“And you’ve been living like this since then?” I ask, staring into the flames.
“Believe me, living out of a tent is far better than where I was before.” Her knife scrapes against the wood, shaving the rough bark off to reveal the lighter, softer interior.
“Where did you live before?” I get the sense she doesn’t exactly want to talk about it, but she’s been an open book so far.
She looks over at me with hard eyes. “Same place as you.”
My eyes widen. “You were a wife?”
She barks a harsh laugh. “Fuckno.”
“Oh.” Disappointment settles in my gut and I cross my arms. It would’ve been nice to have something in common.
“Whores don’t get the royal treatment, unfortunately.”
“I see.”
“Do you?” Bec’s tone has never been gentle, but it’s even sharper now. When I don’t respond, she shakes her head in disbelief. “You really have no idea what it’s like for other women in New Athens, do you?”
A sense of shame creeps up my neck. She’s right. Idon’tknow.
“You wives are the lucky ones. The rest of us are raped and beaten and forced to bare children we never asked for.” She presses the knife against the stick so forcefully it snaps. She discards the wood and stabs the blade into the stump in between her spread legs.
“They raped you?” My voice is a whisper.
“Every fucking day for four years,” she looks down at the ground. “Carried some asshole’s baby for nine months just to have her ripped away from me before I was even stitched up.” She sniffles, wiping her nose. “Gave her to some lord and his wife who couldn’t get pregnant.”
Oh, god.I feel physically ill. I’ve wanted a baby for so long, but I had no idea the circumstances surrounding adoption in New Athens. “How did you get here?”
Bec looks over at me. “I decided I’d rather die than keep living in hell. I gathered supplies for a few weeks then escaped through the sewers one night. Made it to the coast and snuck onto a ferry. I had no idea where it was going but anywhere was better than there.”
“What happened?”
“The boat docked in Canada and I claimed asylum. They hooked me up with a social worker and a therapist, got me housing and the support I needed.”
“Canada?” Gabriel says Canada is a country full of traitors and degenerates.
She nods. “I met Old Man Stetson at a support group for people who have survived the Brotherhood. He told me about Arcadia and about what his son was trying to do with the Resistance. I insisted on being a part of it.”
“Maverick’s father?”
Bec smiles to herself. “Nicest man I’ve ever known.”
“So, nothing like his son, then?”
Bec whips her head toward me before erupting in a fit of laughter. “Damn, city girl. That was cold.”
I bite my lip to hide my smile, feeling rather proud of my quip.
That is, until the man I’ve just insulted speaks from right behind me. “What’s so funny?”
My spine immediately straightens, but Bec just keeps laughing. “The wife has a sense of humor.”
The wolf that seems to be Maverick’s shadow comes up to Bec, licking her cheek as she pets him with familiarity.
I look behind me to find Maverick staring down at me with his thick arms crossed over his broad chest, his heather gray hoodie dotted with raindrops. “Is that so?”
I jump to my feet, eager to get started on the search for my family. “Ready?”
