Endurance Read Online Free

anything happened to him.”
    Though her gaze sharpened, she didn’t say anything. He’d always been able to tell Thimble anything, and she was gentle when his jokes were dumb, not funny. Sometimes he didn’t realize when he’d gone too far or mentioned something best left alone. Others weren’t as kind.
    She lifted a shoulder, dismissing her own importance, as she often did. “I saved you some fish.”
    “Thank you.” Stone ate ravenously. He didn’t know when he’d ever had anything so fine, even if it was charred on the outside and raw within.
    “I’m not a very good cook.” Those were specialized Builders, who had been under Copper’s supervision. Stone had no idea who would run the cook space now.
    Eventually, she said softly, “We should rest.”
    Thimble tossed him a blanket and he wrapped up. The floor was hard without even a thin layer of rags for his pallet, but it felt good to stretch out. As they’d done a thousand times before in the brat dorm, she lay down near him, close enough that he could touch her if he stretched his arm out. And he wanted to; he didn’t know why exactly, except she was smart and brave, and she was always there.
    Hesitantly, Stone put out his hand and rubbed a lock of her dark hair between his thumb and forefinger. She stared at him over the curve of her arm, eyes wide, but she didn’t tell him to stop. Instead her hand came up to cover his fingers and he threaded them together. He fell asleep that way, feeling only Thimble’s touch and hearing only the comforting, shallow breaths that meant the brats were safe and sound.
    In the morning, the remaining Breeders came in search of the little ones. “The dorm’s clean. We can take them. You should return as well.”
    A chill ran down his spine as he watched the brats trail away with forlorn glances over their shoulders. They’d bonded with Thimble and none of them wanted to leave her. Tears streamed down their small faces, smudging the soot. But when his offspring cried, Stone picked him up, earning a hard look, but he defied the woman to say anything. This wasn’t the time.
    “I’ll keep him,” he said, not meeting her gaze. “After I check in with Silk, I’ll join you.”
    The Breeder frowned. “Check in about what?”
    It was none of her business how he’d gotten in trouble. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t even a pure Breeder anymore, as he’d broken the rules and fought. He’d used weapons and shed blood. The memory of the battle rose up in a red-tinged madness, and he squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t open them until he heard silence where there had been movement.
    “You don’t look well,” Thimble said.
    His tone came out sharper than he intended. “That’s a shame since it’s what I’m best at.”
    People often commented on his looks, acting like he couldn’t be hurt by their dismissive tones. Sometimes he’d wanted to shout that he could be more than a Breeder, if they let him. The few times he said something along those lines, the laughter shut him up. They had mocked, Why would you want anything else? You got food and easy work, just for—
    His hands curled into fists. Some of the Hunters had acted like he was lucky because he got to mate on command. But it wasn’t wonderful when it was work. Sometimes it was even difficult to find the necessary interest, if he disliked the female Breeder he had been assigned. Sometimes it was awful; and sometimes, just awkward. They’ll need you even more in days to come. The thought of bringing more brats into this situation sickened him.
    “You’re good with the brats.”
    And killing girls, too. His head swam with dark images.
    “I hope things settle down,” he muttered.
    “Me too.” But her expression didn’t reveal much hope. “What happened , Stone? We’ve never lied to each other and I can see there’s something…but if you’d rather not tell me, just say so.”
    “I fought.” Two words shouldn’t cut his throat like that. The