Chapter 4
They walked the rest of the afternoon. Finally, the shape of shadowy buildings appeared on the horizon, and they entered the city outskirts.
“How much farther?” Asha asked Dom, who grunted. That was all he seemed capable of doing half the time.
“Another ten.”
“Minutes? Hours? Days?” She wouldn’t have been shocked if her feet were bloody stumps at this point, they hurt so bad.
He grunted again, not amused. “Minutes.”
They weaved through the derelict ruins of city buildings, down broken streets and alleyways, stopping every so often to wait for Angel’s convoy. As they went, they came across various people, who waved at them as they passed.
“Who are they?” Asha asked, a little nervously.
“They’re our people,” Dom replied in an imperious tone, as though she were stupid.
“Your people?”
“The Guardians,” he said impatiently. “You didn’t think we brought the whole gang with us, did you?”
“I didn’t know what to expect,” she answered, irritated. “I’ve never been here before. You don’t have to be so rude.”
Predictably, Dom grunted and didn’t say anything else as they continued on, deeper into the city.
Ten agonizing minutes of walking later, they traveled up a decaying road to an iron gate, with a tall fence that wrapped around a whole community.
An extremely faded, barely legible metal sign said Sunnyside Acres: Luxury Retirement Community.
Rusted, with ivy climbing its edges, it looked ready to crumble into dust. Someone had painted over it far more recently, with graffiti that read Angel’s Nest.
“Welcome to the Nest,” Dom said with zero enthusiasm.
“And what is that, exactly?”
He answered without bothering to look at her. “The home base of our territory. Everyone who lives here is in Angel’s inner circle.”
As they drew closer to the gate, Asha recoiled. Someone had sharpened the iron spires to a point, and the three tallest spikes impaled three worn, desiccated heads. Hollow eye sockets and yawning mouths faced skyward—a clear warning to all who passed by this wretched place.
These are barbarians, Asha couldn’t help thinking. What the hell are you doing, Asha? Making deals with these guys?
“They’ve been there a while,” Dom said, startling her out of her thoughts.
“Is that supposed to be comforting or something?” she asked incredulously.
He shrugged. “Take it or leave it.”
There were several more of the Blackguard at the gate.
Just like the Blackguard in the convoy, they stood out from the rest, dressed like soldiers.
They acknowledged Dom with a nod, though they stared at Asha curiously as he brought her through the gate.
They waited for the convoy to pass through and catch up with them at a fork in the old road.
The tent flap on top of the wagon opened, and Angel appeared for the first time since they’d left Little River, looking disheveled.
Asha had no idea what he’d been up to that whole time, but she guessed it had to be better than walking.
He hopped down from the wagon, and a couple of the men led the horse away.
The Blackguard surrounded him on all sides, with Cade at the front and Leo bringing up the rear, and they followed Dom, Asha, and the other Guardians deeper into the gated community.
They acted like a private security force, which, for all Asha knew, they might be.
It made her wonder what Angel had done that would necessitate that much security.
“I want everyone at the clubhouse,” Angel was saying behind her, and when someone objected, he interrupted, “That wasn’t a question, Khalid. I want a report before it gets dark. Then we’ll have a little party, if it’ll stop you being such a pussy.”
He then called out to Dom, who turned slowly to face him, as though wishing he were anywhere else.
“Yes, sir?” He sounded like calling Angel that was literal torture, and Asha had to hide her amusement with a loud cough.
“A ray of fucking sunshine, as usual,” Angel said with a dark chuckle. “Bring the girl to the clubhouse, too. I have plans.”
That sounded ominous, but Asha looked at Cade, who gave her the tiniest nod.
“I’ll do it,” he said to Angel. “Dom can help round everyone up. He looks like he needs a break from her, anyway.”
It was hard to deny that it was true; Dom looked like he wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there. Permanently. I wonder how a man who obviously hates people ended up living in this place.
Looking relieved, Dom ran ahead, and Asha saw Cade suppress a smile.
“Fine,” Angel said irritably. “But I want her there, at the meeting. And get the girls to clean her up.”
He wrinkled his nose as he looked Asha up and down, and she crossed her arms over her chest. She knew she was dirty, sweaty, and disheveled, but she was still offended. Angel looked like he hadn’t seen a bath in a long time either, so it was a bit rich for him to judge her.
