The Haven (Book 2 of The Claiming)

Chapter Fifteen

"We're going to keep him here for a couple days to watch his recovery and make sure there are no blood clots," the doctor tells us in the waiting room.

"What does that mean? What's a blood clot?" Mrs. Bentley asks nervously.

It's been four hours. The sun is finally up and we're all exhausted, slouching in the waiting room in silence until now.

"Don't worry about that ma'am. Alec will be fine in no time. For now, it'd probably be best if you're all introduced to our king."

I tense up at the fact that these people live in a monarchy system as well. Will it be as bad as ours?

"Don't worry," Vivian says, leaning towards me. "The man is generous and noble. I've never met a more suitable person to lead us."

I nod.

But I don't want to leave Alec. I haven't been able to see him ever since I left him loopy as ever, and I want to talk to him when he's at least a little normal.

Everyone gets to their feet, and Chance helps me to mine. I'm having a harder and harder time moving around with all that's happened.

Vivian and Karter lead us out of the hospital with Coda and Adeline flanking us. The other man who was with them, Blade, left a while ago after he knew Alec was all right.

Riah, Charlie, Chance, Sarah, and I pile into the car Vivian drove in, and the rest go in the jeep. Vivian insists I sit in the passenger seat of her car. This time I'm able to see where we're going.

As we leave the hospital, I immediately want to go back and be by Alec's side, or at least in the same building as him. What if he does get a blood clot while we're away?

In the morning light, everything looks happier and brighter where we are. Along the endless road lined with palm trees, there are many other buildings like what I saw across the street from the hospital last night. However, few cars rest outside any of them, but I can see movement inside.

"How many people live in New Athens?" Riah asks from the backseat. She holds her son on her lap despite Vivian's insistence on using an old car seat she's been storing in the trunk of her car.

"About thirty thousand, I'd say. It's pretty small."

"Small? That's huge!"

Vivian chuckles. "I forgot about how small Bayfell's population is. Has it gotten worse? When we left, there were about five hundred attending Claiming ceremonies."

My jaw drops. "There was less than half that at ours," I say.

Vivian looks surprised, but then her face contorts to sympathy. "That explains why they stopped selling Lower District citizens."

Up ahead, a large stone wall appears, seeming to stretch for miles in both directions as it cuts the road off from further access. As we get closer, the wall seems to get taller.

"The rest of New Athens is in there," Vivian says. "I'm going to warn you—it's more modern than anything you've probably ever seen before. This place has been in the works since before the last World War, and it's... it's unbelievable."

"How did it survive the war? Most major cities were destroyed," Riah says pointedly.

"During harsh weather, natural disasters, or, of course, war, the walls release an electric dome over the entire kingdom inside. Nothing gets in or out. During the war, the city was used as one of the top military bases to protect women and children. Explains why there are more women than men, don't you think?"