Horde (Enclave Series) Read Online Free Page A

into the room, three men, two women, which gave equal power to both genders. I was pleased to see that parity, even as I finished my meal.
    “What’s the meaning of this?” a gray-haired man demanded.
    Succinctly, the colonel summarized what I’d told her, then she added, “We need to vote at once as to whether we’re sending aid.”
    A round, motherly-looking woman with fine blond hair put her fingers to her mouth in alarm. “If the Muties have organized, it won’t be long before they march on us.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” the colonel said.
    They debated for a while. With a full stomach and an aching heart, I didn’t attend to the proceedings. It only mattered what they decided, not how they came to consensus. Tegan slipped up beside me, looking determined. Wordless, she indicated my wound and I offered my arm for her to treat. I bit back a curse as the cleansing liquid trickled over the scratches, deep runnels across the top of my arm, adding a counterpoint to the healed scars on my inner forearms, courtesy of the enclave. I was proud of those six scars still, though maybe I shouldn’t be.
    When she was finished, she smeared salve on me and bandaged the injury with quiet efficiency. Then she whispered, “Fade won’t let me treat him.”
    “Let me try.” Once, he’d permitted me to do so. I didn’t know whether he would, now.
    Tegan handed me her supplies and I crept over to where Fade sat, propped against the wall. The ongoing debate washed over me, bits of argument about the viability of offering support to a settlement with whom they had no such defensive accord, only trade agreements. Then the counter-argument came, mostly about how if Salvation fell, Soldier’s Pond would be next. I stopped listening again as I stilled. Fade opened his eyes, dark and wary in the candlelight. The flickering shadows painted his face hollow beneath his cheekbones.
    “Your shoulder will fester if it’s not cleaned and wrapped,” I said softly.
    His flinch was nearly imperceptible, then he pushed out a breath. “I’d prefer you to do it.”
    Happiness sang inside me. He still trusted me more than anyone else, whatever his other problems might be. “Then brace. It will sting, but I’ll make it fast.”
    And I did. Much as I would’ve liked to touch him more, I kept our contact quick and impersonal. He hissed when the antiseptic ran into the punctures, but he didn’t move other than to curl his fists. He shut his eyes, his throat working, not against the pain, I didn’t think. By the time I finished, he wore a sheen of cold sweat on his brow.
    “Did it hurt that much?” I asked.
    “No.” His fists came to rest on his thighs and he wouldn’t look at me. “When you touch me—when anyone touches me—I’m back there, in the pens. I feel it all over again.”
    “We’ll work out a way to fix it,” I promised.
    “How? This is why I told you we can’t be together. I wasn’t strong enough to keep them from taking me and I’m not strong enough to shake this off. I can’t—”
    “You can,” I cut in. “Maybe not today or tomorrow. But Tegan’s doing better. She said you need time … and I have it to offer. I promise we’ll figure it out.”
    As his head swung my way, his dark eyes burned into me. “Why?”
    “Because I love you.” It was easy to say it this time now that I understood what it meant. Then I quoted his own words back to him. “Not just when it’s easy. All the time.”
    “No more deals with Stalker?” That told me he still cared; despite the pain, his feelings for me hadn’t changed.
    “He won’t touch me again. Whatever’s at stake, I’ll find another way.”
    “If you had any idea how much I want to hold you—”
    “I’m not going anywhere, Fade. You’re my partner. I choose you. I always will.”
    After that, I simply sat beside him, listening to him breathe. It wasn’t enough, but it was more than he’d let me do before. Step by step, he would let me back in. My