Human Bait

Chapter 63: Better

Four Months Later

"And then Kazap said, 'I know how to drive.'" Razalu thrust out her chest and clucked her tongue in an unflattering impression of the stubborn lad. "But he nearly drove the excavator straight into a tree! So that's when I took over."

Kazap just rolled his eyes. "You've been telling this same story for four months, Raz."

Fennikk grinned and grabbed Razalu's hand. "Never gets old."

"But I was the one who spotted the excavator in the first place," said Kazap.

Fennikk and Razalu looked unimpressed – actually, they looked entirely focused on their joined hands – but Pakket patted the bigger boy's arm. "I think you did a great job, Kazap," he said, brown eyes bright.

We sat in the living room of the fortress, where I had slept when I first stayed with Rekkan. The room had certainly never received this many visitors before. The once-dusty mantle now glowed orange, spilling a warm glow over faces with a variety of colors. Each armchair seated a person or two, and several chairs had been dragged in from the kitchen for additional seating. Fluffy observed the gathering from the tank on the end table. I reclined on the couch where I had once slept, and one of my legs edged halfway into Rekkan's lap beside me.

Halfway too little.

I snuck a glance at him now, taking in the relaxed posture. He had been nervous the first time we invited people over, but his anxieties had gradually eased. Now I was the nervous one – not because of the guests but because of The Plan already nestled in my sweater pocket.

Serigg smiled and nodded at the children. "We owe our lives to all of you."

"Very true, Mayor Serigg," said Miss Fluff – Zazu. She probably deserved a name, especially since she had given up on Rekkan and now pursued the slightly-less-disinterested Uzmed. "And we owe Zafaru for teaching them how to climb and Uzmed for teaching Razalu how to drive. And whoever left just enough gas in that excavator for the job. Ether truly blessed us!"

"Let's drink to that!" said one of Kazap's parents.

Kazap's parents clinked their glasses of whiskey, and Serigg, Nikkla, Zazu, Rekkan, and I all lifted our own glasses to our lips. Uzmed sipped water, soft eyes fixed on his daughter. Razalu pried her gaze from Fennikk long enough to flash her father a proud smile.

But one person was not smiling. Serigg's shiny eyes dropped from her glass to the bracelet around her wrist, carved with a name none of us would forget.

The name of one other person we owed.

Rekkan followed my gaze to Serigg, and his smile slipped. The room quieted in response to the change in their new mayor's mood. Mayor Serigg might as well have been called president of both the North and South, since no other real leaders had yet arisen. Only Serigg's community thrived, housing most of humanity in the rebuilding town just a half hour's walk from our fortress.

Fennikk slipped her hand from Razalu's and trotted to the corner of the room, where a glossy guitar propped upright, glistening in the light – Mekkar's guitar, which Serigg passed on to Rekkan. Fennikk plucked the guitar from the stand and carried it to Rekkan. "Play for us?"

"Uh..." His brow furrowed and chest rose.

"Please, Mister Rekkan?"

He released his breath on a sigh. "Yeah, alright."

When Rekkan stood to accept the guitar, Fennikk plopped down beside me and gestured for Rekkan to take her chair. The room gradually hushed as he adjusted knobs. Ether, so handsome in those worn jeans and a flannel shirt the color of my eyes. The lighter strands of his hair matched the medallion gold of Mekkar's guitar. His gaze lifted from the guitar to cock a little crooked smile at me.