Now he knew why Duncan held the glass of water out to him. After retching again, Ken gratefully took the glass, rinsed his mouth, and spit.
He also realized there were things…missing from his mind, disquieting conscious thoughts that he could no longer recall, even though he knew they were there.
And he could recall the feelings those thoughts gave him.
Not good ones.
Both men carefully watched him with nearly identical grim expressions on their faces.
“What?” Ken hoarsely asked.
“Better?” Badger asked.
“I don’t know. Why’d I puke?”
“We had a…chat,” Badger said. “There’s some knowledge I need you to hold on to for me in case it’s needed. And ye told me it was makin’ ye feel sick.”
He watched the shifters for a moment and realized they were talking silently with their Prime. “I don’t want to know what I know, do I?”
They both shook their heads. “I know Peyton wanted me to wipe yer mind completely, but there are…reasons I can’t. I did some of it, things from long ago and even recently that ye have no reason to know, and that others do, so it’s not lost.”
Ken caught sight of the clock on the wall and realized they’d been there nearly two hours. “Holy shit,” he said.
But his stomach had, miraculously, settled.
Duncan took the garbage can from him. “I know some things now, too,” Duncan said. “Some I already knew, a lot I didn’t. I was able to take some of that from you, as well.”
Ken sat back and sipped the water. “I hate this shit,” he said. “I hate having my brain used as a backup drive.”
The men nodded. “I can understand that,” Badger said. “And I don’t blame ye. But as you called it, it’s institutional knowledge too valuable to lose and in some cases too deadly to risk storing it outside someone’s brain.”
“There was also knowledge you recently acquired,” Duncan said. “Things Peyton has you doing. We left you with all of that because we both feel you still need it.”
Ken slumped back in his chair. “Now what?”
“Now we get back to the business of running the pack,” Badger said.
“And preparing for war,” Duncan added.
Ken’s stomach rolled slightly, but didn’t completely upend again. “Fucking terrific,” he muttered.
Chapter Forty-One
Peyton
The morning dawned cold and misty, but fortunately the rain had let up, leaving a damp chill behind. Peyton stared out a peephole in the cover over the cave’s entrance and realized how clever Jake had been setting up his hideaway. While the forested land around them didn’t give him the best long-range vantage, at least they had some elevation to survey the immediate area. In the light of day, and with his head not hurting as much, Peyton realized Jake had rigged a makeshift stovepipe to funnel smoke out of the cave through a natural crevice in the ceiling.
Peyton pointed. “That’s cool.”
Jake looked to where Peyton pointed and shrugged. “Hit and miss for several weeks until I figured it out. I don’t normally use fires during the day.” He stood next to the fire, where he was heating water for washing as well as a battered coffeepot. “Only if it’s wet, like today, or foggy, or if there’s enough of a breeze to help mask it, or if it’s so cold I have to warm it up in here. I also have a small alcohol stove I can use if I need it, but it’s a pain hauling fuel for it.”
He pointed to where it sat in the back of the cave, neatly stacked with his other supplies. “Sometimes I can get charcoal for cooking in the summer when I don’t need to worry about heating.”
“It’s going to be a whole new world for you,” Peyton said. “Lots has changed. Even in just the last five years.”
“Yeah.” Jake chuckled. “We got flying cars yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. Electric cars, but they’re not the majority of vehicles. Including self-driving cars.”
