by Kate L. Mary
Blake let go of Emma and reached up under his hat, scratching his head awkwardly. “Hey.”
The two men stared at one another in silence for a few seconds before Cade said, “I’m a dick.”
Blake chuckled. “Apparently, so am I.”
“Maybe we can just agree not to be dicks anymore?” Cade said.
“Yeah.” Blake slapped him on the shoulder. “I think we can handle that.”
“Now that we’ve all decided to get along, do you think we can go talk to Priscilla?” Kellan said, drawing everyone’s attention his way. “Jasper has got to be out of his mind with worry.”
It was closing in on evening by the time Cade parked the truck in its usual spot. The cab had been too full since Blake decided to hitch a ride home with us, forcing Kellan and me to ride in the back. Normally, I would have hated it—being out in the sun and having the wind whip my hair into knots—but with Kellan’s arm around my shoulders, the ride had been almost pleasant. Now that we were back home, though, my insides had once again started to churn with anxiety and excitement.
Kellan stood when Cade turned the truck off, offering me a hand so he could help me up. We hadn’t even had time to get out of the truck when the door to the shelter burst open and Jasper came rushing out. The smile on the older man’s face was only matched by the grin on Kellan’s.
“Son of a bitch, you kids had me worried,” Jasper called.
Kellan let go of my hand and hopped down. “I’m not going to lie.” Once again he offered me a hand, but his gaze was on Jasper. “I was pretty worried there for a little bit, too.”
I took his hand and hopped down, and the second I was out of the truck, Kellan released me so he could throw his arms around Jasper. It was a quick hug—the kind where they slapped each other on the back a few times—but when he pulled away, Kellan kept his arm around the older man’s shoulders.
“We found this guy and dragged him back as well,” Emma called from the other side of the truck.
When Jasper saw Blake, his already wide smile grew bigger. “Sure is good to see you kids.” He patted Kellan on the back before waving toward the shelter. “Come in out of the heat so you can tell me what happened.”
“We’ll have to leave it up to Emma, Cade, and Harper to fill you in on most of it,” Kellan said. “I need to head back to the farmhouse and get our car before someone else decides to dig it out from under that tree. Blake and Regan are going to help me.”
He reached for my hand before heading for the shelter.
Jasper’s eyebrows shot up, and a barely concealed grin tugged at his lips. “Looks like you have quite a bit to tell me.”
“I guess that’s probably true,” I said, flushing despite the smile that refused to be tamed.
Jasper only chuckled.
We talked on our way down, everyone taking turns as we tried to relay everything that had happened. The echo of our voices bounced off the walls around us, at times making it difficult to distinguish the words, but Jasper didn’t seem to have trouble following the story. When we’d finished telling him about saving Kellan and finding Blake, I held my breath, waiting for him to ask more questions, but he didn’t.
We reached the hallway outside the control room, and Kellan gave my hand a squeeze before letting it go. “I want to head out soon.” His focus was on Jasper. “I’m hoping you still have that chainsaw?”
“Sure do. It’s in the storage room.” He waved to the end of the hall, indicating the small room that used to hold computers but was now used mostly for storage.
“I’m going to get it, and then we can head out.” He glanced toward Blake and then me. “You ready?”
“Ready to get it over with.” I had to stifle a yawn. The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with me. “I’m beat.”
“Me, too,” Kellan said before taking off. “We’ll make it quick!”
Emma planted a small kiss on Jasper’s cheek. “We’re going to turn in. It’s been a long two days.”
She patted Blake on the arm on the way by, murmuring that she was happy to have him home, and Cade did the same. Harper only nodded before following them.
When they’d disappeared, I turned to find Jasper watching me with a grin on his face.
“What?” I asked.
“Seems like you and Kellan are awfully cozy.”
I rolled my eyes as heat crept up my neck. “We’re—” I shrugged. “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk about it yet.”
“What are we talking about?” Kellan said as he headed back down the hall toward us, chainsaw in hand.
Jasper turned to face him. “Hopefully, about you being respectful.”
My face was on fire, but Kellan’s expression was totally serious when he said, “You have to know I’d never do anything to hurt her.”
“I know.” Jasper nodded, his gaze moving back to me. “Sometimes we hurt each other without meaning to, and this girl is like a daughter to me. I have to look out for her.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. “Really.”
“I know.” Jasper patted my arm. “I’ve been expecting this for a while now, and I sure am happy for the two of you.”
“Really?” Remembering the words Blake had muttered when he was drunk, I turned to look at him. “You, too?”
“Are you serious?” He belted out a laugh. “I just won a bet I made with Emma three years ago.”
Kellan chuckled, but I could only shake my head in response. Three years? Thinking the others had known how I felt even before I did blew me away. There was no way I could have ever seen myself in this position three years ago, but I sure was happy about it now.
22
Everything was exactly where we’d left it when Kellan pulled up to the farmhouse. The tree was on top of our car, and the house was nothing but a pile of rubble. Beyond that, pieces of debris littered the earth in a trail of destruction that left no doubt which way the tornado had gone.
Blake let out a low whistle. “Holy shit.”
“You have no idea,” Kellan said.
