Frostbite & bruises

“She asked me this afternoon if she and her group could stay... Permanently...”

Surprised by the unexpected announcement, Shane turned his head in his brother’s direction. Even though he couldn’t see the gruff man, it was still a habit from the days when he wasn’t blind.

Of course, he had noticed that the woman had followed his brother into the bedroom, but he had assumed that they were going to have sex. After all, that was the deal she had made with the Nox. The fact that his brother had rushed out of the room a little later, he had chalked up to his brother being unable to get a hard-on. In any case, this had not occurred to him.

Even though he had seen the question coming, he had expected her to ask him about it so that he could have the discussion with Aiden.

It was to her credit that she had chosen the hardest way and that she had not tried to take advantage of him for it.

“So? What did you say? That she could fuck off?” Shane was already preparing for a heated argument with his brother.

“I said I would discuss it with you.... What?!”

The sight of his brother looking at him with big, bulging eyes and an open mouth immediately irritated him.

“I’m not a lout!”

Shane burst out laughing at his dismissive words.

“Dude! You’re a master lout pur sang! I’ve seen a lot of louts in my time as a cop, but you take the crown! It’s because you’re my brother and I know you better than you know yourself, otherwise I would have kicked your ass long ago!”

Still laughing, he continued. “But I don’t quite understand... You didn’t want them here in the first place, so what changed? Is it this female? What exactly does she look like, because frankly, you’re making me curious now!”

Annoyed by his brother’s nagging, at least in his eyes, Nox picked up one of the growing trays and walked with it to the corner where he kept all the empty trays. This was the sixth tray in a short time where nothing had grown, and at this rate they would soon run out of vegetables.

“Aiden?”

Sighing, Nox closed his eyes. Whenever Shane called him by his real name, he was either angry with him or worried, and it wasn’t too hard to figure out which he was now.

“Stop nagging me Shane... Now tell me, do you want them to stay or should I throw them out when the old woman is on the mend?”

“I don’t mind if they stay, but tell me Aiden, what does she look like? I’m really curious now...”

Unfortunately for Nox, but fortunately for him, Shane couldn’t see the deadly look his brother was shooting at him.

“Like a battered Tinker Bell, okay!” Angrily, Nox rubbed his hands clean on an old piece of cloth hanging from a hook on the wall.

Shane’s eyebrows shot up. “What do you mean, beaten up?”

Nox shrugged. “Exactly what I said. She was probably beaten up just before they escaped... Hey! You don’t think...?”

Shane raised his hand with a dismissive gesture. “No, of course not! You’re an idiot, but I also know you wouldn’t hit an innocent woman.”

Angrily, Nox headed for the door.

“Does she really look like a Tinkerbell?” Shane’s curiosity was piqued now.

A smile appeared around Nox’s lips. “Jup, a soft, round Tinkerbell with bright green eyes...”

After their return, Nox had managed to sleep for a few more hours until the soft chirping of voices woke him.

Listening to the soft murmur coming from the living room, the tall man stretched out like a cat and recalled the previous day’s conversation. Now that he and his brother had more or less decided that the small group could stay, space had to be made. There was still enough office space on the ground floor to create sleeping quarters, then they could keep this living room for common use, at least for the foreseeable future.

Nox stretched again and then got up with a groan. The freezing cold did his muscles no favours.

After getting dressed, he opened the door to the living room.

The feeling of ice water being poured over his head made him hold his breath for a moment as everyone fell silent at the sight of him.

What had he thought, that things would be different now? Nox immediately regretted that he had left it to his brother to make the decision for the group to stay with them. Nothing had changed. Everyone still looked at him with suspicion. They still found him scary, strange and weird.... Even now that half of humanity had been wiped out, nothing had changed, he still didn’t fit in.

“Hey! You’re awake, great! I was just about to wake you. Breakfast is ready!”

