Page 33 of Nazab

“You’ve lived a lonely life,” he surmised accurately.

“Yep,” she agreed, trying not to get emotional again. “But so have you,” she pointed out. “Sure, you can sleep around, but you’ve never had a chance to fall in love, settle down and have a family with someone.”

“My brothers and I have never even discussed it,” Nazab said, which made her feel sad for all of the warriors. “Our duty has never changed throughout all of the eons of our existence,” he went on. “I’m not sure why things have changed this time, or why Fate is pairing us up with females.”

“Maybe we’re your reward for a job well done,” Monica joked, but she was just as confused as he was.

“Having you in my life is already the greatest reward I could ever hope for, female,” Nazab said.

Monica’s face heated up and she glanced at him. “That was smooth,” she said in admiration. “I’ve just deducted one day from your waiting period.”

“Really?” he asked, eyes widening a fraction.

“Nope,” she replied with a smirk. “Nice try, though.” He chuckled rather than getting angry, which raised him even more in her estimation. “I feel lucky to have met you, too,” she admitted. “We might not have forever together, but I already know I’m going to enjoy every minute we do have.”

His radiant smile was distracting, so she returned her attention to the road. “We’re only a few miles from the first location,” he said. “I’ll get you to stop before we reach it so I can scout it on foot.”

“They’ll hear us coming if we get too close,” she agreed. “It’s still so weird not to see other vehicles driving around on the highways,” she said, feeling nostalgic for the past.

She pulled over three miles later and parked behind some dense shrubs. “You should be safe here,” Nazab said in approval. “I’ll be back soon, female,” he added, then leaned over. It felt natural to kiss him and he didn’t try to push for more. Her knight climbed out and she locked the doors before he took off.

Even when Nazab was no longer on her radar, she could sense him through their link. “I’ll feel his pain if anything goes wrong,” she reminded herself. She didn’t have the same sense of doom this time, so she figured he would return safely.

Sure enough, her warrior was only gone for a few minutes. “The resort is occupied by humans with gray souls,” he reported as she climbed out.

“Did you tell them to head to the town?” she asked, rounding the truck to the passenger side.

“They don’t have many supplies to share,” he replied. “They barely have enough food to survive another week.”

“That sucks,” Monica said, feeling bad for them.

“I killed a deer and left it a short distance from the main building,” Nazab said. “It should tide them over for a while.”

“You were only gone for a few minutes,” Monica said in surprise. “Where did you find a deer?”

“A small herd was hiding in the woods nearby,” he said. “The humans will be aware of them now. They’ll need to learn how to hunt effectively or they’ll starve.”

“They’ve lasted almost a year,” Monica said as he expertly drove out from behind the shrubs. “What have they been eating? Not people?” she added in alarm.

“Their souls would have turned black if they’d become cannibals,” he said. “They were living on canned goods and preserved food they found in a bunker beneath the resort.”

“That was a lucky score for them,” she said. “Most people haven’t been able to coast through the apocalypse that easily.”

“They should have learned how to hunt long before now if they hope to survive,” he said in disapproval.

“I wonder if I could take a deer down by draining just enough energy to weaken it?” Monica said.

Nazab hiked his thumb at the back seat. “I scavenged some guns from the bandits we killed. I’ll teach you how to shoot after we head back to our base.”

“Yay,” she said without enthusiasm.

“But I’m sure you’re right about using your ability to steal energy,” he added. “Weakening an animal so it can’t run away would be an effective method of hunting for food.”

She’d rather use her skills to hunt than use noisy weapons, but the world had become a dangerous place now. It couldn’t hurt to learn how to shoot and it might even save both of their lives one day.

Chapter Twenty-Five

––––––––