Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series Hayley Lawson (ebook reader play store .TXT) 📖

her life she’d lived with selfish, vicious bastards and now these two not-quite-humans were willing to drop everything and help her?

Leandro and Massimo looked at one another, puzzled. “Why wouldn’t we help you?” Leandro asked. Massimo nodded, as confused with the question as his son.

“Because you don’t know the people in the bunker, you don’t even know me! Why would you give away your money and risk your lives for strangers?” Ryder was worried her questions might make them change their mind, but she had to ask.

The men smiled at Ryder. “It doesn’t matter how long we’ve known you,” Leandro assured her. “We know that you’re a good person on a noble quest to help others. Of course we’d help you. It’s the right thing to do.”

Ryder didn’t know what to think. She studied Leandro while he set fresh plates on the table and filled them with yet more food, a little taken aback by his quiet, caring nature. He reminded her of Terrier; whom she’d always thought was one of a kind. In the bunker Terrier was unique, but against all odds she’d found more good men like him out here.

Leandro and Massimo had more humanity in their little fingers than most of the people she knew. Even Carter—despite his poor hygiene and clownish ways—was a kindhearted person. This discovery gave Ryder hope for the future.

Massimo took the seat at the head of the table and filled his plate with eggs, fruit, and bread—a vegetarian version of breakfast. Leandro grabbed a plate and sat down as well.

Ryder helped herself to her second plate. Her stomach was stretched from the abundance of food. She didn’t know when she’d get another meal as good as this one, though, so she wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass without taking full advantage.

Carter rubbed his distended stomach. “Fluffy, you are one hell of a cook.” He chomped on another sausage, chewing his food more slowly now. Ryder wondered how he still had room for more after everything he’d already shoveled in.

Leandro scowled at Carter but said nothing. He speared a sausage with more force than was necessary, still giving the other man the hairy eyeball.

“That’s what you get for keeping secrets, Fluffy.” Ryder chuckled, enjoying his resigned expression. “Payback is a bitch, my friend.” She’d told Leandro that she and Carter would call him Fluffy in retaliation for not telling her that he was a werewolf when they’d first met. Instead, he’d stayed in his Fluffy form for all the time they’d spent together before she came to Pinewood. He deserved to be teased, and he knew it.

Ryder went for more of the golden goodness, drowning her plate in it. “What is this?” she asked, licking some of the leftover sweet golden liquid from her lips.

Massimo held his hand out for the jar. “It’s honey. I taught some people in Pinewood to collect it. It’s good, isn’t it?” He drizzled the honey over his fruit and began eating it. “Ah, that beats rabbit any day!”

“It really is,” Ryder agreed. She dunked her sausage into the honey and took a bite. “Where do they collect it from?”

“It’s bee vomit,” Leandro told her, enjoying her reaction with a smug grin on his face.

Ryder didn’t know what to do with the sausage in her mouth. Part of her wanted to spit it out, but the other part didn’t because it tasted so damn good.

“Leandro, don’t be crude.” Massimo frowned at his son. “It isn’t quite like that. Bees have a honey stomach where they store the nectar they collect from the flowers. When they get back to the hive, they regurgitate the nectar where it will then be turned into honey. Bees are very intelligent.”

Ryder frowned. “That does sound a lot like bee vomit.” She swallowed the contents of her mouth.

“See, Pops?” Leandro was victorious. For one second.

Ryder pushed her bread into the honey and smirked at Leandro. “It’s good stuff.” She crammed the bread into her mouth and pushed her chair back. “I’m all done. Let’s go to town and recruit your friends.”

Leandro got up too, heading to the laundry room. “Wait a minute. Your clothes should be ready by now.”

She took the soft bundle from him when he returned a moment later. Feeling her cheeks warm, she mumbled a quick thank you and left to get changed.

Ryder considered the plan as she closed the door to Leandro’s room. She thought that Leandro had outlined a good mix of men to help. She did wonder for a second if it really mattered how good they were given the skills of Afana and his men.

However, she knew she couldn’t let her doubts consume her. If they took hold she’d already failed—and that was one thing Ryder refused to do.

Growing up in the bunker was more than a challenge. It had been survival of the fittest, and if Ryder was taught something new, then she had strived to become the best she could be at it. Honing her edge was her survival technique, and it had served her well. Ryder had learned early on that if she wanted to get out of the bunker every day she needed to be a hunter—and to be chosen to do that she had to be excellent with weapons.

Her weapon of choice was the bow and arrow, and she had trained relentlessly until she could not miss. Near or far, no matter how big it was, her arrows could take it down.

If her kill got near her, she was prepared for that as well. Ryder was also skilled at close-quarters fighting. That was something you developed in the bunker for sure, since fights amongst the men were a daily occurrence. Even though they didn’t know she was a woman she was still a target because she was smaller than most of the men—and smarter.

Nothing made the bunker men angrier than a thinker.

Ryder inhaled the fresh scent as she changed into her clean clothing and strapped on her knives. Her clothes felt