She swallowed hard as he reached down to take her hand, threading his fingers between hers. She wanted to laugh and cry and dance in the streets like a lunatic all at the same time. In her whole life she didn’t remember ever being so happy, feeling so much. Being with Micah was better than a new track.
Rain led Micah through streets strewn with tumbleweeds and littered with chunks of broken bricks from tumbled buildings. As they walked, she played the trip with Albie in her mind, remembering each turn until she came to the corner store where Hank kept his bar. She pounded on the door.
Micah’s sharp eyes took in everything. Including the fact the building looked deserted. “You sure this is the right place?”
“I’m sure.” She pounded on the door again. “Come on Hank, open up. I know you’re in there.”
She heard a faint shuffling from the other side of the boarded-up door. “Who’s that?”
“It’s Rain Mauri. From the other week? I came through looking for the Marine base.”
There was a flurry of scraping and cursing and then the door opened a couple inches and half of Hank’s face appeared in the crack. “Well, I’ll be. It is you. Who’s that with you?”
“His name is Micah Caine.”
“Lieutenant Micah Caine?”
“The same,” Micah spoke up from behind her.
Hank frowned. “Can’t be. Micah Caine is long dead. And even if he wasn’t, you’re far too young.”
“Hank, I promise this is Micah Caine. Please let us in. We need your help.”
Hank seemed to mull it over for a minute. “All right, then. Come on in. Sit a spell.” He opened the door wide enough to let Rain slip through, Micah behind her.
“Uh, Rain.” Micah’s voice had a funny tone to it.
Rain turned. Hank had an old revolver pressed right up against Micah’s temple. “Hank, what are you doing?”
“I’m surprised at you, Rain Mauri. Consorting with the enemy.” It was Albie stepping out from behind the bar.
“Albie, what are you talking about?” Rain let her frustration leak into her voice.
“We know he’s a Dragon Warrior. I mean, look at the boy. What else could he be? And I’ll just bet there’s a diamond edged on that blade he’s carrying. He may be Micah Caine, but he ain’t one of us. Not anymore.” The old woman frowned fiercely.
“You’re right. I’m a Warrior,” Micah said, his chin tilted at an angle that told Rain he would offer no excuses.
“See. He admits it.” Hank’s hand tightened on the gun.
“Hank, Albie, please listen. You’re right. Micah’s a Dragon Warrior. They ... did something to him. Wiped his memories, altered his DNA. Something like that. But he remembers now. He remembers who he was and what the world was like and he wants to help us.”
Rain could only hope the two would listen to her. There was no way Micah could do anything with that gun pressed against his temple. He might be a fast healer, but a bullet through the brain was something even he couldn’t recover from.
Albie’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know he’s telling the truth? Could be a trap.”
“Could be,” Rain admitted, “but he’s been with us at Sanctuary for weeks now and he’s done nothing but help us.” She looked Albie straight in the eye. “I believe him. I believe in him. I ... I care about him.” She could feel her cheeks heating, damn them.
Albie stared back as though she could stare right down into Rain’s soul. Or maybe read her mind. The seconds ticked by. Finally Albie nodded. “Okay, Hank, you can let him go.”
“Aw, Albie ... “
“Shut it, Hank. Let the boy go.”
Reluctantly, Hank lowered his gun. Rain breathed a sigh of relief.
“Drink?” Albie asked, heading for the bar and Hank’s stash of home brew.
Rain nodded. “Hell, yeah.” After that she needed the biggest drink they had.
Chapter 17
“SO AFTER ALL THAT THEY kicked you out?” Albie sounded horrified.
They were gathered around one of the bar tables, sipping Albie’s powerful home brew. Albie and Hank had been thrilled to hear all about Rain’s adventures at the Marine base and finding Micah in the desert. They were not so thrilled to hear about Elan’s reaction after the Marine raid.
Rain felt the urge to defend the people of Sanctuary. Defend Elan. “It was for the good of the compound. There are children there. Pregnant women. The elderly. Marine raids are bad enough as it is, but if they keep coming back looking for us ...” she trailed off. They all knew what continued raids meant: More deaths, more destruction, and not enough supplies to last the harsh winter. “It will be our fault if anything happens.”
Albie nodded. “Well, it makes some kind of sense, I suppose. But still, here in Fossil we believe in protecting your own. No matter the cost. We’ve yet to lose anyone or anything to those damned Marines.”
“Hear, hear!” Hank raised his glass and drained it, then poured himself another.
Rain refrained from pointing out the fact that the Marines didn’t know anyone lived in Fossil. They thought it was long deserted, hence the lack of raids. It also meant it suited her purposes perfectly.
“Listen, I know this is a lot to ask. It could mean increasing the risk to the people here in Fossil, but we were wondering ... we need somewhere to hide, to set up base. Somewhere close to the Marines. They have information we need. Supplies. Weapons. We need to start taking back what’s ours.”
“You want to start a resistance.” Albie nodded as if it were the most reasonable thing in the world.
“Yeah,” Rain glanced over at Micah. His smile warmed her to her toes. “I guess we do.”
“Well, then, you’re right. Fossil is the perfect place to set up camp. There’s plenty of room in the old church. Lots of places to hide, and the basement is secure. We use the bell tower as a lookout, but I bet it would be a great aerial for
