Page 25 of Stolen

“Anytime.”

As she headed back to bed, she once more glimpsed Boomer’s brother out there, standing in the shadow of the wall, his weapon over his shoulder.

The man with no name, no identity. So sad, to only feel safe when one had erased oneself.

On impulse, she reheated some of the coffee left in the pot and found a travel mug to put it in. Then she re-wrapped a couple of the sandwiches in plastic, shrugged on her jacket, and took them outside.

When she got out near the gate, he said, without turning around, “You shouldn’t be out here. You’re a target, in that light-colored jacket.”

“I thought you might want coffee and a sandwich.”

He grunted something that might be thanks, or at least acquiescence. She put the food and mug down on the top of the wall, and then took her jacket off and turned it inside out, so only the dark lining was showing.

She said, “Do you mind if I stay out for a bit? Now that I’m not so much of a target?”

He glanced at her briefly. “If a sniper takes a shot at you, I’ll try to throw myself between you and the bullet.”

Was that a joke? Did he have a sense of humor? It was hard to tell.

Snipers didn’t snipe at night, anyway, did they? Unless there were lights. They’d deliberately left the outside lights off, so as not to interfere with the guards’ night vision. She said, “There’s nothing out here really, is there?”

He jerked his chin to the left. “Couple of rabbits going at it in the field. Owl just passed by overhead. Fox at the edge of the woods. Neighbors down the street were having a fight a while back. About the proper way to load the dishwasher.”

Wow. Even for a wolf, his senses were amazing. And his attention to detail. Ariana hitched herself up on the wall, focusing on the neighbors. “They can’t really have been fighting about that.”

Deadpan, he said, “There was something in there about vacuuming, too. As long as they don’t start shooting, it’s not a concern to me.”

Because she was his mission. Her and Hawk. “Thank you for coming and keeping watch.”

“It’s my job.” He turned his face to the night, and added, “Thanatos wants to make sure nobody kills you before he has a chance to find out everything you know.”

How comforting. She said, “You really know how to make a girl feel special, El Vigilante.”

That got a little huff of something related to laughter. In case he didn’t speak Spanish, she said, “That means Watcher. Protector.”

He said, “In English, a vigilante is someone who takes the law into their own hands—deals out their own brand of justice.”

She thought of Boomer inside, making illegal bombs to protect the town. “Then I think perhaps it still fits, no?”

She got a tiny softening of his mouth in reply to that remark. She had the feeling that was his version of a smile. “Maybe.” Then his gaze returned to the distance.

“This is our town,” he said. “We protect it however we can.” He jerked his head toward the house down the street. “If they start shooting each other, I’ll stop them. And if your brother rolls his army into town, I’ll stop him too. Whatever it takes.” He turned and looked directly at her.

“Because if he’s come this far, he won’t stop until one of you is dead. That means one of us is going to have to kill him. Maybe even Hawk—or you. Are you prepared for that?”

That chilled her. Hawk would never have asked her such a thing. It took a hard man like this to lay the cards on the table.

She answered him honestly. “I don’t know.”

He said, “You better figure it out. Especially if you have to kill him yourself.”

The words brought nightmare visions of her brother being cut down by bullets. Of herself holding the gun. The eyes of her brother on her, her brother who had been her companion, once upon a time. Blood running down his face, breath leaving his body.

And a huge, booming growl echoed in her mind. You think you will kill me, little sister? You will betray me further? You are a whore and a Jezebel, and you will pay. Just like the last woman who betrayed me.

And her mind filled with images—images filled with unimaginable pain and torment. Ariana fell into a maelstrom of agony, her surroundings disappearing until the only real thing was what she saw in her mind and felt in her body.

She took a shuddering breath and began to scream.