either—that was abundantly clear.
And he’d been so gentle. Kind.
No one had ever cared for her the way he had. Hell, he hadn’t even looked at her for the most part. Sure, he’d seen her naked. Big deal. She’d gotten over people seeing her au naturel long ago, way before her incarceration. When public bath houses were the only option, one got over silly notions like privacy.
Peyton wandered her direction, a plastic offering in her hand. “Breakfast.”
“Thanks.” Mira opened the container. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. The meager portions made her gut churn with need. When had her last meal been? She couldn’t recall. Didn’t matter. She knew the rules.
Eat fast. Swallow whole if necessary. No silverware? Not. A. Problem.
Food got taken away if not eaten fast enough. It’d been reality for as long as she could recall—even in Hell’s Highway before she’d been detained. Her stomach rumbled as she devoured the rations. As she chewed the last bite of toast and licked her fingers clean, awareness flickered into her brain.
She wasn’t alone.
This wasn’t the facility.
Gulping down the last of the bits of food, she warily gazed toward Peyton, who’d halted a couple feet away with a fork in her hand. Oops. A snarl echoed within the bus. She looked at Adrik. Marek swatted him on the back and whispered something too softly for her to hear.
Ren approached in slow, measured steps. “When was the last time you ate, Mira?”
She shrugged and inhaled the bottle of water he offered. At least drinking provided an excuse for not replying. What could she say? She didn’t remember. Locating drinkable water had been difficult enough. A couple of unexpected berry patches and wild vegetables had made her journey across the Highway tolerable. Starvation didn’t scare her.
What’d Deimos said about it?
Oh, yeah.
A need for something gives it power they can hold over us. We want nothing. We need even less.
“We’re in Baton Rouge already? How long did I sleep?”
Marek glanced at his watch. “Twenty eight hours, give or take half an hour.”
Yikes. She set the drained water bottle aside. Another appeared in her field of vision. She looked at Ren warily.
“You’re still dehydrated. Doc made me promise I’d watch your vitals.”
She looked around the moving bus. Dread sank in. “There’s only four of you?”
“We’re assessing the situation first. If more are needed, we’ll call for reinforcements,” Adrik stated as he sat across from her.
Deimos couldn’t afford a delay, but Mira knew better than argue with Adrik, especially in front of three of his sentinels. The fact he’d brought them instead of regular warriors made her feel better. He believed her.
Hopefully.
“Can you give us any idea where we’re going?”
“Southeast of Baton Rouge, but there may be a faster way of finding it.”
“Oh?” Marek crossed his arms. “How?”
“There’s this guy who supplied the facility. The guards hated him, but they were terrified of him even more. They called him Blade.”
“And why would this Blade help us,” Peyton said.
This portion hadn’t been on the discussed or approved plan discussed with her friend because she knew he wouldn’t approve. “I was kept from the other people for some reason. So I was ‘walked’ during different shifts than they were. One day I was being herded around and one of their delivery services came to my attention.”
“Came to your attention,” Peyton repeated.
She avoided Adrik’s gaze because there was no way to avoid discussing this. It was either now or later when she had to explain how she knew entry codes and other key data. They had to understand why she was out and about around the exterior of the facility in order to believe the intel she had.
“The guards used the walks as a ruse to get me away from the facility for what they called quiet time. It was during one of those moments I saw him. I’m assuming he heard the…”
Mira severed the
And he’d been so gentle. Kind.
No one had ever cared for her the way he had. Hell, he hadn’t even looked at her for the most part. Sure, he’d seen her naked. Big deal. She’d gotten over people seeing her au naturel long ago, way before her incarceration. When public bath houses were the only option, one got over silly notions like privacy.
Peyton wandered her direction, a plastic offering in her hand. “Breakfast.”
“Thanks.” Mira opened the container. Eggs. Bacon. Toast. The meager portions made her gut churn with need. When had her last meal been? She couldn’t recall. Didn’t matter. She knew the rules.
Eat fast. Swallow whole if necessary. No silverware? Not. A. Problem.
Food got taken away if not eaten fast enough. It’d been reality for as long as she could recall—even in Hell’s Highway before she’d been detained. Her stomach rumbled as she devoured the rations. As she chewed the last bite of toast and licked her fingers clean, awareness flickered into her brain.
She wasn’t alone.
This wasn’t the facility.
Gulping down the last of the bits of food, she warily gazed toward Peyton, who’d halted a couple feet away with a fork in her hand. Oops. A snarl echoed within the bus. She looked at Adrik. Marek swatted him on the back and whispered something too softly for her to hear.
Ren approached in slow, measured steps. “When was the last time you ate, Mira?”
She shrugged and inhaled the bottle of water he offered. At least drinking provided an excuse for not replying. What could she say? She didn’t remember. Locating drinkable water had been difficult enough. A couple of unexpected berry patches and wild vegetables had made her journey across the Highway tolerable. Starvation didn’t scare her.
What’d Deimos said about it?
Oh, yeah.
A need for something gives it power they can hold over us. We want nothing. We need even less.
“We’re in Baton Rouge already? How long did I sleep?”
Marek glanced at his watch. “Twenty eight hours, give or take half an hour.”
Yikes. She set the drained water bottle aside. Another appeared in her field of vision. She looked at Ren warily.
“You’re still dehydrated. Doc made me promise I’d watch your vitals.”
She looked around the moving bus. Dread sank in. “There’s only four of you?”
“We’re assessing the situation first. If more are needed, we’ll call for reinforcements,” Adrik stated as he sat across from her.
Deimos couldn’t afford a delay, but Mira knew better than argue with Adrik, especially in front of three of his sentinels. The fact he’d brought them instead of regular warriors made her feel better. He believed her.
Hopefully.
“Can you give us any idea where we’re going?”
“Southeast of Baton Rouge, but there may be a faster way of finding it.”
“Oh?” Marek crossed his arms. “How?”
“There’s this guy who supplied the facility. The guards hated him, but they were terrified of him even more. They called him Blade.”
“And why would this Blade help us,” Peyton said.
This portion hadn’t been on the discussed or approved plan discussed with her friend because she knew he wouldn’t approve. “I was kept from the other people for some reason. So I was ‘walked’ during different shifts than they were. One day I was being herded around and one of their delivery services came to my attention.”
“Came to your attention,” Peyton repeated.
She avoided Adrik’s gaze because there was no way to avoid discussing this. It was either now or later when she had to explain how she knew entry codes and other key data. They had to understand why she was out and about around the exterior of the facility in order to believe the intel she had.
“The guards used the walks as a ruse to get me away from the facility for what they called quiet time. It was during one of those moments I saw him. I’m assuming he heard the…”
Mira severed the
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