The Becoming (Book 4): Under Siege by Jessica Meigs Read Free Book Online Page A

and
he rubbed at it idly as he admitted, “I’m famished. Tell me there’s
food around here.”
    “There’s food around here,” Kimberly said,
tugging his hand. “Come with me. We’ll go into the main house. Cade
almost always has some food around.”
    A sparse few moments later, they were in the
shady interior of the main house. Ethan closed his eyes and
breathed in deeply. Unlike the medical house, which smelled musty
and closed-up, the main house smelled like oranges and lemons, like
someone was doing their damnedest to keep everything fresh and
airy. He heard Cade’s and Brandt’s voices nearby, fussing at each
other like an old married couple. He felt a pang of wistfulness and
disappointment; thanks to his prolonged illness, he’d missed the
small wedding that had been held in the center of Woodside soon
after they’d arrived at the community, and Cade’s description of
the ceremony hadn’t come close to doing it justice. Cade was like
his sister, and the thought of missing her wedding—something he’d
always hoped to see, even before the current state of the world,
when he’d been convinced that she’d end up married to her boyfriend
Andrew sooner rather than later—filled him with regret.
    Kimberly steered him toward the kitchen
doorway, a grin on her face as she stepped inside and announced,
“Lady and gentleman, may I present His Awesomeness, Sir Ethan
Bennett!”
    Ethan rolled his eyes and laughed as he
slipped into the kitchen, slowly making his way to the counter
where Cade and Brandt stood.
    Cade had a large cutting board in front of
her and a knife in her hand. Several more knives were lined up on
the counter just left of the board. On the board itself was the
half-boned and disjointed carcass of a rabbit. Beside that was a
large plate and a clipboard. She looked up as he leaned against the
counter and gave him a bright smile. Then she dropped her knife and
wiped her hands on a towel before circling around to greet him.
“Eth! You’re up!” she exclaimed, hugging him. He returned the
embrace with a wide smile.
    “I got sick of sitting around in my room,”
he admitted. “And Kim said there was food here, so I was more than
willing to come over.”
    Brandt stepped forward and lightly clapped
him on the shoulder, before squeezing it tightly. “Glad to see you
up and moving,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
    “Surprisingly…good,” he said. “I can’t
complain. I don’t even feel like I’ve been sick. Well, except for
the whole malnourished problem Dr. Rivers said we’ve got to figure
out how to deal with.” His eyes flickered down to the raw, bloody
meat on the cutting board in front of Cade, seemingly of their own
accord; the scent of blood filled his nose, and saliva flooded his
mouth at the scent.
    “Glad to hear it,” Brandt said. “Maybe you
can talk some sense into Cade for me while I’m out, yeah?”
    “Some sense?” Ethan repeated, raising an
eyebrow. “And where are you going?”
    “I need to run to the rec center for a few
things,” Brandt explained. “We’re going to have a meeting this
evening and are hoping to get something cooked up to feed the
committee while we’re there.” He gave Cade a quick kiss, even
though she was scowling at him, and then he asked, “Kimberly, do
you mind giving me a hand?”
    Cade squinted at the clipboard even as she
cut the rabbit. “Don’t forget the peas,” she commented.
    Brandt let out a huff of exasperation.
“Would you stop eyeing that thing before you cut your fingers off?”
he said. “You’ve given me the list a dozen times already. I think
I’ve got it.”
    Ethan forced his eyes away from the meat
Cade was cutting up as Brandt and Kimberly left the room. Confused
by his attraction to the uncooked meat and struggling to find
something else to focus on, he asked, “So how are you feeling?”
    “I feel fine,” she said. “Except for his constant hovering.” She jabbed the knife she held in