Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
The décor of the entrance hall had seen better days, the walls a hideous dark blue giving the space a cold, unwelcoming feeling.
A bit like Miko, who was nowhere to be seen.
Another fence with a gate split the hall in two. On the other side were three doorways and two elevators.
“Okay, as beta of this pack, allow me to make the formal introductions,” James said.
I loved his theatrical quality.
“I’m James London—not actually from London, but Sheffield.
I know, the irony. I’m beta, second-in-command to alpha Miko Reyes.
I make sure things run smoothly here, although there’s only like a handful of us now.
I’m the engineering and power guy, designer of loose daily schedules, and maker of a mean cup of tea. ”
“Sounds fabulous,” I responded. “Especially the last part.”
“Just you wait.” He gave me a thumbs up. “This is Paige Ryan. Pack medic, amazing with a frying pan back in the days of bacon, massive Peanuts fan.”
“I like peanuts.”
“You do?” Paige asked. “Who’s your favorite character?”
“Sorry?” Oh. The Snoopy badge. “I thought you meant food. I only really know Snoopy and Charlie Brown.”
“I’ll soon change that.”
“I know who I’ll be hanging around most of the day,” Trev said. “I love me some Peanuts.”
Paige giggled. “Music to my ears.”
One of the doors opened and a woman walked out, dressed in black like the rest of the pack.
“Perfect timing,” James said.
The woman opened the gate, joining us. Her pink lips were a stark contrast to her pale white skin, her hazel eyes behind navy-rimmed glasses and hair a black crop.
“Hi,” she said. “Miko said there were some new arrivals.”
James kissed her on the cheek. “This is Orion and Trev. I didn’t catch your surnames.”
“Orion Bloom,” I answered, shaking the woman’s hand.
“No surname for me,” Trev said.
“You’re like Cher and Madonna?”
“That I am, mate.”
“Both with a catalog of bangers,” James said.
“Preach!” Paige joined in.
The woman smiled. “I’m Cate London.”
James kissed her cheek again. “Who is from London, and my wife. Weapons specialist. Need some weapons, see the queen of my heart for stabby things and other biter-hurting goodies.”
“Don’t suppose you have any spare axes laying around?” I asked. “I lost mine. Missing it already.”
“I have something you might like,” Cate answered, after returning her husband’s cheek kisses.
“Thanks so much.”
James clapped his hands together. “Okay, let’s go over some admin and house rules stuff. Then we can take you up and maybe Miko will give you the tour.”
“He said to me he would,” Cate replied. “He was covered in gore. A messy run?”
Paige told her what happened.
“I see. Did he use the grenade?”
“He did. Last one, right?”
“Yes. I’ll put it on the list.”
James continued. “We live on the first two floors of Haven for safety reasons. We don’t need to be spread out, and we want to conserve power usage as best we can.
Our generators feed the occupied flats on the two floors, along with the med bay, weapons storage, food stores, a mess flat for eating, and a recreation flat for chilling.
” He pointed between him and the other werewolves.
“We’re on the first floor while Miko lives on the second with the food and weapons storage. There are ten flats per floor.”
“Cool,” Trev said.
“There are plenty of flats for you to choose from.” He rubbed his cheek.
“What’s next? Ah, yes. There is a steady supply of cold water but use it sparingly.
Hot water is on twice a day for an hour—morning and night.
I built a whole network supplying us with water from rainfall and the Thames, cleaned through a bespoke filtration system.
Don’t want to blow too much smoke up my arse, but I did good there. ”
“Nice,” Trev said.
“Thanks. You’ll see every window is covered with blackout blinds and curtains to stop any light showing at night.
Plus, you know, energy conservation. Can’t be drawing too much attention or wasting necessary power.
And us wolves don’t need much light at night with our super peepers.
But there are plenty of candles and flashlights and solar lanterns, so don’t worry.
We all pitch in with cooking, cleaning, supply runs, and everyone is required to keep up with their physical training.
I’ll put you on the schedule once you’ve got to grips with everything, but this isn’t the army.
Don’t worry.” He put his arm around his wife’s waist. “That’s it, really.
No, I lie. Meals are twice a day. Breakfast and dinner. Sometimes we have snacks.”
Two meals a day was a luxury.
“And we do have a boat moored in the river. We don’t use it, to save on fuel, but you never know. Are you fed up with me talking yet?”
“Not at all,” I answered.
“You keep going, mate.”
James bowed. “I do love an appreciative audience. But my mouth is parched. I think it’s time for tea.”
Paige checked Trev and I over in the med bay—a very white and clinically decorated flat on the first floor.
We were all good, our only prescription hot water.
For now, she provided us with some baby wipes she’d found a week ago to freshen up with until shower time.
She also gave us some shorts and jumpers so we didn’t have to wear our skanky clothes.
Mine were loose and itchy, Trev’s a little snug, but they were both clean and free of this morning’s muck.
“We can find you something better later,” she said.
Feeling twenty percent less grimy carrying the soapy scent of the wipes, Paige took us to James and Cate’s flat. Cate wasn’t there, busy dealing with some admin stuff.
A very peach and pink decorated flat greeted us, every window open for air circulation, the blinds allowing sunshine to spill across the peach carpet.
Pink, sweet-scented candles battled the permanent stench of death. Sugar Surprise, they were called. I wondered what the surprise might be.
“Bollocks!” Trev banged his head on a light shade.
“Sorry about that,” James said, stopping it from swinging.
The ceilings were high enough to accommodate the troll, but not the fixtures in this flat.
After a look around the two-bedroom home, we gathered around a large pine dining table in an open dining room/kitchen area with six chairs. James pulled the pink sofa up to the table for Trev, the chairs a no-go for his bulk.
