The story of Eona washed over him, and he could have sworn he felt a gentle pulse beneath his palm, coming from the other side.
Chapter 27
Cade
He’d never had to don a mask this wicked before, but he wore it gratefully, for it would bring back his brother safe and sound.
It was a carefully crafted one, the kind that Jeb would have worn were he in charge of a mission gone awry. A mask of indifference—of utter cold—that Cade slid upon his soul.
The Deadlands night wind howled like a vicious wolf on the prowl, and whisked away the warmth that had been here earlier today as his prisoners worked.
Geisinger had only given him a few more days to complete the mission.
There were eyes across the stars, ones that would come to call, should they learn about the work.
Remember your part,Cade told himself, and calmed the furious shaking in his knees as he stared out at the horizon. From up so high, here on the loading dock, he should have felt like a king in this world.
Instead he felt sick as the prisoners continuing to cut into the mountainside far below.
“They’re late,” Rohtt said with a grunt now. He stood to Cade’s right, arms crossed over his chest, the picture of a military man who obeyed orders and didn’t ask questions. That was Rohtt’s way. It had never been Cade’s, until this job. “I told you not to get your hopes up, Kingston.”
He hated Rohtt.
He truly did.
But the man acted as Geisinger’s eyes and ears, and tonight Cade was grateful for the distraction.
Cade leaned forward, trying to get the feeling to return to his toes. All day, he’d paced upon this loading dock in the sky, waiting for a glimpse of the Devil. She’d left no way to contact her; and Cade knew she was out there somewhere, watching.
Free the prisoners,had been the Devil’s command.
Cade wouldn’t do it. Hecouldn’tdo it, not if they wanted to complete the mission on Geisinger’s time. His hands were tied. Geisinger would take Karr from him if he didn’t.
There was no winning when his brother’s life was being threatened on all sides.
Three soldiers stood to the right of the dock, three to the left, all of them armed.
Cade’snewprize for the Devil was the man now bound and kneeling on the loading dock, a dark sackcloth over his head. Jaxon, a part of her troupe. A criminal with crimes similar to Cade’s.
Queen Iridis had sworn that if Cade threatened him, the Devil would not destroy the rest of his plans. His work could go on, with fewer workers, fewer prisoners. But Geisinger would still get his Antheon. Cade would still get his payday. And Karr would still live out his future as rich and protected as a king.
It was the life he deserved, the one Cade had promised he’d give to him, long ago, when Karr was saved from the raiders and their knives.
“By nightfall,” Cade said now. He glanced to Rohtt, who held the imprisoned Jaxon in his grasp. “She said by nightfall, or Karr would die. What if we’ve made a mistake? What if she hasn’t seen our message?”
All day, they’d left Jaxon bound and fully visible on the loading dock, surrounded by guards. All day, Cade had paced, watching and waiting for a sign of the Devil.
He knew she was watching him, too, out there somewhere in the wilds.
Queen Iridis swore the Devil would come for Jaxon… But perhaps she was wrong.
Rohtt grunted. His eyes glittered darkly behind his visor. “Trickery. Bastards always think they can do things on their own terms.”
“Tisison their terms, you Wanderer buffoon,” the prisoner Jaxon said, his words muffled by the hood over his head. “You’d be wise to treat it as so. The Devil will kill you all, for what you’ve done.”
Rohtt slammed him in the back with the butt of his rifle.
Jaxon crumpled, his body bruised and battered from the countless beatings Rohtt had given him upon interrogation. The mites had done their job, taking the Dohrsaran to the edge of consciousness, countless times when Cade pressed the command button.