Surprised, Nox turned his head in the direction of Morgan’s voice, who slipped past him at that very moment with a large old tray in his hand. The cups clinked softly together as she placed the tray on the table. Nox’s mouth watered at the sight of the bread and leftovers from yesterday’s meal and his stomach began to growl.

“Steve, will you take Mads her breakfast?” And without waiting, she shoved a plate with a cup, a slice of bread and some of yesterday’s food into his hands.

The old man took the plate with a broad smile and got up from his chair. His smile faded as he walked past Nox.

“Hmm...”

Unwillingly, the corners of Nox’s mouth curled up at the sound of the grunt the old man let out in greeting, and he quickly slid onto the bench that stood behind the dining table and grabbed one of the mugs, trying to hide the grin that was now forming around his mouth.

After breakfast, Nox waited until everyone had finished their chores before grabbing Morgan by the arm and pulling her gently towards him. “We need to talk.”

Seeing her horrified face, he sighed inwardly. “About your request...”

But apparently his words had not completely allayed her fear, for her pale face continued to look at him anxiously.

After they’d put on their thick coats, Morgan followed the man down to where the sled dogs were. A tight knot formed in her stomach. Was he going to tell her they had to leave? She hoped not. Even though the factory was old and Nox was an eccentric man, everything felt right and safe here.

When he came to a sudden stop, Morgan bumped into his back with a parry and stumbled backwards just as quickly from the impact. Had Nox not immediately turned and grabbed her swinging hand, she would have landed hard on her buttocks.

“Sorry...” She squealed and looked away from the ferocious-looking man, her head flushed.

He looked at her in silence, and only when Morgan began to feel increasingly uncomfortable did he speak.

“I spoke to Shane... You can stay...” Seeing her disbelief, his eyebrows furrowed. Surely that was what she wanted?

“Are you serious?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Nox nodded. “Yes. As expected, Shane wasn’t at all difficult, but...” Before he could speak, Morgan had jumped up and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Frozen, Nox just stood there, not knowing what to do next, listening to her unexpected sobbing while she had her arms tidily around his waist.

When, after some time, she raised her face to look at him, he saw that her eyes were red and full of tears, but a broad smile framed her beautiful lips and her eyes shone with happiness. “Thank you... You don’t know how scared I was about having to face the cold again. I’m in no doubt that Steve and Mads would not have been able to make it through another journey.”

It was not that he had never held a woman in his arms, far from it. When he was in the army, there were plenty of women who wanted to share his bed, and as long as he didn’t expect anything from them and they didn’t ask anything of him, it was fine. Sex always went well. Intimacy, that’s where things went wrong....

The twinkle in her eyes and her hands still around his waist made his stomach turn and he felt himself slowly stiffen. Quickly he grabbed her shoulders, pushed her off him and stepped away. “Yeah, yeah! It’s all right.”

Trying to control himself, he twisted his neck and looked away from her for a moment.

Surprised by his unexpectedly brusque action, Morgan opened her mouth to ask him what she had done wrong when he looked away from her and began to twist his neck as if there was some stiffness that needed to go away. Her eyes widened as the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place.

“I’m sorry, Nox.”

With an angry glare he looked at her again. “What are you sorry for?”

Morgan shook her head and gave him a small smile. “Doesn’t matter... But I take it you didn’t bring me here just to tell me that?”

Surprised at the sudden change, he let his eyes glide over her face, searching for some kind of betrayal. But there was nothing. She was still looking straight at him, something he still found difficult, but which had always given him a great deal of clarity about the nature of the people he was dealing with. But Morgan had no hidden agenda, at least not as far as he could see.

“Have you spoken to the old man about this?”

A grin appeared around her mouth. “Yes, I spoke to Steve about it yesterday and he too hoped you would consider my request.”

Nox nodded. “Good. The downstairs offices can serve as your new sleeping quarters after a few adjustments. Then we will keep our living room for general use for the time being. That way we can keep things better heated. We will have to hunt more to feed everyone though... That’s also why I brought you here.” And pointed with his thumb to a door behind him.

“Follow me...”