25. Christopher
Chapter twenty-five
Christopher
Aweek later, we spend the night scavenging in a mini-mansion—and doing other fun things. After we load the truck bed with the high-end, pricey remnants of a dead civilization, I step into the cab to engage the crystals to make the truck invisible, then hop back down to open the garage door.
The minute my feet land on the cement, I hear a motorcycle zoom by, and I freeze.
I’ve made a selfish mistake. I should have picked a different neighborhood.
But we’ve found so many wonderful places to make love in this upscale subdivision, I’ve not been able to resist the desire to return again and again.
I climb back into the driver’s seat with a sigh.
“Chris?” From beside me in the truck’s cab, Maria turns pale and grips my wrist.
I engage our comm links and subvocalize my answer. “We’re safe. Don’t worry.”
I taught Maria how to subvocalize after she received her own comm link from the Lux. The technique is silent to anyone in our presence and involves projecting thoughts at the comm.
She nods, her body still tense.
Then we both hear the telltale whir of the souped-up electric motors as more bikes pass by.
I freeze again. Before choosing a house, I drive through the entire neighborhood, sometimes twice, to create truck tracks everywhere.
Once I park in the attached garage, I use a broom to brush out where we turned onto a driveway.
The strong wind does the rest to blow sand over the tire marks and conceal which house we’re ransacking.
The renegades would have to go door to door looking for us. The odds are in our favor. But their presence also means we can’t leave anytime soon.
I tap her bracelet, activating it. “Wait here.”
“Chris—”
“I want to see how many are out there.” I turn on mine. “I’ll be right back.”
I slip inside the house and slowly take the stairs to a second-floor window. As long as I don’t move fast, the renegades won’t see evidence of me through the window. The invisibility bracelet continues to mask my presence despite the faint blurred edge.
Patiently, I count fourteen bikers. I almost miscount because three are wearing red shirts and have similar converted motorcycles.
I slip back through the filthy foyer and return to the garage.
Using a metal rod, I slip the ends behind cabinets and wedge it across the kitchen door.
If the renegades come in through the front door, we’ll have time to open the garage and flee in the truck.
We should be able to outrace them, but I don’t want to take the chance if I don’t have to.
It’s been a little over five weeks since we’ve had a run-in with them—so if we don’t have to reveal our presence, we won’t.
I turn off the invisibility bracelet. I don’t want to startle Maria when I take the driver’s seat again.
“Fourteen,” I subvocalize. “We could try outrunning them, but we can’t afford to lose another truck this soon. Tig would kill me. We’ll have to sleep here during the day.”
“We can’t leave Zinnia alone that long,” she subvocalizes back.
“Let me make a call.” I click my tongue and select Ari’s number.
“What’s up, my man?”
“Can you babysit?”
“Uh, why?”
I explain the situation.
Ari harrumphs. “Dude, I have a date with Gaea tonight.”
I shrug. “Bring her. Zinnia will be delighted to make a new friend.”
“Wait,” Maria says. “I don’t want a stranger watching Zinnia.”
Ari clutches his t-shirt collar and does a good performance of being hurt. “How can you call me a stranger? I’m Uncle Ari. Zinnia named me that herself.”
“Not you,” Maria says with a huff. “She knows you. But I don’t know your date, and Zinnia’s never met her.”
Ah. Right. Maria doesn’t know what I know about Gaea.
“Maria, I should have said this before: I’ve known Gaea for over a hundred and fifty years. She can be counted on to keep Ari on his best behavior.” I chuckle. “I trust her more than Ari—”
“Hey!”
“—and you know we’ve already trusted Ari to babysit Zinnia.”
“Oh.” Maria pauses. “You should have said that first.”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“Okay, I want to speak with Zinnia. Tell her to expect them.”
“Definitely. Ari, ask Gaea if she’s willing, okay?”
He sighs. “Fine.”
The line goes dead. I adjust the crystal’s frequency to match the handheld radio I gave Zinnia, and loop in Maria.
“Zinnia, can you hear me?” I wait. There’s no response.
This has happened many times before, and I nearly laugh.
