Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

I stepped onto the rocky shore of the Scottish coast, wind blowing my hair into my face. The coastline was rugged, with the hills rising in the distance. It was beautiful. I used to think I’d come here as a tourist one day. I’d never imagined being here like this.

The crew of the boat were already rowing the dinghy back to the main ship. I wanted to go with them.

Kicks turned to me. “Do you know where about in Scotland we have to go? Did she give you any information?” He was speaking like a man of infinite patience.

I blew out a long breath. My patience was gone. All I wanted to do was call Death and then strangle her. Could you kill something that was already dead? Maybe I could make it a thing? It was worth a try.

“Death hasn’t shown her face since we left Georgia. I’m sure she’ll tell me when she’s ready. I guess we’ll wait until then.” The waiting, which had never been a lot of fun, seemed worse now that I was so close to my target. When I was in Arkansas, it had been easier to push this from my mind. The closer we got, the heavier it grew.

Kicks nodded. “Let’s get off the beach for now,” he said, scanning the horizon.

There was no one in sight, but that didn’t mean there weren’t people watching us from the buildings. We couldn’t take anything for granted.

I followed after him, not sure where we were headed other than out of sight.

“How far is this from where your family’s from?” I asked, watching the buildings as we got closer to the small town.

Kicks’ steps slowed for a second before he kept going. “They live in the top northeast corner of Scotland.”

“They’re still here?”

“Yes. My father, half-brother, and aunt, along with the rest of the pack.”

I’d assumed they were all dead because he never spoke of them. Turned out they were all just in Scotland? I waited for him to say something— anything— else .

Well, this was a little awkward.

“Since we’ve got some time on our hands, want to go see them?” I asked.

“Not all of them are friendly to humans,” he said.

Maybe I should stop talking. But how could he not see them if we were here? He was here because of me. He should get something out of this. Although maybe they were that bad.

“How ‘not friendly’ are we talking about?”

Kicks looked over his shoulder at me. “Enough that it might make it uncomfortable.”

That wasn’t so bad, and I refused to be the reason he didn’t see them.

“Since Death doesn’t seem to be forthcoming with any details, we’ve got nothing else to do. We could be hanging out here for a while. You sure you don’t want to see them?” Even if they weren’t the best, it had to be better than holing up in some abandoned building waiting for Death to call.

He stopped walking and turned to me. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? I’m not joking when I tell you some of them aren’t pleasant.”

I shrugged. “Then we leave. But we’re here. How do you not go see them?”

“Fine. We’ll go.” He nodded as if he agreed, yet I couldn’t find the smallest trace of a smile, or any signs of happiness, for that matter. “This village is our best shot of finding a bike, but I don’t want to stay here tonight. We can head to my family’s lands tomorrow if we don’t hear from her by then.”

He sounded a little too wishful in his hopes that Death would reach out before then. How horrible was his family? My father had disappointed me, but I still would’ve taken the opportunity to see if he was well. Kicks didn’t say anything else about them, and I wasn’t going to press—not now, while a gang could jump out of a building at any moment. The place seemed deserted, but I spotted a cat that seemed too plump to be fending for itself.

Still, no one showed their face. This world had become devoid of trust in strangers. Maybe one day that would change, but I might be dead before it happened.

Or maybe not. I wasn’t sure how long I’d live with this new magic flowing through me. If Death was immortal, and her magic was in my veins, what did that mean for me? I could deal with living longer, but immortality? Seeing all the people I loved die?

A noise jerked me from my thoughts, and I spotted another fat cat. I scanned the buildings, knowing someone was here, maybe with a rifle pointed at us right now. Just because they liked cats, that didn’t mean they liked people.

Worrying about immortality in this world might’ve been premature.

We spotted a bike pretty fast in the second garage we checked, but it wouldn’t start. We had to go a couple more blocks until we found another, which also wouldn’t start.

“We’re too close to the ocean,” Kicks said. “Connections rust out faster here. Let’s use those.” He pointed to some regular bikes leaning against the wall. “We can find something usable on the road. These roads aren’t as congested, so even a car might do.”

We were only a couple of miles away when we spotted a motorbike on its side, its rider decomposing in place. Kicks did the honor of pulling the body off and straightening the bike. It roared to life.

“Let’s go,” he said.

I climbed onto the motorcycle, saying a silent prayer for the unknown man.

The landscape blurred as we sped through the countryside, the motorcycle’s engine roaring over the silence of a devastated population.

By nightfall, we had covered significant ground, with Kicks’ family lands getting closer and no word from Death. The sun hadn’t set yet, but Kicks navigated the motorcycle into the woods. He rode it farther in until it was impossible to see us from the street.

“How far away are we from your family?” I asked as I got off the bike.

“Not far, but I’d rather go in the morning, after we’ve both had a chance to get some sleep.”

That didn’t bode well. How bad were these people?