Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64702 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Good. Because there’s no way around what comes next. It’s going to be a hard, bumpy ride through the rain, and we need to move quickly.”
“You could just windwalk me,” she says. “Maybe I’ll be okay. I do wear your mark.”
“I’m not willing to take that risk, Addie.” And to drive home that point, I exit the vehicle, focused on arming myself and getting us the hell out of here.
We have backup, Renegades at our front and rear, but sitting in one place makes us targets, and we’re not human as Addie is. She’s vulnerable, and it’s killing me right now.
I walk to the cabinets on the wall and yank one open; at the same time, a voice in my head is screaming—Lifebond with her. Make her GTECH. She’ll no longer be this damn vulnerable. But what else will I make her the process? The only thing I have any business doing is taking her to Sunrise City and then leaving, working for Caleb from a safe distance.
I yank another cabinet door open and locate body armor for Addie, telling myself to focus, agitated at where my thoughts keep going.
The truck door slams, and I turn to offer Addie the bodysuit.
“Put this on, and quickly,” I order. “I need you in this body armor and us on the road in the next five minutes.”
“It’s huge,” she observes, eyeing the bodysuit made for a man three times her size.
“We’ll make it work,” I assure her, trying not to think about the damn Green Hornets. “I want you as protected as you can be out there.”
Trepidation flashes in Addie’s face, as if she understands what I’m telling her. Nothing good is waiting for us in that canyon, but there’s no other way to get where we’re going.
She struggles into the suit, and any other time, I’d laugh at the giant monstrosity on her. But not now. Now is about life and death. Her life and death. I bend down, rolling up the too-long legs and sliding the zippers into place. When I push to my feet, my hands are on her waist, and suddenly, we’re staring at each other, too many damn words lodged in my throat, wanting to escape. So much I want to say to her, but now is not the time. There may never be a time. I look away. She does the same.
But then somehow, our gazes collide again. “I know I’ve said this, but I have to say it again. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I know that now,” she says softly. “You just couldn’t help it.” She laughs a choked laugh. “That’s why my mother warned me never to fall in love with a soldier. Because it hurts.”
I go completely, utterly still. She loves me? Did she just say she loves me? Because I fucking love the hell out of her. “Addie—”
A loud crash sounds on the roof, followed by another and another. The radio on my phone buzzes and blasts a warning. “A dozen Zodius, and double that in wolves,” Jensen alerts. “Come out blazing, and do it now.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Creed
“We’ll be okay,” I vow, kissing Addie hard and fast. “Do exactly as I say, sweetheart, when I say it, and we’ll be okay.” She nods, terror in her eyes, as I fit a helmet on her head. I grab one for myself and have us both on a bike in seconds.
I crank the engine, hit the remote for the doors, and then we’re flying through the exit. And despite my instinct to use the wind as a shield, I restrain myself. Anything I use against the Zodius at this point, with no bearings whatsoever, I might be using on the Renegades as well.
The instant we clear the building, rain envelopes us, blurring my vision. Julian’s damn pet wolves lunge at us from all directions, forcing me to swerve left and right. Addie screams as they nip at her feet, and I’m damn glad she’s in that armor.
I cut and swerve, unable to reach for a weapon and still control the bike. The wolves are on the right, left, front, and back, but there are no bullets. The Zodius won’t dare shoot one of those wolves for fear Julian will kill them. I throw out a wind shield just beyond the bike, holding them back enough to break free and pull away.
The instant we hit the edge of the canyon, I rev the engine and blast past a cluster of trees. Gunfire is our new enemy, canvassing our path. I throw up another wind shield, erecting a barrier until it falls, then repeating.
But the bullets keep fucking coming, and in an unprotected moment, a spray of bullets pierce the tire of the bike. Time stands still as the bike skids from beneath us, and all I have on my mind is Addie, protecting Addie. But the wind is one with me; it protects me, and it protects Addie, cradling our fall and creating a soft cushion over the ground.