Chapter Thirty-One
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MONICA WAS STILL AMAZED by the feat she’d pulled off when they returned to their newest base.
Nazab had been just as shocked as she was that she could steal energy from her victims from a distance.
This was something she was definitely going to have to practice.
She needed to hone her skills if she was going to join the knights and go to war with the Soldiers of Chaos.
“We have more ammunition now, but we should try to conserve it,” Nazab said as he parked their truck out of sight.
Peering out the windows, Monica couldn’t see any feral pigs lying in wait. “At least it isn’t windy today,” she said, resigned to needing more target practice.
Nazab took a box of bullets and they headed off to shoot at logs and tree stumps. Monica’s ears were ringing even with the ear plugs she’d worn. Having enhanced senses wasn’t always fun.
Eating venison jerky for dinner, she washed the salty, chewy meat down with water, then took a leisurely shower. The water was cold, but at least she was able to wash her hair again. Nazab took a much shorter shower and Monica pictured herself standing beneath the spray with him.
“That image is going to keep me awake tonight,” she said as she dried her hair with a towel.
Apart from a few kisses for good luck each time her knight scouted a location, they’d been keeping their hands and mouths to themselves.
“It’ll be worth the wait when we finally sleep together,” Monica murmured to herself.
They went to bed early and her dreams were full of her wet, naked knight.
Up at dawn again, the cambion and her warrior packed up their gear and loaded it into the truck. She ate breakfast while Nazab drove to their next base. This time, the property hadn’t been taken over by wild animals, but it didn’t have running water either.
“We have five locations to search today,” Nazab said as he perused the map. “We should be able to visit all of them and return here by nightfall, if we don’t run into too many problems.”
“It’s my turn to drive,” Monica said, eating more jerky for breakfast. Frankly, she couldn’t wait for it to run out or spoil so she could return to eating energy bars or canned food.
They headed to the first site to discover it was empty. Nazab checked the next two locations and didn’t find his brothers. The fourth place was occupied and he returned to the truck with a troubled expression.
“What’s wrong?” Monica asked, gut clenching in expectation that they were about to have a fight on their hands.
“Some people with gray souls are living in the building,” her knight said. “I sensed a group of humans sneaking towards them through the woods. They all have black souls.”
“Here we go again,” Monica said with a heavy sigh. “They’re probably cannibals looking for their next meal.”
“I don’t doubt it,” the warrior agreed. “There’s plenty of game in this area, but humans are easier to hunt.”
“I was hoping I’d get a chance to practice my skills and now my wish has come true,” Monica said dourly as she climbed out of the truck.
“Bring your rifle with you,” Nazab suggested. “Just in case we need it.”
She retrieved her weapon from the back seat.
Nazab already had his. They both had spare ammo in their pockets.
Monica hooked her arm through her knight’s and they raced towards the isolated property that was about to come under attack.
Her feet barely touched the ground, so she wasn’t in danger of tripping and falling with her companion bearing most of her weight.
Nazab stopped when they sensed they were close to the intruders. The bandits had stopped a short distance from the sprawling home and were whispering together.
“We should sneak in and take one of them out before they know we’re here,” a man said.
“They’ve got a lookout on the roof now,” another pointed out. “They’ll spot us coming for sure.”
“We should split up and shoot the lookout, then wait for him to fall off the roof so we can grab his body,” a third male suggested.
“I’ve got an idea,” Nazab murmured to Monica.
“I’ll fire off a warning shot to alert the people in the house, while you steal the marauders’ energy.
I’ll use mind control to make them run towards the house and let the people inside deal with them.
You can infuse them with the extra energy to give them a boost.”
“I like your plan,” Monica said in admiration.
His scheme was smart and far less risky for them.
They hid behind trees as the bandits continued to argue.
The cambion harnessed her power, then her magic swarmed over her targets.
She siphoned off enough energy to make them weak and confused, then Nazab ensnared them with his own magic.
“Get ready to send the extra energy into the defending humans,” the knight said. At Monica’s nod, he fired a shot into the air. “Run!” he ordered his puppets and they shambled out from beneath the trees.
“We’re under attack!” the lookout sitting on the roof shouted. He took a potshot at one of the bandits and missed. His friends rushed to the windows, opened them and started shooting.
Monica held her hands out and the energy she’d stolen rushed towards the people with gray souls. Their adrenalin would already be high, so she doubted they would notice they suddenly felt stronger and faster than usual.
The thugs with black souls were cut down without firing a single bullet at their targets. Shouts of victory came from inside the house. Several men and women spilled outside to loot the corpses.
“They didn’t kill any of us this time!” someone exclaimed, then kicked one of the dead men in the ribs. “That’s for killing and eating us, you rabid animal!”
“We did a good thing today,” Monica said as she and her knight began making their way back to their truck.
“We saved at least one life just now,” Nazab agreed. “The bandits would have kept picking them off until they were all gone.”
“I don’t get why people have turned into cannibals in less than a year since society collapsed,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “There’s still plenty of food out there. They just need to search empty homes and learn how to hunt. I bet they could find a lake and catch fish.”
“There are always options, but in my experience, humans have always been lazy,” Nazab said with a shrug. “They’re far worse in this era.”
“Probably because we’re so used to paying other people to do everything for us and buying everything we need from stores,” Monica said. “We didn’t realize how good we had it until it all went to crap.”
Nazab took her hand and their fingers became entwined.
They walked back to the truck rather than sprinting.
Monica’s mood had become a bit glum despite her successful practice session.
Sometimes, she felt like she was living through the longest nightmare of her life.
The past ten months had been traumatic, but things were finally picking up for her.
She’d met a man who was perfect for her, which she’d never thought would happen after the Rapture.
It didn’t matter to her that Nazab was an alien.
How could it be a concern when she was half-alien herself?
“Does it tire you out to use your magic on several people at once, female?” Nazab asked as he drove the truck towards their final destination of the day.
“Not anymore,” Monica replied. “I cheated a bit and kept some of their energy for myself to top up my reserves,” she added. “I’m getting better at distributing the energy to my targets, too.”
He gave her a pleased smile that warmed her all the way to her toes.
Humans would have been freaked out by what she could do, but he was proud of her.
They were a match, like they’d been meant for each other all along.
It was going to be hard to resist her insistent urge to get naked with her warrior.