He yanked the keys out of the ignition but didn’t move right away. Neither did I, and on the other side of me, Blake stared at the farmhouse with a mixture of awe and horror on his face.
“How the hell did you survive this?” he finally asked.
“Basement,” I said.
The memory of those few harrowing minutes made me shiver. If this house hadn’t had a cellar, Kellan and I would have died. There was no doubt in my mind.
As if reading my thoughts, he reached out and squeezed my knee. “We got lucky.”
Blake exhaled. “No shit.”
He was the first to move. He shoved the door open, and Kellan followed his lead, his hand slipping from my knee and leaving me feeling cold.
I followed the others out, groaning when the Oklahoma sun pounded down on my head. “Damn, it’s hot.”
“Gonna get hotter before it cools off.” Kellan slammed the driver’s side door, and the hinges groaned in protest. “Might as well get this over with so we can get home.”
Blake was already by the car, doing his best to push the branches aside so he could get a good look at it. “Shit. Can you believe this tree didn’t crush the car?”
“More luck,” I said.
Kellan pulled the chainsaw from the back of the truck. “Seems like a lot of that going around.”
His gaze met mine, and he smiled. I returned the gesture, my insides quivering in anticipation. Yes, I wanted to get this over with and get back home. Kellan and I had barely been alone since we rescued him, and it was killing me. We had things to say. So many things I couldn’t even begin to think about them all. Not to mention the fact that I was dying to get my hands on him.
“I think if we can get the branches around the driver’s side door cut off, we can drive it free,” Blake called.
I turned his way, and my heart dropped at the sight of the men sneaking up on him.
“Blake!” I called, but my warning came too late.
> He turned right into the bat that was swinging at his head. It made contact with his temple, forcing a pained groan out of him and sending him into the tangle of limbs surrounding the car where he disappeared from sight.
Kellan went for his gun, dropping the chainsaw to the ground. I reached for mine as well, but before either of us had a chance to draw, the man who’d just hit Blake in the head called out to us.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”
Footsteps scuffled against the ground at my back only a second before hands grabbed me. I shrieked and kicked and fought, but I was on the ground in a second. Face down with my cheek pressed against the dirt while whoever had me shoved his knee into my spine.
“Get off her,” Kellan called out, but his voice was strained, and before I’d even looked his way, I knew he was fighting someone off as well.
My gaze landed on him just as the man at his back threw a punch. The guy’s knuckles collided with Kellan’s cheek, and he went down. In a flash, he was moving, but before he’d had a chance to get to his feet, the barrel of a gun was pressed against the back of my head.
“Stand down or she’s dead,” the man behind Kellan snarled.
Kellan was halfway to his feet, but he froze, his wide eyes on me. Terror threatened to burst out of me at the sight of the gun against his head, and I had to swallow it down. I had to stay in control. Letting my emotions get the better of me would only get both of us killed.
Slowly, like he hated that he had to do it, Kellan lifted his hands. “Okay. Okay. Just don’t hurt her.”
“Tie him up,” someone to my left said.
“What about her?” asked the man holding me down.
Something about his voice was familiar, but with my heart pounding in my ears and the blood roaring through my head, I couldn’t figure it out.
“Tie her hands behind her back,” the man I couldn’t see replied. “And be sure to check all three of them for weapons.”
My eyes were on Kellan when footsteps scraped against the ground at my side. The man at my back eased his hold on me, and a second later I was jerked up.
“On your knees. Don’t move.”
I did as I was told, and my hands were yanked behind my back, secured only a second later with something thin and rough. A zip tie, maybe? When the faceless man patted me down, my heart beat harder, but it was brief, and all he did was relieve me of my weapons. Not that I could have used them with my hands behind my back.
From my new position, I was able to get a good look around. There were close to a dozen men, all dressed in leather despite the heat. The one who’d jerked me up seemed to be in charge. He was fifty, maybe a tad younger. Only a little bit of his skin was exposed to the sun, and it was pink and shiny, while his bare scalp looked red and angry. There were even a few places where it had started to peel.
Behind him, Blake lay sprawled on the ground. Out cold. There was no blood, although I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“We want the girl,” the bald man said. “The one that’s immune.”
“We don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Kellan hissed, and his brown eyes darted my way.
“Sure you do,” a man at my back replied.
He moved forward as I looked over my shoulder, and when I caught sight of Dominic, I let out a growl. “What the hell are you doing?”
The asshole actually had the nerve to grin. “Whatever it takes.”
“We know you don’t really live at this farmhouse,” the bald man said. “We asked around in Quartz Mountain, you see. While no one seems to know exactly where you live, one thing they do know is that it isn’t here.” The man looked back at the flattened house. “Even if the thing was still standing, there’s no way you would’ve made it nine years here. It isn’t even fortified.”
Dominic grabbed my ponytail and jerked my head back, forcing a cry out of me. He pressed his face against mine and hissed, “Where is she?”
“You’re going to have to kill me,” I said, glaring at him out of the corner of my eye since I couldn’t turn my head. “I’m not a coward. I would never put my own life before the lives of my family.”
