Killean studied the smattering of stores lining the street. Most of them were dark, but a few had spotlights illuminating their signs. One was a fast food place, another a red barn converted into a gas station; there was also a barbeque restaurant and an antique store, but at this time of night they were all closed.
When the light turned green, Killean merged onto the four-lane road and headed west in search of a hotel. They were over forty miles from the campground, and with the many side roads he’d seen along the way, he felt confident the Savages wouldn’t be able to trace their route and track them.
“So, no one sent you; you came on your own?” Simone asked.
He didn’t know why she was so incessant on following this conversation, but he wished she’d let it go. “Yes.”
“Because of me?” she croaked.
“Foryou,” he muttered as he studied the buildings lining the road. There were more antique stores, restaurants, a doggy daycare, bait shop, and a few maple syrup stands.
“For me.” She ran the words over in her mind, but she had no idea what to make of them, but guilt stabbed her as she recalled thinking that if anyone was going to join the monsters holding her, it was him. She had no idea why he’d come for her, but it was obvious he didnotwant to be a part of Joseph’s group. “Why me?”
When the silence stretched on, Simone realized he didn’t plan on answering her. “Killean—”
“I have my reasons, and you won’t learn them. You’re free, be content with that.”
Her eyes narrowed on him. Simone had spent her entire life being seen and not heard; she’d accepted it, but she was tired of accepting things, and she did not want to accept them fromhim. The only problem was, she’d be arguing with a wall if she continued to push this, and there were other things she wished to discuss.
“When will we be going back for the other hunters?” she asked.
“Like our location tonight, I have no idea where they are.”
Simone felt as if he’d kicked her in the chest as a sob lodged in her throat.I have no idea where they are.Those words were as condemning as the hangman’s noose. “They can’t be found?” she whispered.
“No.”
“Could someone else in the Alliance find them?”
“No.”
Turning away from him, Simone took a few moments to compose herself so she didn’t burst into tears. He’d been uncomfortable around her gratitude; he’d probably open the door and fling himself out if she started crying. Besides, she wasn’t ready to give up; there had to be some hope for them.
“We have to find them and get them out.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Killean stated.
“What do you mean, that’s not going to happen?”
“Unless you know where you were kept, then finding the others isn’t going to happen.”
“Those Savages knocked me out before they took me from the stronghold,” she murmured. “I don’t remember anything until I woke in that place.”
“And I was stripped of my possessions, blindfolded, placed in a trunk, and driven around for hours before being taken to Joseph. I know as much about where they are as you do. Imightbe able to get back to the hall we escaped from, but I’m not taking you anywhere near those bastards again, and I doubt any of them are still there. The minute they captured those hunters, there was no saving them.”
“But I was saved.”
When his golden gaze swung toward her, the steeliness of it stole her breath. His arms had been warm and tender when he held her, but there was nothing tender about the ruthless man sitting beside her.
“Because I got lucky, and so did you,” he said. “Do you want to push your luck?”
“They’re my friends, my family…”
Her voice trailed off as she realized those hunters were as lost to her as the city of Atlantis, but she would grieve for them later, when she was alone and had time to give in to her emotions.
“Why did you take me from there and not one of them?” she asked.
Killean would not answer that question.
