I took another step back and met his gaze. A shadow passed through his eyes, something sad and dark.
“I have the virus inside me,” I told him, my voice faint.
He didn’t seem surprised at all—like he’d already known.
Of course he’d known. All you had to do was take one look at me to know there was something deeply wrong with me.
“Yeah,” he said after a minute. “I figured that was the case. But…I’ve never heard of a hound.”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “A bloodhound. Someone like me, who’s got bad blood. Someone who can sense the Corrupted. That was…”
That was what I was. All I’d ever been.
Cain’s gaze never wavered from mine, a quiet patience radiating from his being. I could tell he wanted me to continue, that he wanted to understand, so I told him.
Everything.
“There were a lot of us. They kept us all in cages. It was one big cage a long time ago, but that didn’t work because one of us would corrupt and kill a bunch of us, and Hunter and Hayes didn’t like losing their hounds. We stayed in those cages most of the time, unless they took us out to do something and needed some of us to—to tell them when the Corrupted were near so they could hunt them. Or we had to protect them. Or be bait.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. When he let it out, he opened his eyes and fixed them on me with an unwavering intensity. “But you’re not a hound anymore.”
It wasn’t a question. He said it so matter-of-factly that it struck me hard, right in the chest.
“I’ll always be a hound.”
He shook his head. “No. You won’t. You’re not. Not anymore. Now you’re just Bowen.”
My next breath got caught in my throat, a painful hitch that was accompanied by an awful sense of relief. “Oh,” was all I could squeeze past the lump in my throat. I took a step forward, not really sure what I intended to do. I just wanted to be closer to him again, but the bottom of one of my shoes flapped open and I tripped.
Cain caught me with an arm around my chest, then crouched to look at the shoe. He took my hand and set it on his shoulder while lifting my foot up.
He frowned and said, “Damn it. I’m sorry, that’s my fault. I thought those might last longer.” He glanced to his left, where a two-story building stood. The roof looked like it had caved in somewhat, but the rest of it was fine. “You know what…there might be some better shoes in there. We should check. You up for it?”
He smiled and looked down at me with a soft gaze.
I opened my mouth, ready to tell him I didn’t need any shoes, then clamped it shut.
I wanted everything he wanted to give me.
“Okay,” I said softly. “But I’m not staying out here.”
“Alright then. Can you still walk in those? There’s a lot of glass in there, I don’t want you going in barefoot.”
I nodded.
He smiled and helped me step through the frame of a door that had jagged glass around the edges. He cupped his big hand over the back of my head, protecting me from the glass.
My heart thumped as my eyes adjusted to the dark interior.
No one had ever looked out for me before. Protected me. Cared for me.
I glanced up at Cain, my chest filling with an immense warmth. I thought it might rip me open, and it was frightening how badly I wanted to let it.
“Alright, let’s see if anyone left some shoes behind,” he said, running a finger down my burning cheek. Glass crunched under his boots, loud in the stillness.
I followed him down an aisle, letting my gaze drift over his tall form. To have someone use their size and strength to keep me safe would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. And now…
Now it was all I could think about.
