Chapter 1

False sunlight filtered through thin lace curtains over the window next to Rain’s bed. It wasn’t her bed, though, not really. She’d left her bed far behind when she’d left her home in Gretchintown almost three weeks earlier. It seemed like months, maybe years, had passed since the last time she lay in her own bed. How the world had changed since then. Or maybe it hadn’t. Maybe all of the changes had been on her end.

It wasn’t just the faux sunlight that stirred her. The sound of two male voices, one familiar, one becoming so, hit her ear and slowly brought her back to consciousness. The pain in her shoulder was mild now, especially compared to how it had been when Esther and her family had rescued Rain and her friends and brought them to the safety of their mountain home, Judea, buried beneath the landscape of Oklasaw.

Eavesdropping never led to anything good. Rain knew that to be a fact. She wasn’t trying to hear what Adam was saying, but his words weren’t stopped by the thin curtain, nor the glass behind it. His voice, rich and strong, stirred feelings inside of her she’d never felt for anyone before. He’d been the one to beg Esther to take them into her boat, to swipe them from the outstretched hand of the Mothers who had finally caught up to them on the banks of the River Red. He had been the one to lift her and take her to safety. After that, Rain had lost consciousness quickly, but she’d fallen into that deep sleep knowing that Adam was looking over her, as well as her dear friend Mist, who had been her roommate back home, and Walt, the love of Mist’s life, another escaped male from the Insemination Ward in Michaelanburg, the country Rain and the rest were fleeing from.

“I think she’ll be up and around in a few days,” Adam was saying, “even if your mom doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Rain’s… one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. She doesn’t know it, though.”

“Yeah, she definitely faced that bullet with bravery I’ve never seen before.” The other voice belonged to Seth, Esther’s son. Rain knew very little about him except that he appeared to be about their age, in his early twenties. He was kind and strong, pleasant to look at. His very existence fascinated her. He had a mother, after all. A parent. Someone who loved him and cared for him. No one born in Michaelanburg had that, despite the fact that the women in charge went by the misnomer the Mothers.

The men continued their conversation, Rain trying not to listen too carefully, but she was awake now. She’d been sleeping so much the last few days, a restless energy bottled up inside of her, and she was ready to hop out of bed and discover what needed to be done next. As much as she appreciated Esther and the others giving them shelter here, she couldn’t believe they weren’t in danger. Esther had explained it would be almost impossible for the Mothers to even discover the location of their hidden city, and getting in was something that would take a miracle of sorts. There were a few tunnels leading into and out of the mountain range, only two near the border with the no-man’s land that eventually led through what used to be Texas hundreds of years ago when this was the United States, and they were guarded by steel doors, lined with weapons, and so well hidden in the mountains, Adam had been under the impression they were about to crash into the hillside when Esther was steering them in--at least, that’s what Mist had told her when she’d come to visit the day before. Esther limited Rain’s time with her friends, insisting the girl get some rest. She wasn’t in a hurry to move them along, she assured them, but she did want to make sure Rain made a full recovery.

Rain’s mind had been focused on her fears of the Mothers showing up and threatening these kind people such that she didn’t realize that Seth and Adam were talking about a more personal matter until Seth was about halfway through his question, “The two of you involved?” he’d said. She had to fill in the beginning of the inquiry. He wanted to know if she and Adam were a couple the way that Mist and Walt were.

“No, no,” Adam said quickly. He was right, of course, but that didn’t stop the sting that hit her in the heart from radiating through her body, even making her wound hurt a little bit more than it had before. “We’re just friends.”

“Oh,” Seth said. There was a hint of an emotion in that one syllable Rain couldn’t quite place. Surprise, yes. Sympathy, perhaps? Was that other note--relief? “I’m kind of shocked to hear that. The way you were begging Mom to help, it sounded like there was more to it. And… the way you look at her sometimes.”

“Well,” Adam began, and she could picture his shrug in her head, even if she couldn’t see him, “Rain is a great person. She is beautiful. Smart--so smart, like she doesn’t even know how smart she is--and she has one of the best hearts of anyone you’ll ever meet. But… she doesn’t really think about me that way, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Seth’s response was the exact same word but with a completely different tone that time. Knowing. Again, sympathetic. “How do you know?” he asked.

“Yes, how do you know?” Rain echoed in her head. The way Adam had explained the situation, it almost sounded as if he had wanted there to be more between them. But he’d never said anything like that to her, not that she recalled anyway. Was he just trying to put the weight of the situation between them on his own shoulders so that Seth wouldn’t see her missteps? Did he think Seth might be a better fit for her?

Adam cleared his throat. “I can just tell. First of all, she definitely doesn’t look at me the way Mist looks at Walt. Also, Rain’s made it abundantly clear that she hopes I find someone who can make me happy--someday. Sometime, when we make it to the Nation of Quebec, our final destination, or wherever we might go on our journey. She said she thinks I deserve a woman who can make me happy.”

“But she doesn’t think that woman’s her?” Seth clarified.

“No, no, I guess not.” Adam was doing a good job of making his voice sound nonchalant, but Rain could hear the small quiver as he spoke.

What had she said to make him think that? And, more importantly, how did she fix it?