Birthright

CHAPTER FIFTY

Kray watched Alex fiddle with the jet's controls for the rest of the flight until he got the hang of things. He learned how to read the radar and the GPS system, which, based on the coordinates she punched into it, seemed to be taking them northwest toward Calsin. So he knew the moment they diverted from their path and turned farther west toward the Outskirts of Calsin.

"Where are we going?" he asked, sitting up straighter.

"You'll see."

He didn't like the ambiguous answer, but didn't take long for him to find out. Five minutes later, they were cruising over a lake and then came upon a meadow in the middle of a thicket. She landed the craft—roughly, he noted with a wince—and hopped out before he did. Kray stood and looked around. Trees all around them, which was a refreshing change from the Wasteland, and beyond that he caught a cottage on a hillside.

Now he was more perplexed. "What is this place?"

"Belongs to my family," she replied, taking a path toward the house. "This is where I stayed over the summer while interning with Calsin's Fifteenth Division Enforcers."

"And we're here because . . ."

She stopped and turned to him slowly. "I know the most logical thing for us to do right now is to head straight back to Calsin and let everyone know we're alive. But if I turn myself in the way I am right now, they'll find out what's wrong with me. I'm not strong enough to pretend to be okay. I need time to recuperate."

"This is crazy," he told her. "You need medical attention, Alex. I thought we talked about this already. What if you get worse?"

Alex rubbed her arm and mumbled, "I'll be fine. I just need to rest."

"You're not fine," he said, marching angrily after her as she started for the house again.

He noticed that she was limping. No, more like dragging her feet, as though every step was costing her more than she could afford. He jumped forward when her foot caught in a hole and she stumbled, but she managed to catch herself without his help.

"You're free to leave," she said, almost slurring her words with fatigue. "Head south about five miles and you'll come upon a small town. Human locals mostly, but there are some Sansers in the area. They'll help you."

"You're asking me to leave you?" he said incredulously.

She glanced at him. "I don't want you to leave. But I don't want you to feel like you're stuck here with me either. All I ask is that you don't mention to anyone that you left me here. Tell them we got separated and you don't know what happened to me."

Kray glared at her as they reached the cottage and climbed the front steps. There was a lock on the reinforced steel door and a keypad above the door handle. Alex entered a series of rapid digits before throwing the door open.

The house was modest in its wood furnishings but there was still this air of wealth as he followed her across the foyer and into the living room. It lacked the warmth of a home. No family photos. No personal decorations or anything to indicate the kind of people who owned this place. It revealed nothing about Alex, even though she'd spent a whole summer here.

"I'm not going anywhere," Kray finally said. "But I'm not going to stand here and watch you risk your life either."

She sighed heavily and went toward the stairs. "I need to sleep. The fridge is empty but the freezer and the cabinets are well-stocked with food. There's hot water if you want to shower. Make yourself feel at home."

And then she trudged up the stairs as if she was certain he wouldn't dare tell anyone that she was here. Which he didn't, of course. Hunger distracted him from worry, so he wandered into the kitchen and checked around. Holy hell. She hadn't been kidding when she said the cabinets were well-stocked. Mostly non-perishables like canned stuff, crackers, beef jerky, power bars, powdered milk, even trail mix and dried fruit. He grabbed about three cans of chili, adding two more when he remembered that Alex would probably want something to eat, and heated it up on the stove, all the while scarfing down about four power bars.