“Will we get to see him and Josh soon?” Timothy asks.
“When are you planning on leaving for High Hope?”
“In three days,” I say. “We’ll travel through a town called Rifle, then cross the Colorado River.” High Hope is located in an area called Grand Mesa, about five days from Unity if we make the journey on horseback.
“River and Josh will set a course for High Hope,” Helena says. “They will meet you there, though it’s hard to say when exactly. Lyla will be waiting for you there.”
I smile. “I can’t wait to see them again.”
“River and I want you to be careful on your journey. The roads are even less safe than usual.”
“I will join him,” Timothy says, “and we will be accompanied by a small force to not draw attention.”
“Good,” Helena says, sounding less clear. “River says that Josh would like to know if Caden will be joining you.”
I shift uneasily in my chair. “Maybe. I’ll speak with him again.”
“I’m afraid we will need to finish this conversation,” Helena says faintly. “Your primitive means of communication are straining my resources.”
“Thank you for talking to us. Tell River and Josh that—”
The beeping sound returns, meaning Helena is no longer with us. Timothy places one of his palms on my leg. “We will soon see our friends again.”
I nod, knowing it won’t be the same without Caden. “Let’s head back. I need to have a conversation.”
Chapter 6
Caden
I manage to avoid his kick, but before I can throw a punch at his face, he kicks again and hits my ribs. Even with the protective gear, the sharp pain knocks the air out of me. I grunt and lunge, but I misjudge my kick, and Adam easily jumps back.
“What the hell are you doing, Anderson? Focus.”
He’s right. “Sorry.”
Adam goes harder, teaching me a lesson. I withstand his punches and focus on keeping my cool through the pain, showing him I can think before I act. He used to give me shit when I was a cadet. As a captain, I don’t need to come here for training, but as the man who recently lost his squad, I need to challenge both my mind and body.
“Someone’s looking at you,” Adam says while we both stand with our fists raised, waiting for an opening.
“Who?”
“Someone who seems into you.”
“You’ll have to narrow it down.”
He snickers, then lunges, but I shift in time. I take my chance to punch at his ribs. He hisses and hops back. Now I can see who he was talking about, even though I knew it was Finn.
Adam’s next attack is brutal, but I push through the pain until he makes a mistake. I’m on him like a raging lion, and in less than a minute, he calls for me to stop.
“Bastard,” he pants and throws his boxing gloves onto the mattress. “No crowd next time. You get off on that.”
I remove my gloves to shake his hand, both of us grimacing and dripping sweat. I’m only wearing training shorts and protective gear that I’m happy to take off because it itches.
Before I can turn to leave, Adam grabs my arm and quietly says, “I know you think you can control everything, but you can’t. What happened to your squad was terrible, but some things are beyond our control. I’ll be here if you need to blow off steam, but at some point, you’ll need to shake it off and move on.”
I appreciate his words, but he doesn’t know exactly what happened, how my squad was wiped out without firing a single shot. I walk away from the training area to meet Finn, who’s standing next to the locker room, holding a bottle of water.
“For me?”