Angel walked down the lefthand path Dom had followed, his entourage falling in line behind him. When they were out of earshot, Cade said, “Wouldn’t take it personally. They care more about how the women look than the men.”
“Oh, sure, not personal, just sexist,” Asha scoffed. “It’s not about you personally, just everyone like you.”
Cade shrugged. “I’m not saying they’re correct. Just stating a fact. Now, have you thought about our bargain?”
“Is it really a bargain if one party has no other choice?”
“You do have another choice,” Cade countered. “It just pales in comparison to the incredible opportunity to be with me instead.”
She rolled her eyes. “You really are irritating, you know that?”
“Dom would agree with you,” he replied with a grin. “Then again, he’d agree about most people. Anyway…quit stalling.”
Asha let out a long breath. Her hands were trembling, so she laced her fingers together. Despite her fire, she was still afraid—afraid of what this new life would be, and afraid of these people who most certainly didn’t have her best interests at heart. She swallowed hard before answering.
“I accept the bargain,” she said. “I’ll be your…your woman, I guess. But I have one condition.”
He waited for her to elaborate, but she nervously chewed her lip instead.
“What is it, Asha?” he finally asked, and she was surprised at how his voice had gentled. He saw her fear. She screwed up her courage one more time.
“You…you can’t hit me,” she said. “Not if you’re mad, or if I do something wrong. Because if you hit me, I might as well take my chances with the others, since they’ll almost certainly do that to me anyway. If you hit me, our bargain is broken.”
Cade flinched, almost like she’d hit him. He took a moment to answer, his throat working. He looked like he went somewhere far away.
“You have my word,” he answered solemnly. “I’ll never raise a hand to you. Ever.”
The bar is in hell at this point…but it could be worse.
“Alright,” Asha said awkwardly. “Then it’s a deal. What now?”
Cade seemed to snap back to reality, shaking his head. “We have to go to the clubhouse, and at the meeting, I’ll claim you as my woman. Then, everyone drinks themselves into oblivion, and I’ll show you where I live.”
“What exactly does claiming involve?” Asha asked nervously.
He chuckled. “I just announce to Angel, in front of everyone, that I want to take a woman. I already told him I was interested in claiming you, so we’ve already haggled over it a bit.”
He started walking down the right path, and she hurried after him.
“Haggled?”
“Yeah. You don’t honestly think anything’s free in the W—with the Guardians, do you? We trade for everything: food, supplies, women.”
“Love that for me,” Asha said bitterly. “So, what was I worth, then? A couple strips of jerky?”
“Give us some credit,” Cade replied, amused. “Even we value people more than that.”
He didn’t answer her question, but Asha was distracted by the scenery unfolding in front of them.
The place was heavily overgrown with trees and shrubs, but in the distance, she could still see small, single-storey homes dotted the gently sloping landscape.
All were connected by crumbling roads. Some even had hollowed-out, rusty cars still parked next to them.
A narrow stream wound through the place, providing a source of fresh water, and a crumbling stone bridge offered passage across. It had probably been beautiful once.
“This was an old folks’ community in the Old World,” Cade said conversationally. “Luxurious at the time. Every tenant had their own house. The clubhouse, on the old golf course, is where Angel and the girls live, and where we have meetings. Everyone else lives in and around the old houses.”
“You have one too, then?”
He nodded. “I live on the opposite end of the settlement, though. More secluded, which is how I like it.”
They passed one of the old houses, and Asha was surprised by how relatively intact it was. Ivy snaked up the walls, partially concealing several small holes, and there were deep cracks in the foundation, but it was otherwise in much better shape than any of the houses she’d seen in Little River.
It gave her some small hope that living here might not be as terrible as she feared.
Cade led her to the clubhouse, a sprawling brick building with a sloped roof and a large entryway that must’ve once been a reception area.
Now, it seemed to serve as a common room of sorts, with hard metal chairs and sagging sofas lining the walls, and to Asha’s surprise, potted plants that seemed to be well cared for.
In the centre of the seating was an old metal barrel, sawed in half to create a makeshift firepit, in which flames were already dancing, warming the space.
Three young women lounged on the sofas, chatting and laughing.
Upon seeing Cade and Asha, the young woman on the left—a pretty Black girl with long braids—called out, “Lana!”