‘Hey, darling.’
Chapter four
Isla
‘Vish?’ I breathe, certain I am dreaming.
The nickname he gave me when we were kids has me choking back a sob, as happy memories of us come flooding back. How much we would laugh together and no matter how annoying and clingy I was being to him and my brother the patience he always had for me was admirable. Not once did I ever feel like I was too much for him.
My crush was obvious. Younger me was terrible at hiding how much I worshipped the ground he walked on — my older brother's best friend.
‘Darling, why are you crying?’ The look of concern on his face makes another sob come out.
Vish’s hand snakes out from where he kneels over me and his thumb strokes across my cheek as he chases a tear away with a soft tut.
Unable to believe what has happened in the past hour or however long it has been, I turn away from his tender touch — not allowing myself the heartbreak of believing.
‘I’m dreaming.’
He chuckles, a low rumble from his chest.
Vish doesn’t pull back at my cold shoulder, instead, he shifts his weight closer and I feel his warm breath against my tear-stained cheek as he speaks.
‘I can say for certain that you are not dreaming. Although I’m flattered to know that I frequent your dreams.’
A smile breaks through my teary state. He was always good at doing that, breaking through my mental barrier and bringing the light back to me.
‘You wish,’ I playfully slap at his shoulder, stabbing pain invading my skull. ‘I don’t have the imagination to magic up what an old version of you would look like.’
Vish gasps, ‘old. How dare you. I am not old.’
‘Yeah, yeah, whatever you want to tell yourself.’
The truth is we are both old compared to our younger selves and that sucks. We were carefree teenagers the last time we saw each other properly. Now, seven years later we are fully grown adults. And the sad truth is that no matter how much we would like to deny it the apocalypse has aged us. It has aged me. The harsh conditions the girls and I have had to survive through, a lack of a nutritional diet and the constant stress have all taken their toll on us. The look of exhaustion on Amelia’s face when she walks through the door confirms it.
‘Oh good, you’re awake.’ There is no covering the level of concern that fills Amelia’s voice as she says those words. Her shoulders sagging with relief as if my incapacitated state wasweighing the weight of the world on her shoulders. ‘The girls will be happy. Keeping them out of this room has been hard.’
‘That’s an understatement,’ Vish snorts looking at Amelia over his shoulder. ‘It has been like fighting back a pack of rabid dogs,’ he pauses, thinking something over. ‘And cats. The two with bright hair are particularly feisty.’
It doesn’t take me long to figure out that the two feisty ones are Liz and Luna. And my gaze quickly flicks to check Vish’s body for any injuries.
He catches my frantic look, smirking. ‘So they’re known for being vicious then. Noted.’
‘Did they hurt you?’ I try to get up, but the blinding headache causes a whimper of pain to escape my throat.
‘Lie down,’ Amelia orders as Vish lightly pushes on my shoulders, motioning for me to stay down.
‘I’m fine, I promise.’ He states, ‘The two of them are impressively quick, mind.’
Elizabeth and Luna are utterly fearless. Liz, a natural hunter with her bow — sometimes she is so silent we have no idea she’s been stalking us until she’s on us and it is too late. Luna is the manic to Liz’s calm, both their talents evening each other out. And both of them would rain fury on the world for me, for us all.
‘How bad were they?’ Groaning, I ask Amelia.
She shrugs, not at all concerned about him, but more for me and what state I could be in. ‘How’s your head? I’m guessing by your response you know who we are and how we are here. Do you have any double vision?’
‘No,’ I answer watching the scowl lines between Amelia’s beautiful eyes soften.
‘Nausea?’
