Though she tried to resist, her body betrayed her by relaxing into him. Her nose wrinkled at his scent, but she’d grown accustomed to it, and she felt better the second he touched her.
Closing her eyes, Callie fell asleep.
Chapter Sixteen
When the sunwas high in the sky, Lucien lifted the door of the storage unit and ushered Callie out. She stood in the sunshine, blinking against its dazzling radiance and waiting until her eyes adjusted so she could see again.
“I need you to stay here,” Lucien said.
“Where are you going?”
“If the guard changed during the night, I have to get to them before they see us on camera and call the police. I’ll be right back.”
Before she could reply, he was gone in a blur of motion. Her hand went to her heart as she took a step back and gawked at the place where she last saw him. He was definitely doing alotbetter than yesterday.
Shaking off her amazement over his speed, Callie returned to the storage unit and peered into the clear boxes labeled bedroom. When she spotted some clothing inside, she pulled down a couple of the boxes until reaching the ones she sought. She removed the lid and sifted through the clothes inside. She’d hoped to find something to wear, but it was all children’s clothes.
She put the lid back on the box and turned to examine the rest of them, but it was all sheets and blankets. She returned the boxed and retreated to the open doorway again.
She arrived there as Lucien returned. “Is everything okay?” she inquired.
“Yes. It was the same guard as last night. Apparently, he’s already left and come back, but his shift ends again soon.”
Callie nodded before gesturing to the unit behind her. “There’s nothing we can use for clothes.”
“We’ll go through some of the other units.”
“The poor guard is going to lose his job if we keep breaking into them.”
Lucien tilted his head to study her. “We’re running for our lives, and you’re concerned about his job?”
“Yes,” Callie replied more defensively than she intended. “He probably depends on this income to survive. Without it, he could lose his home or starve.”
Without thinking, Lucien ran his fingers down her cheek. Her eyes widened, but he couldn’t stop himself from touching her as he caressed the striking contours of her face before gripping her nape. He knew many kindhearted women, but for some reason, her kindness struck him as good instead of annoying.
“He won’t lose his job,” he assured her.
“You can’t know that.”
“No, I can’t, but I’m going to make sureyousurvive.”
Callie blinked at his words and the fervent tone accompanying them that made her almost believe they would make it through this. A part of herdidbelieve it, but the other part kept waiting for those monsters to show up, drag them back to that place, and destroy them.
She clasped the hand causing butterflies to erupt in her belly and pressed it against her cheek. “We’re going to survive.”
And then, realizing she was holding the hand of a vampire, she released it. He’d hurt her, but she was beginning to realize shelikedLucien.
Maybe she was going insane, or maybe she was an idiot, but she trusted him and had a lot of faith in him. She believed he would do everything he could to get them out of here; she hoped it would be enough. There was a small army of those things, and it was only the two of them.
“Did you call your friends?” she asked.
“No.” He wasn’t going to stay away from her any longer than necessary, even if it was for a five-minute phone call. “I’ll call them before we leave.”
“Did you ask the guard where we are?”
“Camden.”
“I’ve never been here before,” she murmured like it mattered.
