Bloodline

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I didn't give Keros unnecessary details about the situation.

He didn't need to know who the Mother was, what she was, none of it. None of it mattered to the situation at hand, which was to find Thirteen and get the hell out. All I needed to say was my brother was in trouble and I needed to help him and I had no idea where to start looking in this massive new world we'd been locked away from.

"It sounds like you came from some kind of cult," Keros said after I spoke.

Yeah, that sounded about right. The Mother's following was a cult. After all, cults tended to center around a particular person and their god complex.

"Sounds about right," I muttered, averting my eyes. Keros frowned for a moment, then took out his phone. I watched him type some things, wait a bit, then type something else before he looked up.

"We should go to my place," he said, and when I looked at him suspiciously, he shook his head, "Don't worry, my parents are visiting the King, my sister's probably out terrorizing the city, and my brothers aren't even in town yet. It'll just be us."

"Was that supposed to comfort me?" I asked dryly.

"I wouldn't have offered to help you if I was going to hurt you," he pointed out, leading the way to his place. I inclined my head slowly to that.

"Why are you even doing this for me? Just because you had some kind of vision?" I asked, following close behind. Keros didn't look at me, but there was a look in his eye I couldn't quite name. Almost like he felt like he had to help. Not because anyone was forcing him to, but something else was making him feel like he had to help. Was it his pride? Was he simply... a good person? Did those even exist in the real world?

"It's a hunch," Keros said at last, making me scowl, "Anyway, let's get to my place. We can start there. We have access to wifi." I frowned. People freely had access to wifi around here? We certainly had wifi access back at the compound, but there were strict rules in place to make sure no one used it for anything that would go against the Mother, so like researching the Mother outside of our private documents. The Mother was our source of information, our all-knowing guide. She just used the wifi to convey that information to us. In limited quantities.

We left the more touristy part of the city and entered a neighborhood of large narrow houses and apartments, which then turned into a sparse spatter of beach homes. The paths became dirt packed as opposed to stoned. Eventually we turned down a winding sandy path lined by thick jungle that took us to a huge beach house. It was quaint with a pitched roof, white siding, and floor to ceiling windows. It was... cute.

Keros opened the front entrance and I followed him inside cautiously. I don't know why I expected to be attacked the moment I came in, but thankfully the fear was unwarranted as we entered the empty home.

Well, empty of people.

The house itself was... beautiful. I was so used to the sterile interiors of the compound, but this home was so different. Everything was white and beige, so warm and soft with well suited furniture. There was something so individualistic and special about the house. It was fascinating to me that they could design furniture, design a whole room, to fit so perfectly together like puzzle pieces.

"Wow," I murmured, scanning the place. Keros looked at me, then looked around the room for a moment, like he was seeing it all for the first time. His lips twitched in a smile.

That fucking dimple.

"Yeah," he said at last, "Anyway, let's head up to my room" I nodded and followed him up the stairs where a huge window looked out over the beach. It was gorgeous.