The Soul Mate

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Shandor Asenov,” Jericho announced.

Kizzy let out a bloodcurdling scream. “You cannot make them both go!”

Maisera nodded in agreement. “She’s right Jericho. You’ve already drawn his father, pick another name.”

Shandor gave his mother a thunderous look. “I’m going with tată. You’ll have Simionce home with you.”

Giving him a nod of respect Jericho continued pulling out names from a box that would decide who was going on the next raid. So far Gunnar Horváth, Marko Siwak, Punka Moldoveanu, Mihai and Shandor Asenov, and Benyamin Vãdura had been selected.

Jericho stuck his hand in the box again. He pulled out the small slip of paper and sighed. Maisera looked over his arm and closed her eyes.

“Stefen Sava Jr.,” He announced. “I’m sorry Becki.”

Becki didn’t scream or cry out in protest. With Hockey’s hand clasped inside her own, she remained quiet

“Last one,” Jericho murmured.

“Xan Deleanu.”

Xan’s arm shot out to hold me back but I shook him off, jumping up from my comfortable position on his thigh.

“No!” I yelled. “He goes all the time! Even when he doesn’t have to!”

“This is true,” Maisera agreed.

“Then the decision is his,” Jericho said.

“I’ll go,” He answered immediately, refusing to look at me.

Shocked that Xan would give his decision so quickly, without talking it over with me first, tears sprung in my eyes.

I was well aware that our camp couldn’t survive on our small vegetable gardens and the meager hunting found in the surrounding woods. Raids were a way of life here and we’d all accepted it. At least I’d thought I’d accepted it. Things change when you have something to lose.

“You’ve gone on every single one,” I accused Xan when the meeting had disbanded. “Every one. Even when you didn’t have to.”

“That’s something you can tell yourself when you’re worrying about me.” He lit up a cigarette, frowning at the inside of his pack. “That I’ve gone on every single one and I always came home.”

I was seething now. Arrogant, danger chasing, adrenaline junkie.

“Fată?” Xan asked still frowning. “Did Tobar stop by today?”

“What?” I had to think about it for a minute. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Dammit!” He yelled. Jumping up, he stomped away, leaving me staring after him.

“Maybe it’s some sort of test,” Becki said, walking up behind me. “They force us to marry them and then they run away.”

I laughed bitterly. “Yeah, and they have spies watching us to see what we do while they’re gone.”

“We should go on a raid,” She suggested. “See how they feel about that.”

“Oh Gods no!” I said, “I do not want to be tied up again!”

We both laughed. “Me either,” She agreed. “I’m still making him pay for that.”

I raised an eyebrow in question and she blushed furiously. “You don’t want to know.”

Both eyebrows went up. Yep, I did.

Grinning, I patted the ground next to me. “Story time.”

Three days later I could only stand there and watch helplessly as two pickup trucks and an empty supply van were removed from their parking spaces and loaded down with the necessary weapons and supplies needed for the raiding party.

“Fată.”

I laughed, while choking back a sob when I saw Xan. A bullet proof vest was fastened over his thick clothing, and he was armed to the teeth. His hair was pulled back tightly making his sharp features even more predominant.

I shook my head. “Please don’t. Don’t say anything stupid right now. I don’t think I could handle it.” My stomach hurt, my chest hurt, and I was doing everything I could not to lose it.

Instead of speaking, he tugged me forward and kissed my forehead.

“I’m coming back,” He said, slipping something cool and hard into the back of my jeans. “I’ll always come back.”

“Hey Romeo! Let’s go!” Half of Shandor’s body was hanging out of the passenger window of one of the trucks.

Xan gave me one last look. I’m sure he meant to convey reassurance but all I could see was the excitement he was failing to hide from me.

Running, in order catch up to the already moving vehicles, Xan grabbed on to the side of a truck bed and swung his body up and over. When I could no longer see him, I pulled out the gun he’d slipped in my waistband and stared at it.

Trinity, Fata Mea.

“He had me engrave it for you.” Stefan put his arm around me, nodding at the gun.

“Said something about if it hadn’t been for guns...” Stefan winked at me.

Fata Mea. My girl.

I rested my head on Stefan and smiled. I could never stay mad at Xan for very long. Even when he was running through towns crawling with blood sucking, flesh eating monsters, trying to steal enough supplies for an entire community of people.