Page 28 of From the Noblest Motives
"He stopped here. You… Did you help him? Was he…?" Damien fumbled, squeezed his eyes shut, and fought for words. "How bad?"
"You feel his pain, too." Her voice softened. "I'm Sekhet Hanson. Everyone calls me Meemaw Sekhet whether they're my grands or not. He was here, but he wouldn't stay. Come inside, you and your friend with all the guns and muscles."
Laurent didn't come with them, Blaze was pleased to see. "Blaze Emerson, ma'am. I'm—"
She flapped a hand at him. "I know who you are. On the news enough. Go sit over there. Mr. Hazelwood and I need to speak."
This had the uncomfortable feel ofthe grownups are talking. Nevertheless, Blaze sat in the corner as he was told. This was her house, after all. He was even more willing to sit quietly when she brought out lemonade and shortbread.
"He was here." She eased herself into the chair nearest Damien and nodded to the bed in the opposite corner. "Wearing what was left of his prison clothes. Broken leg. Busted head. Bruised from here to next Monday. Goddesses only know how he made it this far."
"He's… stubborn." Damien cleared his throat, looked like he wanted to say more, then shook his head.
"He is, that boy." Meemaw Sekhettsked. "My family's known him for a bit. Owe him for a bit. I think Shudder knows a lot of us who live outside. Think you do, too."
Everyone in the room knew what that meant. Variants living outside the system. Not always outlaws, like Shudder, but those people who didn't want the government interfering in their lives.
"I do." Damien reached out to the bed and patted the blanket as if Shudder were still there. "Healer?"
"Yes. I helped him as much as he'd let me," she answered gently, though she shivered. "So much pain, but he wouldn't stay. Didn't want to bring enforcement down on us. He did say you might be coming, though. That you're a friend."
Damien nodded, and he suddenly looked so exhausted that his head might nod right off. "We need to find him. For me. For us. Not for any agency."
"I sent him down Tallahassee way to find a place to hole up. He's not far, and he won't be moving. Sleep here a few hours, tracker man. You and your private army. Start again in the morning."
"We…" Damien let out a short breath. "Yes. Thank you. The swamp at night… bad idea."
Once Meemaw Sekhet stomped off to the back of the house, probably to her own bedroom, Blaze stripped off his pack, his boots, and his guns. He regarded the bed dubiously, but Damien shooed him in first and nudged him toward the wall, then wrapped around him with his head on Blaze's chest.
Blaze wanted to grumble about the close quarters, about the mattress, about the lack of air circulation, but Damien fit too well against him. Blaze settled with a gusty sigh, completely comfortable, already drifting off to sleep. It wasn't what he wanted, but right then, it was exactly what he needed.
7
OF REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS
Brrrrep
"I'm sure it's a delicious fly, Henri, but no thank you." Shudder pulled the second blanket from the pack Meemaw Sekhet had given him and wrapped himself in it.Why can't I get warm? "Flies don't really agree with me. You have that one."
Berrep
"Maybe Claude would like the next. You could ask him. I'll ask him. Claude, do you eat flies?"
The red salamander by the door didn't answer. He wasn't much of a talker. Henri the bullfrog talked enough for both of them.
"I'm going to take a little nap, boys. Don't wait on me for dinner. I'm just not hungry."
Brrep
The thought of food made Shudder's stomach roll, and he burrowed into his blankets, trying to think of anything besides the nausea and the body-wracking chills. There wasn't anything shocking about picking up an infection after traveling over the dirt with open wounds, but he couldn't do anything about it now. He'd just have to ride it out.
The cabin wasn't a bad place. He had a roof and four walls. The door mostly closed, and the holes were generally small ones. That one where a window used to be didn't count. The nights were warm down here. He'd been sent off with food and water. Everything should've been fine.
He'd held up for most of the trip, though he'd had to sit with his broken leg stretched out in front for the last hour of surfing. Floyd had been easy to find, since Shudder remembered, more or less, where the coracle dock was at the edge of the great swamp that had once been northwestern Florida. The coracles were community property, thoughcommunitywas probably a generous term for the reclusive people who lived there, but someone had always overseen the dock and the upkeep of the little boats.
Floyd, an enormous man with wisps of blond hair, had taken one look at him and sighed. "I can take you somewhere's safe, but looks to me like you're crawlin' off to die."
"Not my intention." Shudder had flashed him a bright smile. "I just need somewhere to hole up for a few days."