“We’re not going to kill you,” the bald man said. “Although, by the time we’re done with you, you’ll probably wish we had.”
Dominic released my ponytail, and less than a second later the bald man’s fist made contact with my cheek. Pain burst across my face, and for a second the world went black. I screamed and went down, slamming into the dusty earth beneath me. Blood rushed in my ears, louder than the damn tornado that had torn the farmhouse apart, but in the distance I could hear Kellan screaming.
“You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you.”
Someone grabbed me by the ponytail and pulled me up, forcing another shriek out of me. Once I was back on my knees, the bald man crouched at my side. He wasn’t the one holding my hair in an iron grip, but he was the one calling the shots.
“Keep her still,” he said, his gaze holding mine.
The hand twisted my hair tighter until it felt like it was on the verge of being yanked out at the roots, and I grunted, trying not to cry out the way I wanted to. My head was forced back, making it impossible to look away from the bald man.
He smiled before turning his gaze on Kellan. “That’s going to leave a pretty nasty bruise behind, but trust me when I tell you it’s the nicest thing I’m going to do to your little friend.”
He ran the back of his hand down my cheek, and I tried to jerk away, but the iron grip on my hair made it impossible. My skin burned when he continued to move his hand down to my chin and then my neck. I struggled against my restraints, and the plastic bit into my skin, but I barely felt it. All I could concentrate on was the bald man’s hand as it moved down my chest. He stopped when he reached the neckline of my tank top and gripped the fabric between his fingers.
He glanced back at Kellan. “You can stop this right now. Just tell me where the girl is.”
“Don’t,” I hissed, then cried out when my head was once again jerked back by the ponytail. “Don’t do it, Kellan!”
He fought against the man holding him, but made no progress. His eyes were wide. Huge. There was terror burning in them.
“Please don’t,” he said, his tone begging.
“You know what to do.” The bald man pulled out a knife and placed it against the top of my shirt. “Say the word, and I’ll stop.”
“No,” I hissed again.
Kellan clamped his mouth shut, but I could see the conflict in his eyes. Could see the fear and pain. They were the same emotions thumping through me, but I knew we couldn’t give in. If we did, Harper was screwed.
The bald man let out a long breath, sounding like he was disappointed in Kellan. “Remember I gave you a chance.”
I screamed when the knife tore into the fabric of my shirt.
It was gone in seconds, cut down the middle first, then each of the straps, leaving me bare from the waist up. I squeezed my eyes closed as tears poured down my cheeks, my face burning from shame and humiliation. Six feet away from me but totally defenseless to stop this thing from happening, Kellan yelled obscenities I was positive had never passed his lips before.
“Open your eyes.” I jerked when the bald man’s breath brushed against my cheek. “Keep them open or I’ll cut him.”
I forced my eyes open, but the second my gaze landed on Kellan, I wanted to close them again. Tears streamed down his cheeks. In all the years I’d known him, going on twenty now, I’d only seen him cry once—after Matt died—but it had been nothing like this. Even after everyone we knew died, he’d managed to maintain control. He was too strong to break down the way the rest of us tended to. Nothing could make Kellan crumble.
Or at least that was what I’d always thought.
“Keep them open,” the bald man said as he stepped behind me. “Both of you.”
My body jerked when his hands moved up my sides, but I couldn’t get away. I whimpered at the feel of his c
alloused palms on my skin as they moved, leaving behind a trail of fire that made my stomach lurch. Sobs shook my body, and tears rolled down my cheeks, growing even more intense when the man’s hands stopped at the underside of my breasts.
“This is your last chance,” he said.
“No.” The word was a hiccup on my lips.
“Regan,” Kellan begged. “I can’t—”
“You have to!” My head was jerked back, and I cried out. “They won’t let us go. You know it. They’ll kill us. They’ll kill everyone.”
One hand moved up to cup my right breast, and I screamed.
“We’ll let you go,” the bald man said. “I swear on my own life, which is the only thing I care about, that we’ll let you go. We only want the girl.”
“Regan,” Kellan hissed again.
“No!” I yelled as the other hand moved up.
I sobbed. No one had ever touched me before, and here I was, at the mercy of these men with no way out. I knew the things they would do to me, knew it would be a long, torturous process. They would make me suffer, and because of it, Kellan would suffer, too, but I couldn’t give in. Not when I knew what it would mean. Kellan would die, and so would Blake. Not me, though. They would keep me alive, and I knew it, and just like Harper, I would be a prisoner. Everyone in the shelter would die, too. Then my family would be gone.
The hands moved from my breasts, and the bald man stepped back. “Get her to her feet.”
I was jerked up by my ponytail, and a second later the bald man was in front of me. He yanked my belt free and tossed it aside, then undid my pants. Kellan screamed obscenities as they were pulled down to my knees. My body was shaking so badly that I would have collapsed had it not been for Dominic’s firm hold on my hair.
“Take her to the car,” the bald man said. “Bend her over so everyone can have a turn.”
I sobbed as I was dragged forward, my pants still around my knees and my feet tripping over each other. Dominic finally released my hair and shoved me forward, and my bare chest landed on the hot metal of the car’s hood, the only part of it peeking out from beneath the tree.
