Read Online Rise of Hope by Kaily Hart - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t exist to him anymore. I think…I think the time had come for him to get rid of me.”
    * * *
    Seth hated what he heard in her voice. She might not have been physically harmed, but they’d done a number on her all the same. It’s a wonder she was still sane. What the hell had they really wanted with her?
    He flicked a glance at Noah. He didn’t look as if he had any more of an idea either. And the guy had on another sweater. When Seth had asked him if he was sick, he’d thrown him a glance that had “fuck you” written all over it. Whatever. Maybe it was a new fashion trend.
    Seth had had every intention of leaving last night. Every. Intention. In fact, he’d gotten as far as the front gate in his car, all of his gear packed and stowed, looking forward to some serious down time, but something had stopped him.
    He looked across at Devon.
    Or someone.
    He swallowed at the punch to his stomach. He should have been used to it by now, but the intensity shocked the hell out of him every time. Her hair was a rich, deep golden color and looked as if it had streaks of honey through it. Funny. He’d never much thought about it, but he always noticed blondes—always—but he didn’t fuck them. Ever. He’d figured they weren’t his type, not that way, but now he knew. They’d never been this particular blonde.
    He still had the weird feeling in his gut, except now it was an inferno of heat and need that licked through his entire body, a raging for…something. All he knew was that it centered around her . And he hadn’t been able to walk away. Not yet anyway.
    She put a hand to her side and the twinge he now knew as regret hit him hard.
    “Is it still bothering you?” Noah asked.
    “No.” She frowned. “Actually, no.”
    Of course. She probably had no idea what her body was capable of.
    “You still have the bandage on it?” Seth asked.
    “Yes.”
    She still hadn’t looked at him, almost as if she couldn’t bear to. He flicked a glance to Noah, then back to Devon. “Take it off,” he urged, his voice soft.
    “What? Why?”
    She turned then and he felt her gaze. All the way to his toes, through every part of him. He hardened. Painfully, urgently. “Go on,” he managed.
    His heartbeat kicked up when she lifted her shirt and he caught a flash of pale, smooth skin.
    For fuck’s sake.
    The heat surged through his body, arrowed down, fast, intense. Seth adjusted his stance a little, trying to give himself some relief, but it wasn’t going to do shit. He knew it. It was bad enough he’d had to sleep with the boner of all boners all night. Yeah, looked like it was a condition he was going to have to learn to get used to around her.
    “It’s gone,” she breathed.
    He smiled. “Yeah.”
    “We have an accelerated immune system,” Noah added. “And we seem to be impervious to most common infections.”
    “That’s incredible.” She was still looking down at her side.
    Yeah. He knew the feeling. The ability to heal quickly had come in handy on more occasions than Seth could count.
    “So, you never left the compound?” Noah asked. Yet again.
    Seth sighed. Break time over.
    “When I was younger, occasionally, but in the last few years? No,” Devon stated. “Never. Except my hikes.”
    “What if you needed a doctor? What about school?” Seth could have bitten his tongue. He’d intended to keep quiet, was going to be an observer only. Not that Noah’s insistence he do so made any difference. He did what he wanted, but for some reason, he hadn’t wanted to be the one to interrogate her. Because that’s what Noah had turned it into.
    Her lips tightened. “Private tutors. Everything was brought in. It was as if they were afraid I’d come into contact with someone. I think—I think that’s why I was able to convince them about the hikes. Because I’d be isolated.”
    “Yeah.” He could see the logic in that. They probably thought they could control her access to anyone in that