“Cool. Okay. I’ll see you then.” His smile falters. “I hope Chad is all right. If I can do anything to help, just ask.”
“I will.”
I won’t.
I know Knight means well, but the last person Chad needs to be around is the son of the woman who incarcerated him. Even if Knight wasn’t involved and didn’t know, he will still be a reminder. Not sure how I’m going to manage it with both in my life, but it’s a problem for another day.
On instinct, I reach out and hug him. “I always wanted a brother or a sister,” I whisper in his ear. Of course, I have Emilie. But my cute little sister is only a baby. It’ll be nice to have siblings closer to my age. There is only a year between Knight and me, and I hope we become close. I like the idea of it a lot. “At least something good has come out of this whole mess.”
He hugs me close. “Now I know, you’ll always have me,” he whispers, and the warmth in my chest spreads to my entire body. “If there is anything you need, call me. Any time.”
I whisper another request. One the others had put the kibosh on. I figure it can’t hurt to ask.
“I’ll see what I can do,” he says.
“I hate to break this up,” Baz says, “but we’re on the clock.”
“Go.” Knight releases me. He fixes Jase with a stern look. “Keep her safe.”
“Always.” Jase grabs my hand, and we set out running after the others as they dart into the forest.
Jase casts quick glances at me as we run.
“What?”
“You like him.”
“I do. I know we don’t trust him yet, but my gut tells me he’s sincere.”
“I have always liked Knight, and I want to trust him, but we need to be careful. This could still be part of Rhett’s game plan. I really don’t think it is, but until we know for sure, we need to be smart.”
“You don’t think I should meet him?” I pant out, watching Ares reach out to steady Bree when she almost trips and face-plants the ground.
“I’m not saying that. Get to know your brother. Just be careful.” He chuckles when he sees the instant smile appearing on my face again. “You like having a brother.”
“I hated being an only child. You know this.” I often lamented to Chad and Jase how I wouldn’t feel so alone when Mom and Dad were off traveling if I’d had a sibling or two.
“You might change your tune when you meet Daria and Kylo.”
“They’re that bad?”
“Yes, but Paisley is a sweetheart. She’s most like Knight, and those two are close.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.” Not sure how I’m feeling about the other two, but I guess I’ll be meeting them at some point as well.
We slow down as we catch up to the others. Baz has his cell phone at eye level, and he’s looking through it as if it’s binoculars.
“What’s he doing?” I whisper, purposely keeping my voice low in case there are any guards prowling the vicinity.
Jase is typing out a message on his cell. “Scanning the area for guards,” he explains, chuckling when he spots the look of confusion on my face. “We have high-tech phones with tons of gadgets. It doubles up as binoculars when we need it.”
“I want one of those,” Ares says, taking the words right from my mouth.
“I’ll hook you both up with one.” Bree blows on her hands, rubbing them together as she jumps up and down to keep warm.
“The coast is clear,” Baz says, slipping his cell back in his pocket.
“Our contact has not responded to my last two messages.” Jase shares a troubled look with his brother.
