Myrtle blinked.
“Because I wasn’t ever safe. I was still a caged bird.” She looked at me. “I wanted the same thing you do. I wanted to save everyone. I was naive.” She put her hand on the handle. “Now, do you want the tour?”
“Myrtle,” I started. “If you’ve been up here this long, how did you get past Gary.”
She frowned.
“Who’s Gary?”
Chapter 61 - Eleanor
Remember your training.
The last 24 hours were a whirlwind. One moment I was sitting on Riot’s face, the next I was stumbling in the dark, with a large backpack, while Riot walked in front of me holding a gun and singing loudly. He was luring the monsters out.
“Do you have to?” I asked, begging for him to stop singing ‘We Built This City’.
“I do,” he laughed. “It’s tradition and the best way to determine safety. Either someone sings back, it echoes, or you draw the fuckers out.”
“In my training—” I started, but he cut me off.
“Your training was fake. You saw the papers. None of it was real.”
“That’s not true. The other Young Ladies, sure. Their missions were, but not mine.” I protested.
Even before Cal was my Daddy, me and my other Daddy took on missions that were way more complicated than the others. There were definitely times where we weren’t sure if we’d return to the bunker.
“You were brainwashed. For 10 years, Eleanor. The missions were all safe, contained scenarios. Those missions were nothing like being out in the real world.”
I shook my head and focused my headlamp on my feet. I hated all of this, but I reminded myself why I was doing this. For Callahan. I’d do anything for him. At least he believed in my abilities.
I wasn’t entirely helpless, despite what Riot thought.
We’d left just in time. As I climbed onto Riot’s bike with my backpack packed full of rations, clothes, and my bear in my hand, we could see the soldiers coming our way on large 4-wheelers. There were a dozen of them, at least.
We sped off toward the entrance to Mercury Mile, the underground subway systems of the past, and then proceeded on foot.
“What are you planning on doing if you disturb a whole family?” I asked him as he finished his song and quickly moved on to another. He stopped his rendition of ‘Eye Of The Tiger’ to look back.
“I plan on killing them, Eleanor.”
“You think you can take on 20 crawlies?” I asked, skeptical.
“You think I can’t?” Riot paused, coming back to me.
With the hand that had my name written on it, he grabbed my neck and pushed me into the cave wall. My body pulsed with longing. His eyes darkened, sending me spiraling.
“Oh you brat, you, I don’t think you realize all that I can do.”
He leaned down, pressing his lips to mine. I melted against him, my body singing with his kiss. I matched his enthusiasm with my own, my tongue reaching for his. We kissed for a long time, our mouths acting out what our bodies wanted to do. He had just brought his hands down between my thighs when we heard a howl, halting us.
Riot pulled away.
“Who goes there?” It was matched with another howl. “Fuck,” he muttered.
“What?” I straightened my clothes. “What is it?” I looked out into the darkness.
“Beats me.” He lifted his gun and started toward the sound. “Let’s see.”
