Read Online Avenged (The Altered Series) by Marnee Blake - Free Book Online Page B

what he wanted to ask. She’d seemed upset. He tried not to like that very much. She hadn’t wanted him to die. Because she was a good person. Not because she liked him.
    He needed to get a grip.
    “I’ve only been awake for a few minutes. Ten maybe.” She shrugged. “Time is fuzzy in places like this.”
    He could imagine.
    “This isn’t the room you were in, though.” He glanced around them. “This isn’t like any of the rooms at the complex.”
    “No.” She lifted the front of her hair and pushed it away from her face. “They must have moved us while we were unconscious.” She knelt then got to her feet, stretching her back. “Where were we before?”
    “South Dakota.”
    “Oh. Well, I doubt we’re there anymore.” Her brow scrunched up. “Funny. I’ve never been to South Dakota before.”
    That’s what she latched onto? He searched the room, frantic. “Are there cameras in here?”
    “Dunno.” She studied the room as well. “Usually the cameras were propped in the corner. Both in the last complex and the first. I don’t see any, though.”
    He didn’t, either. The entire structure was cement block. There was a steel door in the corner, and the only power seemed to be going to the hanging light. If there were cameras, they’d have to be battery powered. “You think there’s a microphone?”
    “I don’t see any. I doubt they’d waste small, inconspicuous cameras or microphones on us.”
    He went to the walls, running his hands over them. No cracks, no openings. Nothing.
    “I think we’re alone,” she offered as he continued to survey the place.
    He could barely hear around his heartbeat.
    Captive. He was a prisoner. He let the utter devastation of it wash over him.
    Martins would have no idea where they were. Again. It might be months before they were found.
    He’d failed.
    His head dropped into his shoulders, and he gritted his teeth. How the hell was he going to get them out of here? This room was locked down. They had a better chance of surviving an atomic bomb in here than of ever getting out on their own.
    Damn it.
    “Are you okay?” Kitty’s voice cut into his silent diatribe.
    “As if you don’t know.” He lifted his head on a bark of self-derisive laughter. “You, the only person who doesn’t have to ask that question, can hear my self-criticism firsthand.” He tapped the side of his head. His failure was bad enough. Sharing it with her was the whipped cream on this shit sundae.
    They stood there, staring at each other. The tension cracked in the air as neither of them said anything.
    Finally she stepped forward, putting her hands on his forearms. The contact calmed him, focused him. He remained still, not wanting to scare her or do anything that would discourage the connection. Her eyes soft, she said, “I know this is scary, but you’ll survive. I promise. We’re here together now.”
    Simple words, spoken with what sounded like a lifetime of experience. But what really got him was that she cared to comfort him. When faced with returning to a cell, what had to be her worst nightmare, she reached out to him.
    God, she killed him.
    As natural as anything, he lifted his hands, curling them the slightest bit around her elbows. Her warmth seeped into him as he cradled her fine bones in his fingers.
    The possibilities played through his mind, vivid and appealing. With the slightest pressure, he would coax her into his arms, feel her willowy form against him, and cocoon her slight frame with himself.
    He would hold her safe, and she would burrow into him.
    Quickly he dropped his hands and turned away, desperately trying to conceal his thoughts. What was he even thinking?
    “What are you thinking?”
    Stalling, he stepped away from her. This was bad, so bad. “What do you mean?”
    “You…” Her voice had pitched up. “I heard you.”
    Fuck .
    She opened her mouth to comment, but the door lock clicked, interrupting her. Despite whatever conversation they’d been