I knew she had loved her father. Truly loved and mourned him. She was unlike most of the half-Walkers. She’d had a loving family and had believed her human father was her real father. That made it so much harder for her to accept what I said.
“I don’t know you, Abby, I don’t trust you. But I’ve felt you in my head. The connection is real between us. I would be stupid to deny it. Today you’ve done something that I never expected to see. You’ve opened the world up, possibly saved thousands of those who were due to be hurt or killed. At great risk to your own personal safety.” That had impressed her. “For this reason alone I owe you my allegiance. I will follow you. I will fight alongside you. I have nothing left to lose any longer, but I still choose my battles carefully.”
She swallowed again, and I wondered what had happened to her family. To the father she loved so very much.
“I’ll join the half-Walkers and fight the Seventine.”
I reached out and placed a hand on her arm, near her bicep. She didn’t flinch from me. She was definitely less jumpy than some of the other females.
“Thank you, Eva. I’m so sorry for your loss, but I hope that you might find a semblance of family with all of us. Our energy is ancient. The seven of us half-Walkers have been friends and family for many millennia.”
Her golden eyes dulled, and I knew I had said something wrong. It was probably the family thing. She didn’t want another family.
“This family is hard to kill,” Brace said. He understood her already. “You don’t have to worry so much about them being taken away.”
Eva’s stunning features crumpled for just a second before she pulled herself together. Shaking off my hand, she stepped back toward Chrissie. “Just let me know when you’re leaving. I’ll say goodbye to the others.”
I held her gaze for a few beats before nodding. We had to leave very soon. I needed to get back to the power grid. But I couldn’t abandon these women until I knew it was safe for them here.
Three of the coastguard led us along the well-maintained wooden docks. There were no gaps or rotted away timbers, unlike the ones we had stood on with the gangers. This was not a world at war; here they still lived normal lives. Like those we had witnessed on television and in books.
“Why did no Walker ever think it was strange that New York City was a war zone, and the rest of Earth was like this?” I lowered my voice so only Brace would hear.
They were the only beings who could have seen both sides of the barrier.
Brace’s ever watchful gaze continued to shift across the faces we passed. He hadn’t lowered his guard – I wasn’t sure he ever fully let go of ‘being on duty’. Duty and wariness came when you were powerful, a leader and also raised by a psychopath.
“Walkers care little for politics within a world, and Earth is the least visited planet. The energy dead zone kept most of us away.” Black flashed across his eyes. “And we can’t be certain that this side of Earth is safe. Appearances can be deceiving.”
He was right. I had to keep a rein on my hope until we had more evidence of the safety here. I remained silent for the rest of the walk along the docks. The other girls kept pace, Chrissie and Eva helping those who were struggling.
I barely recognized Chrissie anymore. The baby-faced sixteen-year-old was now all hard muscles and authority. Her time running the streets with her vigiladies had not been easy.
I wondered what had happened to the rest of the girls from the Compound. Did any of them initially stay with Chrissie after the Olden-warehouse disaster? Probably most of them had either found the rebels, or been killed. Which was not a nice thought or feeling.
Chrissie caught my eye then and gave me the ghost of a smile. She flicked her head left and then right, and I knew she was as astonished as the rest of us that this part of America existed.
Brace shifted to the left, and I realized that he and Colton had again positioned themselves so that they shielded Lucy and me from either side.
Glancing ahead, I understood why they’d suddenly gone all protective-Walker. We were approaching a large building. If there was any trickery to be had here, it would be waiting for us inside those walls.
My bestie rolled her eyes in my direction. “Over-protective little suckers, aren’t they?”
I returned the grin. “They’re not exactly little, Luce.”
Colton grinned. “You got that right, Red.” I was pinned by his icy-blue gaze. “There’s nothing little on me.”
“Dude, you’re like my brother.” I shook my head. “I don’t want to know that shit about you.”
Although, I couldn’t deny the truth of what he said. The parts I’d seen of Colton were perfection, like Brace, and as for those other parts – well, Lucy really liked to explain things in detail. Very specific detail. I knew way more than I ever expected to know about the wolf-Walker. I kind of needed some brain bleach.
Colton’s eyes flashed with mirth as he tilted his head to the side. “Yep, I feel that, little sister. I don’t want to think about your naked bits either.”