My luck didn't run that way.
It seemed to take forever to reach the Colorado and New Mexico border, but it reality it had only taken a few hours. Darkness had fallen by the time we reached the small town Radhad sent us to. I stopped at the first campground we came to and rented a spot to camp for the night.
I wasn't sure how long we were going to be here, but I hoped it wasn't long. It wasn't that I didn't want to camp, but rather I didn't want to stay in one place for too long.
I didn't even set up the tent. I just unpacked a sleeping bag for Sy and had him stretch out on the backseat after feeding him something from the cooler.
It was better than hot dogs.
I pulled my jacket up over me, leaned my head back in my seat, and closed my eyes, but only for a few minutes. I doubted I would be able to sleep until Rad arrived. I was too keyed up.
The waiting was excruciating.
Chapter Eleven
~ Radalf ~
I leaned back against the bench seat and the wood slat wall behind me as I slowly took a sip of my beer. My eyes were pinned on the main door when they weren't scanning the interior of the roadside bar on the edge of town.
I was waiting and I had been waiting for nearly an hour, long enough to order and eat a burger and drink two beers. If the wait stretched out any longer, I'd be ordering beer number three.
Even as I watched the door, my mind was on Ajag and Sy, wondering if they had made it safely across the state line. While I had been assured that it would take time for the men in the SUVs to search the campground, I didn't know if that was the only team searching for Ajag.
Were there more out there?
If so, where were they?
Had they followed Ajag into New Mexico?
Did they even now have Ajag and Sy in their custody?
It wasn't like I could call and ask Ajag if they had reached the campground safely. I had ditched my phone after making a quick call to Ze'ev, warning him about the cell phone being tracked.
My eyes darted to the door when it opened and the light from outside filled the entryway. They narrowed as I scanned the tall man that filled that doorway, blocking out the light until the door closed behind him.
When he looked in my direction, I raised my beer before taking another sip. The man strode across the floor with a confidant air of a man that knew he could easily flatten anyone in the room.
When he slid into the booth seat across from me, I waved down a waitress and ordered another beer. Nothing was said between us until the beer was delivered and set in front of him.
"Elder Ridge recently discovered that another elder was using council resources to search for a man he deemed dangerous to all shifter kind," he started. "When pressed, Elder Payne admitted that the man he was hunting had kidnapped a small child and that it was the elder's desire to find the child and return him to his parents."
"Bullshit," I snapped quietly as I didn't want anyone to overhear us, but I couldn't keep the anger out of my voice. "Sy is Ajag's brother."
At least now I knew who was hunting Ajag.
Elder Payne.
"Why are you running with these guys, Val?"
Golden eyes flickered up to mine. "It was a request of Elder Ridge. He feels that there is more to the story than Elder Payne told him and asked me to go undercover as a council guard. I'm to report to him any news I find."
Fucking peachy.
"Does Elder Ridge know just how long Ajag has been on the run with his brother?" I asked. "Sy was a baby when this shit storm started. They've been moving from place to place, scared out of their minds every second of every day."
I wasn't sure it was my place to mention that part of that time Ajag and Sy had been held prisoner by Brass. I certainly wasn't going to mention how Brass had tortured Ajag.
"I need to talk to him, Rad. There are questions that need answers and I believe Ajag has those answers."
