“Are you bringing her for me?” I’d whisper-hissed, righteous indignation rippling over me and prickling my fingertips.
Luka’s smile had softened. “Yes, but not for the reasons you seem to think. We don’t expect to run into any trouble. The satellite images showed no heat signatures anywhere near this particular area. However, none of us have any idea of what to look for in the lab. We need someone who understands medical jargon. I know a little bit, but not nearly enough to be useful.”
Oh.
Now the car door groans like a dying animal as I push it open, the humid air of Noth territory clinging to my skin like a secondlayer of clothing. It's thick, heavy, and suffocating, the feeling reminiscent of breathing underwater. My boots sink into the soft earth as I step out, making a sucking sound that echoes in the sudden silence.
The bindings around my chest are tight, constricting. I hate that I have to don my “Teddie” persona after days of not needing it in the safety of my mates’ tent.
Stupid boobs. It’s all your fault.
Ridge emerges from the driver's side, his pine-and-leather scent cutting through the thick air like a knife. It's clean, sharp, and everything this territory isn't. He scans the surroundings with practiced precision before his gaze lands on the contingent of soldiers he brought with us. Ten men, all armed, all standing at attention, awaiting their fearless leader’s orders.
Is it wrong that I find the way he commands the soldiers sexy? That I love watching them quiver in fear when he stares at them for too long?
Probably.
I make a mental note to speak to my therapist about this.
“Hide the vehicles,” Ridge commands them, his voice leaving no room for argument. “We proceed on foot from here.”
The men work efficiently to camouflage our transportation under branches and foliage. They move like shadows themselves, disappearing into the landscape as if they were born to it.
My other mates emerge from the car—Colter, his massive frame casting a long shadow in the fading light, his muscles rippling under his tactical gear; Luka, already studying a topographicalmap with intense focus, his brow furrowed in concentration; and Kylian, whose eyes find mine immediately, his gaze a physical touch that sends shivers down my spine despite the oppressive heat.
“The lab is two miles northeast.” Ridge points toward a dense thicket of trees that looks impenetrable. “We'll make camp in the clearing just beyond that ridge. Scout team will confirm the lab is abandoned before we approach tomorrow.”
As we walk, the forest seems to close in around us, the twisted branches like skeletal fingers reaching for the sky, knotted and gnarled.
Noth territory has always unsettled me, even before we officially declared war on them this time around. There's something wrong here, something ancient and malevolent that seeps into the soil and the water and the very air we breathe. The trees grow in unnatural patterns, their bark darkened as if burned from within. The silence is too complete—no birds, no insects, just the sound of our own breathing and the crunch of leaves under our boots.
Maybe I’m being dramatic. Maybe. But…
But something just doesn’t seemrightabout this place. Then again, nothing about the Noths seems right.
Resentment ferments in the dark corners of my heart.
They’re the ones who started this war.
They’re the ones who killed my people.
They’re the ones who kidnapped and tortured me.
And for what? I still don’t know their motive or what they’d hoped to get out of that. What had they wanted me to confess on camera?
Stop thinking about this, Brylee.
I mentally slam the door on all those macabre thoughts and fortify it with steel.
The clearing Ridge leads us to is small but defensible, surrounded by thick undergrowth that provides natural cover.
The soldiers immediately begin setting up tents and organizing supplies, their movements efficient and practiced. They've done this a hundred times before.
Will this be me down the road? Do I even want it to be? Is it even possible, given my position and status?
“Brylee.” Ridge’s low, husky voice—intended for only my ears—sends goose bumps skating down my arms. “You'll take the center tent with Luka and me. Colter and Kylian will take the one to our right.”
A flush of heat washes through me, and I pray the scent suppressant I took this morning will hold even with my hormones counteracting it. But damn, these men…