“Zinnia, remember you have to hold down the key, the flat button I showed you, then speak. Release it to hear us.” A screech blasts my eardrums, and I flick my fingers to pull up the settings on a virtual screen and adjust the squelch dial remotely. The background noise ceases.
“Daddy Christopher? Can you hear me now?”
I wait a beat for her to release the push-to-talk button. “Yes, kiddo, we can. Mommy wants to talk to you.”
Maria looks at me, panic in her eyes. She’s just now realizing she has to explain the situation so a five-year-old will understand without being frightened. “Zinnia, how would you feel about Uncle Ari babysitting you for the day?”
The radio clicks. “I’m not a baby.”
Maria winces. Zinnia has been touchy about that since starting school. “Honey, you’re my baby girl, and I just thought you’d like more time with Uncle Ari, since you had such fun last time. He can feed you and keep you company.”
“He is fun…but why?”
“Why?”
“Why is Uncle Ari coming and not you?”
I laugh. The suspicion is thick in her voice.
Maria scowls at me. “Daddy Christopher and I are spending the day at a house we found. Uh, it’s too close to sunrise for us to drive back.”
The daylight crystals would protect us from the sun, and the moon won’t set for another three hours, so we’d stay awake long enough to reach the ark. But Zinnia’s too young to catch the lie.
“Can I stay up late and play a game with Uncle Ari?”
“Yes, if he’s willing. He’s bringing a friend with him. A woman named Gaea. Daddy Christopher knows her and says she’s very nice. I expect you to be on your best behavior.”
“Yes, Mommy.”
“All right, baby girl. Call us if you need anything, and if we’re awake, we’ll answer.”
“Okay, bye.”
The radio signal goes dead, and I close the channel. “Good job, Sunshine.”
“I don’t like lying to her. At some point—”
“When she’s older.” I squeeze Maria’s hand. “Until then, it’s best not to make her more anxious about the renegades. She’s already aware of the general danger.”
My ears perk up when I hear the motorcycles whizzing away from us and toward the residential community’s exit where a guard gate once stood. I listen carefully and detect only the distant sounds of their bikes, then I relax a bit. They’re moving farther away.
I nod at Maria, who has her head tilted, also listening. We still can’t risk leaving, but it means the renegades aren’t right on top of us anymore.
I recline our seats and lower the center panel to create a flat double bed. “Now, can we cuddle? Or are you going to keep pouting?”
“I don’t pout.”
“You do.” I kiss the tip of her nose. “But you’re so cute when you do.”
She cuddles up against me, her hip against mine. “Hey, what’s in your pocket?”
Oops. I brought the engagement ring out today, hoping it’d inspire me to figure out how and when to ask her.
I tried to leave it behind for a while, thinking it was too soon, but my urge to get some kind of binding promise has grown.
We’ve synced so much that my hesitation is gone.
I just couldn’t figure out how to do it. But…
Fuck it.
Blushing, I swallow hard. For a songwriter, it’s amazing how often my voice fails me when it comes to my own feelings. “There’s a question I’ve been wanting to ask you.”
“Oh?” Curiosity colors her tone.
I dig the faded blue velvet box from my pocket and open the hinged lid. “Will you marry me?”
“Wait. You mean all those scenes in the romance books my mother saved were…” Her eyes grow wide. “Getting engaged is real?”
I chuckle. “Yes, Sunshine, it’s real.” I fumble the box but catch it at the last moment. “Will you wear this ring and be my wife?”
“Oh, Chris.”
My stomach trembles. That’s not a yes. “Well?”
“Yes, Christopher Matthew Atherton, I’ll be your wife.”
I remove the diamond solitaire from the velvet box and slip it onto her finger, then kiss her knuckle right above the ring. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” She spreads her fingers and admires the diamond, a shy smile curving her lips. “It’s beautiful. How does it fit so perfectly?”
“I, uh, I tried it on your ring finger while you slept.”
“My sweetie is a sneaky guy.”
“I thought it might be too big. I can have it adjusted—”
“No need. I like it this way.”
The ring looks so splendid on her hand. “You’re sure? I can find something—”
She stops me with a kiss, which I turn more passionate. Soon, we’re ripping off each other’s clothes and celebrating in the best way possible, subvocalizing our moans and murmurs of love, just in case the renegades return.