Love Among The Ruins-Chapter 108

NADINE’S P.O.V

By the time I managed to get out of the room, my hair was a mess. I’d barely managed to force it into a ponytail. The spot between my thighs was sore and from the ay Jennifer’s brows rose, it was clear that she knew exactly what we were up to.

My cheeks burned so bright I was sure I resembled a tomato.

"Don’t say a word," I warned but that only made her laugh more.

Rowan stepped out, further solidifying what Jennifer thought. He hadn’t bothered to smooth down his hair or tried to look presentable. It was almost as if he wanted everyone to know what we were up to.

"Late morning?" Jennifer teased but he merely shot her a blank look. She turned back to me. "You have a mark on your throat."

My cheeks burned even brighter at that and she laughed.

"Come on, Edith’s been waiting for us. She hates it when we’re late."

The anxiety I felt from earlier returned in full force. My palms turned sweaty as I wiped them down on my pants. I was nervous and a little scared. Jennifer either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it because she gave me a smile and made her way over to the door.

I was headed after her when an arm wrapped around my hips, keeping me in place.

"It’ll be fine," Rowan assured me with a soft kiss to the middle of my head. "You can tell me all about it after, okay?"

"Okay."

"Can you two not start fucking in the middle of the living room?" Jennifer drawled. "Did you not get enough of each other this morning?"

Rowan rolled his eyes. "Goodbye, Jennifer."

She flipped him off and turned to me. "Are you coming or not?"

I followed her in complete silence while she told me all about Edith and her training. It sounded like something she truly enjoyed and it only made it better when she said that it wasn’t compulsory. It was something she’d decided to do on her own.

"How did you find them?" I asked. "How did you do all this on your own?"

She stilled for a moment before sighing. "After I left you both, I had no idea where I was going. I stayed in houses for a few days but I was constantly on the move. I didn’t know where I was going, but I decided to try killing the monsters."

It was what she said she wanted after all. I remembered how passionate she was about it, how determined she was to kill them all.

"It was harder than I thought. I’d see only one monster in a week and they were hard to keep track of. I’d been stalking one for a few days, trying to find where it rests. I was so engrossed in that one that I didn’t realize another one was stalking it. It would’ve killed me but someone saved me. He called me stupid and brave in one sentence."

I could almost imagine how that had gone down. "I take it you didn’t like that."

"I did not." She laughed. "He told me that he could help me. He wanted to take me to a place where I’d never have to hide again. I didn’t believe him. I thought he was taking me to another bunker so I told him to go fuck himself. In response, he held me against a tree and cut my implant out of me. Told me that as long as I had that on me, they’d keep track of me and I’d never get away."

She smiled to herself, almost as if it was a fond memory.

"The rest is history, I guess. I’ve been here ever since."

It would explain why she felt so protective about them. They’d saved her and kept her safe all this while. It was a beautiful story, but I was fixated on one thing.

"What do you do seeing as you have no implant?"

"I was never big on sex in the first place, so it doesn’t bother me much, but there are still implants here. They just don’t track us with it. If you want-"

My cheeks burned. "I already have one, thanks."

"From the bunker?"

"It’s safe. Amy put it in for me. There’s no tracking device whatsoever. If there was, Trent would’ve found us by now."

She still assessed me with a wary look, but she said nothing. At first I thought it was because she didn’t trust me, but when someone cleared their throat in front of us, I realized it was because we’d arrived.

We were out in the open, where anyone could see us. There couldn’t have been more than ten people here... all girls. They were dressed similarly in black sports bras and leggings. They ranged in age from teenagers to women much older than me and they all sat cross legged on the floor, staring intensely at us.

I expected some sort of distrust or anger. It was something I’d gotten used to when it came to meeting new people, but they didn’t seem to care who I was. If anything, most of them seemed curious.

"We’ve been waiting," Edith frowned. She was in a black tank top and leggings that showed off her toned arms. I hadn’t realized just how strong she looked until now. "It’s your first day, so we’ll let it slide."

"It’s my fault, I’m sorry," Jennifer cut in. "I didn’t tell her what time we start. I accept full responsibility."

She was lying and we both knew it. She told me last night and she got to me on time. It was Rowan and I that delayed us and yet, she still took the fall.

Edith raised a brow in my direction, as if waiting for me to say something. When I didn’t, she sighed. "Alright then, join us. We’ve been waiting for you both to begin."

She turned on her heels.

Jennifer tugged me forward as we joined the other girls, sitting cross legged on the ground with them. A few of them gave me smiles, but most of them just seemed curious.

"Edith doesn’t take a lot of girls," Jennifer explained. "They’re surprised to see you here." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Why? Because of who my father is?"

She nodded. "Exactly."

Before I could ask more, Edith cleared her throat. "I need everyone to put in their best today. We have a long day ahead."

"What’s happening today?" I couldn’t help but ask.

"A monster has been sighted. We’re going into the woods."