by Lizzy Ford
Chapter Eight
“WE’RE LEAVING IN forty-eight hours.” Brady’s voice awoke her from her uneasy doze a few hours later. Lana straightened in her seat on the couch, eyes following his powerful stride across the tent. He didn’t look at her.
“To where?” she asked.
“Not your concern.”
“Is Elise coming?”
“Yes,” he replied. “Everyone is going.”
She watched him to see if she could see where he kept the key fob she needed to enter the safe. It was near midnight. Her hands felt clammy, her nerves fluttering. He peeled the tac suit down to his waist, revealing a snug T-shirt beneath whose sleeves were tight around bulging biceps. He wore identification tags, and she looked closely without seeing the key fob. He’d changed since their incident on the couch, grown more distant. He was once again the rebel commander and not her Guardian.
“I’ll need the locations of all the emerops facilities in the morning,” he said.
“Very well,” she replied. She went to the kitchen to get a meal bar, nibbling on it as he settled near the trunks containing his gear. His back was to the living area as he pulled off every one of the dozen weapons he wore on his body and lined them up in front of him to start cleaning.
One of his knives had blood on the hilt.
“You killed someone,” she said in a hushed voice.
“That’s what happens when someone tries to kill me,” he said in bemusement.
“Doesn’t it bother you?”
“The choice is between him or me,” he glanced at her. “I don’t expect someone like you to understand.”
She frowned.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said without looking at her. “You killed a thousand people. I might be close, but I think you beat me.”
“I didn’t kill them. I couldn’t have known what was in his head,” she replied, agitated by his harsh words. “Or how far he’d go.”
“Greenie?”
She didn’t answer but returned to the couch, perching on the edge. She reached down with one hand to retrieve the baton.
“Not sure I believe someone like you. For all I know, you stole something that’ll cause your enemies to destroy my people,” he said. “You knew enough to escape.”
“Someone like me? Your performance on the couch makes me think you’re not above taking what you want, either,” she reminded him. Her face flamed with hurt anger. She’d thought the couch incident meant something to him, like it did her. If nothing else, she wanted to correct him about the Peak, to tell him she’d thought she’d been saving everyone on the mountain by taking the very keypads that might kill them in the hands of a traitor. Her mistake was not realizing Greenie had a back-up plan.
“I made a mistake.”
His words stung but bolstered her decision. She rose and approached him, the baton behind her back.
“Elise’s still pissed at you. Dan’s got her chained to a tree, she’s so mad,” Brady said.
Guilt and pity trickled through her as she thought of her friend. Elise had been loyal enough to help her. She didn’t deserve to be chained to a tree. Lana raised the baton when she was within arm’s reach and held it out.
“You probably won’t—”
The pulse that burst from the baton’s tip dropped him. Her heart soared, and she dropped it, kneeling beside him. She searched his pockets, surprised when she didn’t even find her micros in the cargo pocket where he’d kept them. There was no key fob, either.
“No, no, no!” she whispered, panicking.
She bounced to her feet and searched the dresser she’d already searched earlier. She retraced his steps since he entered, seeking anything she might have missed. She moved his weapons, pushed his heavy body out of the way to see if he hid them beneath one of his muscular thighs.
Nothing.
She stood and stared at the safe. She searched everything again then went to the kitchen, opening all the drawers and cabinets.
Brady groaned. Lana froze, turning to see him moving. He pushed himself up.
She knew Brady was merciless but hoped her Guardian wouldn’t kill her for this. Her hands began trembling, and she moved quickly to put one of the chairs in the living room between them. Brady straightened, the baton in hand. He drew a breath and looked at her.
“Next time, crank this up all the way. It’ll only drop a man half my size for five minutes. You see this button?” Despite his calm words, his gaze displayed his anger.
She looked where he indicated.
“Swipe your thumb over it once, and it stuns. Twice and it kills. Got it?”
He tossed the baton and approached her, glaring down at her with dark eyes as hard as his chiseled frame. She sucked in a breath and moved away, flinching as he pushed over the chair separating them. He didn’t grab her; he didn’t need to. He used his body to back her against the wall.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I’m just glad you didn’t know how to use it right,” he said. “You’re looking for this.” He held up the key fob in the space between them, close enough for her to grab, if she wanted.
“I have to have the vault,” she said, embarrassed by the desperation in her voice.
His gaze moved over her face, resting on her lips.
“Attacking me isn’t the right way to get it. I’m the only thing standing between you and whatever hell is chasing you.” He moved away, and she released her breath, resting her head against the cabinet in relief. She’d expected him to explode. Her gaze went to the safe again, the despair within her swirling.
“Brady, you said one night wasn’t enough,” she said. “I’d even … I’d even consider becoming your … companion.”
He stared at her then chuckled. “You say that like it’d be the worst thing you ever did.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be far off.”
“Women don’t normally dread climbing into bed with me. I’m sorry the idea is so repulsive to you.”
“Not repulsive,” she said. “I don’t think I could kill someone, and I’ve got nothing else to trade. And you’re the one who walked away from me earlier.”
“I was giving you a chance to reconsider. So you’d give yourself to me indefinitely in exchange for your tech toys?” he asked. She heard a note of hesitation alongside the consideration in his broken voice.
“Yes,” she said, confused about his on-off moods.
