave out. I began to fall, dropping down a seemingly endless hole of nothingness, surrounded by silence and a shade blacker than night.
Chapter Ten
Evelyn
I awoke to the sound of singing.
Groaning, I grabbed my aching head and found something sticky coating my hair, the scalp beneath tender and raw. The trilling sound of several voices singing in harmony only made the ache worse.
I was suddenly reminded of attending church as a child. Every Sunday we’d wear our prettiest dresses, my sister and I, my mother as well, and my father would wear his perfectly pressed suit. The minister had been a grumpy old bastard. Never a smile for anyone, not even for the well-behaved children who’d sat patiently and quietly for fear he’d scold them. In fact, as I’d grown older, it had become a longstanding joke between my father and me as we debated the reason behind that old man’s misery.