Page 42 of Nazab

He shook his head regretfully. “It doesn’t last forever. Once it wears off, their mind will become full of turmoil again.”

Monica motioned for him to move back so she could open the door. She closed the window first, then climbed out. “Let’s take a look at this unstable person,” she decided. He lifted her into his arms and sprinted back to the house.

Someone was shouting when they arrived. “I’ve told you a thousand times not to wear your muddy boots inside!” an older female exclaimed angrily.

“You’re not our mom!” a younger woman retorted. “This isn’t even your house! Who cares if we wear our muddy shoes inside?”

“I care!” the other female screamed in rage. “I’m the leader of this group and you’ll do what I say!”

Nazab heard a gun being cocked and Monica instinctively moved closer to try to help. His female lifted a hand to point at the insane woman through a window. Her soul had just turned black and she was about to kill her friend. The knight felt his female harness her magic, then it zoomed towards the human. The woman let out a gasp as some of her energy was drained away.

“Get that gun away from her!” a man called out and several people rushed towards their leader.

Monica was stunned by what she’d just done. So was Nazab. He’d never seen a stealer siphon energy from someone without touching them before. “I didn’t know I could do that,” she whispered.

“Neither did I,” he agreed. “What are you going to do with her energy?”

Monica looked through the window again, then raised both hands. She pointed at the crowd that had gathered around their former leader, who appeared to be having a heart attack. Energy whooshed silently into the group, who were too distracted to notice they’d just been given a boost.

“She’s gone,” the younger woman who’d almost been murdered said shakily.

“Good,” another female said grimly. “Now we can pick someone to lead us who won’t murder us for the crime of getting the floors dirty.”

The survivors laughed, still in shock but able to deal with it. They’d probably been through a lot worse than this close call with death.

“Let’s get out of here before they notice us,” Monica said.

Nazab picked her up again and returned to the truck. “I’ve never seen a stealer take energy without touching their victims before,” he said. “You have a remarkable talent.”

“I’m pretty sure the only reason I could do that is because of you,” Monica figured. She was too shaken to drive and chose to sit in the passenger seat.

“I didn’t do anything,” Nazab said in confusion.

“We’re both stronger now,” she reminded him. “Our strange link has boosted our skills. Maybe that’s why I can do things other stealers can’t.”

“We need to find Amaros,” Nazab said as he headed back to their base. He glanced at the ham radio they’d taken with them. The Mad Prophet hadn’t given them any tips yet and he was starting to think he never would.

Chapter Thirty-One

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MONICA WAS STILL AMAZED by the feat she’d pulled off when they returned to their newest base. Nazab had been just as shocked as she was that she could steal energy from her victims from a distance. This was something she was definitely going to have to practice. She needed to hone her skills if she was going to join the knights and go to war with the Soldiers of Chaos.

“We have more ammunition now, but we should try to conserve it,” Nazab said as he parked their truck out of sight.

Peering out the windows, Monica couldn’t see any feral pigs lying in wait. “At least it isn’t windy today,” she said, resigned to needing more target practice.

Nazab took a box of bullets and they headed off to shoot at logs and tree stumps. Monica’s ears were ringing even with the ear plugs she’d worn. Having enhanced senses wasn’t always fun.

Eating venison jerky for dinner, she washed the salty, chewy meat down with water, then took a leisurely shower. The water was cold, but at least she was able to wash her hair again. Nazab took a much shorter shower and Monica pictured herself standing beneath the spray with him.

“That image is going to keep me awake tonight,” she said as she dried her hair with a towel. Apart from a few kisses for good luck each time her knight scouted a location, they’d been keeping their hands and mouths to themselves. “It’ll be worth the wait when we finally sleep together,” Monica murmured to herself. They went to bed early and her dreams were full of her wet, naked knight.

Up at dawn again, the cambion and her warrior packed up their gear and loaded it into the truck. She ate breakfast while Nazab drove to their next base. This time, the property hadn’t been taken over by wild animals, but it didn’t have running water either.

“We have five locations to search today,” Nazab said as he perused the map. “We should be able to visit all of them and return here by nightfall, if we don’t run into too many problems.”

“It’s my turn to drive,” Monica said, eating more jerky for breakfast. Frankly, she couldn’t wait for it to run out or spoil so she could return to eating energy bars or canned food.