He reaches up and cups my chin, his features softening. “Promise you, it’s just a cold.”
My eyes close and I let out a deep breath. “My father.”
“He died?”
I nod then open my eyes and look right into his. “He’s the reason I freaked out.”
Rex’s brows lift and his Adam’s apple bobs. “Oh?”
Taking a moment for myself, I try to find the courage to open up, to trust him. “He . . . hurt me. A lot. Since I was little. Called me things too. Sometimes . . . sometimes I can’t tune them out.”
It’s all I can admit too.
Swallowing becomes hard, as if my throat is closing off, and my body tenses the longer I stand still.
“Glad he’s fucking dead.” He steps closer and kisses my forehead, before resting his against mine. “I won’t ever hurt you, Devon. And I’ll damn well make sure no one else does either.”
I press in closer to him then smirk. “But you’ll still spank me right.”
“Fucking, Christ. Do you have to ruin the moment?”
“Yup.” Then I pull away and continue along the trail.
Two hours later, we come across a small city. Not ideal. Carrionites could be lurking. But Rex is deteriorating.
“No scouting. Just stay on the outskirts and see what we can find.”
I nod.
Shortly after, we find a small warehouse and bunk on a cot in the manager’s office. It’s not the warmest, or the safest, but it’ll do.
We crawl into the same sleeping bag as we’ve been doing. Mostly to keep me warm. But Rex tosses and turns throughout the night, his coughing getting worse, and neither of us end up getting much sleep.
Dim sunlight soon filters under the door and I crawl out of the sleeping bag, shivering instantly.
Rex shifts, clearing his throat. “We should get moving.”
“No. You’re getting worse. Let me scout some. Find us a house to hole up in for one more day.”
When he nods without protesting, my stomach drops, throat tightening. This is bad.
Real bad.
“Rest here a bit more.” I squeeze his shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”
He lies back down, his glassy eyes closing.
Reluctantly, I creep away, quickly glancing back to find Rex passed out. He looks like death warmed over.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Outside, the cold wind slices through my jacket like fucking knives. I have to find medicine and shelter. Fast. There ain’t nothing in this shithole world taking him from me.
Not after letting him get close.
I leave the warehouse district and head toward the burbs with all the cookie-cutter houses. It’s dead quiet, but I stay alert. Can’t let my guard down, not even for a second.
Some places like this can have packs of wild dogs roaming, and they’ll hunt people. Just like Carrionites.
