Zara leaned back and stretched out her arms. Her dark hair fell down around her shoulders. “I have bandages and antiseptic ready.”
Anya nodded. Her red hair caught the light and shimmered while her green eyes were dark with worry. “I have blankets and more bandages ready.”
“I already organized the thread in case we need to stitch anyone up,” Noni murmured, caught by the sheer oddity of the entire conversation. “Life has gotten way too weird.”
“Amen, sister,” Anya said, her gaze catching on the sparkles. “Want to dish about the ring? That wasn’t there yesterday.”
Heat blasted into Noni’s face, and she quickly put it on her other finger. “Denver gave it to me, put it on my right hand, and said it was a promise.” He had not proposed marriage. She’d just wanted to see what it’d look like on her other finger. “It’s my favorite stone.”
“The diamonds are pretty, too.” Zara pushed her uneaten brownie away. “This is excruciating. I can’t even call in to Montana because they’ve gone all dark again since the raid started. My granny and her fiancé are there.”
“Montana sounds nice,” Noni said, wanting to talk about anything but the raid. How shocking to already trust these two women as much as she had anybody. They were truly bonded in what was happening.
Zara shrugged. “Sounds nice. Haven’t been there.” She looked at a pretty ring on her engagement finger. “Maybe we should all get hitched there. You know, have a triple wedding.”
“I’m not engaged,” Noni reminded her, trying really hard to ignore the pang in her heart from those words. “Not even close.”
Anya shoved her hair away from her face. “A promise is a start. Zara got engaged twice to Ryker, right?”
Zara nodded. “Yeah. Well, he asked twice and I said yes twice, so it’s all good. He really wanted to get it right.” Love lit up her entire face.
Noni tried to not be a little jealous. Plus, it wasn’t like she couldn’t ask Denver if she was so inclined.
The lights went out.
Noni jumped up from the table, her gaze swinging around in the darkness. “What just happened?”
A chair scraped. “It’s the storm,” Zara said, her voice shaking a little.
Something rumbled, and the lights flickered and turned back on a bit dimmer than before.
Anya rushed over to the door leading to a wide deck and checked the monitor next to it. “The alarm is still activated.” She turned and looked at them, her green eyes wide. “I think it’s just the weather, and the backup generators kicked in. That makes sense, right?”
A chill slithered down Noni’s spine. “Yes. That definitely makes sense.” As if in agreement, the wind howled outside, scattering icy snow against the windows. “If the alarm is still blinking green, I think we’re okay.” She hoped.
Zara started to move toward the living room. “Let’s bank the fire and get it roaring. Then we’ll find some candles and flashlights in case the generator has problems.” She kept walking toward the already roaring fire and pointed to the huge stack of logs next to it. “We’re prepared for the entire night and just have to keep it stoked and loaded with wood.”
Noni followed her. “I think we should all get our guns, too.”
Zara pulled hers out from behind her back. “I have mine.”
Anya looked at Noni. “Mine is in the bedroom.”
“Mine too.” Noni really hadn’t been expecting trouble.
Anya reached her and slid an arm around her. “Let’s go together.”
Good plan. Definitely a good plan.
Isobel Madison moved away from her lab samples to concentrate more fully on the monitor in the corner of her smallest lab, annoyed by the lights going out again. The weather in Boise wasn’t supposed to be this extreme, and yet it was the third time in a month that her systems had been forced to switch to generators. It was fortuitous that the generators were top notch, because she held all of her important frozen genetic samples here. “Say that again.”
Soldier Matthias leaned closer to the camera on his phone, his face larger on the monitor, his dark eyes serious. “I think I’ve found the Gray brothers, and I’ve just e-mailed you plans of the entire property in Montana.” Snow swirled around him, the wind lifting his black hair.
She tapped her foot on the concrete floor, found the e-mail, and printed out the materials. Anticipation flowed through her veins, giving her a nice buzz. “Do you have a visual?”
“Negative,” he said, his breath steaming in the air. “I scouted around the town all day today, and there’s a new subdivision privately owned. I walked it, and they have impressive security even on the outer ridges.”
Isobel enjoyed the heat that flushed through her. That was anticipation with maybe a hint of excitement. “So Montana it is.” That silly Noni had given her the correct state, now, hadn’t she? The Gray boys, those sweet soldiers she’d raised from birth, had sought refuge in the wilds of Montana. How adorable. To even think that she wouldn’t find them was silly.
