Love and Decay, Episode 10 Read Free

staying.”
    “We’re staying,” I echoed in a soft voice. I stared at my hands for a few moments, trying to make sense of this. I hadn’t “stayed” anywhere in the past two years. Every night, or every few nights had been a one night stand with whatever semi-secured place Haley and I could find. And now we had a permanent-ish residence?
    Maybe all my mail would catch up to me.
    “I’ll go talk to Gage.” Vaughan stood up and grinned at us. I think the idea of setting up house appealed to Vaughan’s weighty sense of responsibility. It was easier to protect his tribe if there were solid walls surrounding us and most of our needs were taken care of. “He should have room assignments for us soon, and he’ll put us into a permanent guard rotation.”
    “We’re coming too,” Hendrix announced. He took my hand and pulled me to my feet.
    “We are?” Confusion made my brow pull together.
    “We’re going to talk to him about Kane. I want him gone. Gage is going to make that happen.”
    I gulped. I didn’t know exactly what Hendrix meant. Was this like a mob thing? Was Hendrix putting a hit out on Kane?
    Was that even how you used that term?
    I shook my head, “Gone as in….”
    “Released into the wild, babe,” Hendrix explained. “I need him out of here.”
    I let out a breath of relief, “Me too.” I felt one hundred percent fine with Kane removing himself from my life completely- in any way other than actually killing him. I drew the line there.
    At least for now.
    I hadn’t seen much of him lately, as we were staying in a larger storage facility that usually served as a community activity room. Gage kept Kane locked up in a different unit. He had no privacy, his hands were bound with plastic ties and armed men kept watch over him twenty-four-seven.
    I felt a little unnerved with the level of paranoia Gage felt concerning Kane. Gage’s precautions and extreme measure made me think I had severely underestimated my stalker. Sure, I was afraid of him and knew I needed to keep him at a distance.
    But I hadn’t exactly done that.
    I’d more or less done the opposite of that.
    “And you’re coming too,” I asked Tyler.
    “What? No,” she shook her head, seeming a bit distracted.
    “I thought Gage wanted you to find him?” I pressed, hoping she just needed to be reminded.
    “Oh, right.” She let out a nervous laugh. She seemed a little out of it.
    “So you’re coming?” I pressed.
    “I guess,” she shrugged and turned around to find Miller. “Mill, stay with Page. I’ll be back soon.”
    Miller looked over at Page and then back to Tyler, eyes full of concern. “I can come with you.”
    “No, it’s fine,” she assured him. “There’s enough of us going as it is. You stay. I’ll be right back.”
    “Don’t go see Kane without me,” Miller asserted.
    “I wouldn’t,” Tyler immediately agreed.
    She was lying. I could see it all over her guilty face. Although, I didn’t blame her. I wanted Miller absolutely nowhere near that sociopath either.
    “Haley and Nelson are in charge, children,” Vaughan called out his final order. “Stay together. We may feel safe here, but that doesn’t mean you can go running off by yourself.”
    “Vaughan, seriously,” King complained. “We don’t need a babysitter!”
    “Seriously, Vaughan,” Nelson was quick to echo. “They don’t need a babysitter.” Clearly, this man was at the end of his rope for some alone time.
    We all were.
    “Nelson, come on, give me a break,” Vaughan groaned. “We only feel safe. But we are not safe. It takes one breech, one mistake and this is gone. You saw what the van ran into. We’re nowhere near being out of the woods yet. We stick together. We protect each other.”
    Nelson let out an exhausted sigh and finally agreed with a simple, “Even in here.”
    “Even in here,” Vaughan repeated firmly.
    Nelson pulled Haley into an affectionate hug and whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. She