“There’s better furniture around Haven,” James said, placing a pink teapot on a large doily at the center of the table. “These chairs do not speak for the rest of the tower.”
Trev nodded, taking a chocolate biscuit from a plate beside him.
James poured tea, encouraging us to take biscuits from his little spread. “They’re a bit soft, but still nice. Sugar fixes are always great, right?”
I ate two stale pink wafers.
As he’d said, he made a mean cup of tea. It was as if he’d brewed the teabags in magical water, or with water collected from the springs of Mount Snow in Faery.
Wow. Just wow. I barely noticed the powdered milk.
“You’ve been out here alone for two years?” James asked after we got chatting.
“I have,” I answered.
“Same,” Trev said. “Not many people willing to make friends out there.”
Miko entered the room then, in gore-free cargo pants and a black muscle tee. Of course, my greedy eyes devoured the lines of his muscles beneath the fabric, the clear indication of abs and pecks and masculine yumminess.
It took a lot of energy to peel my eyes away.
He took the chair next to me, not saying a word but crossing those arms, of course.
I shuffled, uneasy at his presence in many respects.
He smelled of baby wipes.
James glanced between us, then carried on. “So, you were saying you’ve both been alone for two years?”
Trev and I nodded.
“Do you live on Earth?” he asked me.
“No. I was here on vacation when everything went wrong. I didn’t manage to get to a Faery gate in time.”
“You’re trapped here,” Paige stated.
“I am. On my first visit, too.”
“Oh, shit. That’s even worse. I’m so sorry, sweetie.”
“I’ve adapted. I’ll get home one day. I have to believe that.”
“Nothing wrong with hoping,” she said. “We hoped for a big community. A proper sanctuary for people after we…” She paused, shaking her head. “Sorry.”
“Take your time,” James said.
Paige cleared her throat. “We used to have a set up around Brimmington Park. We would leave notes across the city with the details. I’m guessing you both found notes?”
“We did,” I answered, wanting to ask her about the ‘after’ she’d mentioned.
But I didn’t.
“No one ever came,” Paige added, “and we couldn’t secure a house around the park properly.”
“But Paige likes to check the area every other week,” Miko interjected. “Today happened to be that week.”
My stomach did a small flip. “Thank the stars.”
“Amen,” Trev said.
Cue an exchange of shy glances between troll and wolf.
I caught Miko staring at me. He quickly looked away, getting to his feet.
“So—”
Miko cut James off. “Trev, Orion? Come with me. I want to show you around.”
“You’re giving us the tour?” I asked.
He gave me a curt not. “Come.”
“Okay.”
“You’re so well supplied,” I said, inspecting the food stores.
Many, many tinned goods, pasta, rice, and other shelf-stable stuff.
“To conserve energy, we don’t power the fridges or freezers,” Miko responded. “If we find perishables, we have them the same day.”
“As a treat.”
“You could say that. Few and far between nowadays. Everything has expired. Sometimes we hunt for meat if it’s safe.”
“I’ve never seen so much pasta in one place,” Trev said.
“Good carbs for energy,” the alpha replied. He picked up a clipboard. “Record everything taken and everything added on here. It’s important to keep accurate records.”
“Couldn’t agree more, mate.”
We were alone with Miko, the others having gone about their business. He’d shown us around the mess flat with its big table and canteen feel, and the recreation flat packed with books, board games, and other fun things.
“Have you decided which flats you want?” Miko asked.
The troll nodded. “Saw a great one next to Paige’s.”
Of course.
“The one with the diamanté lampshades, 112.”
“Done. James will make sure you’re connected to the water.” Stars, what a robotic tone.
Must. Not. Show. Emotion.
“And you?” he asked me.
“Any space on the second floor?”
His jaw tensed.
“No?”
He shook his head.
I hid a smirk. “Okay. Well, I liked the one with the forest décor in the bathroom.”
“Done.”
Careful. You might grind those teeth away. “Thanks.”
I quite liked the bathroom’s theme. Reminded me of the forest close to my beach shack.
“Again, you will be connected to the water,” the alpha said.
As much grumpiness as Miko projected, something inside me stirred. Curiosity, a desire to crack the hard exterior. It might be uncrackable, and really, this attraction meant nothing more than being intrigued by a hot guy.
I might be living in post-apocalyptic hell, but my body still worked as it always had. But the wolf wouldn’t want me bothering him. He’d made that abundantly clear. And that was fine by me.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder about him, especially after the weird jolt we’d shared on the railway tracks.
It means nothing. Give up while you’re ahead.
Ahead of what?
He caught me looking. “Dinner is at six.” He gave each of us his best frosty glare. “I’m opening my home up to you. Try fucking us over and the biters will be the least of your problems.”
“We won’t,” Trev answered.
“Absolutely,” I chimed in. “I mean, we absolutely won’t, not absolutely will.”
Curse my babbling.
The corner of Miko’s mouth twitched. “Good. James will look after your needs from now on. If you need to speak to me, you can find me at flat 208.”
There was me expecting him to declare his floor forbidden.
“Okay. Thanks for the tour,” I said. “We appreciate you taking the time to show us around.”
“You’re welcome. I will organize some keys for you. For now, your flats are unlocked. Please go to them.”
Yes, Mr. Robot. “Okay.”
“Thanks, mate,” Trev added.
Miko closed the food storage door and left us to it.
Trev released a long sigh. “As tight as a snare drum.”
I watched Miko approach the stairwell to the second floor. He looked back at the last moment, then vanished.
My heart skipped a beat.
Ugh. Why?