My time to worry about replenishing the dust is gone, no matter what clue Dane thinks there might be.
I can’t go to another safe house. I need to get tothatsafe house. Sig will be waiting for me, and if something goes wrong, if he catches me trying to take the dust, I need the backup.
I have to get out of this.
I pull back on his hand a little harder. “But I wanted to take a break from searching for a night.”
His hand squeezes mine then quickly releases, but his steps don’t falter as he chuckles softly. “We don’t have to do anything tonight. We can search in the morning.”
Fuck.
This isn’t working. My mind races, trying to come up with a new excuse, one that won’t seem too obvious.
“I just think it would be nice being near the beach, listening to the waves. You helped me get over my fear there.” I hold my breath, hoping the sentimentality will convince him.
Dane didn’t help me get over my fear of the water. Weston did. All Dane did that night was shower me with extraordinary experiences, then feed me lies to keep me under his control.
He stops abruptly and I almost run into him, but he doesn’t notice. He weaves his fingers through mine and gazes down at me. “I just thought you wanted to be alone, and this one is secluded. No one will bother us.”
Panic.
Sheer panic floods my body.
He’s not taking any of my bait, only giving me solutions I should have no problem agreeing to. Denying an idea for replenishing the dust after spending the last two days tirelessly searching for answers would not fit the narrative I’ve woven since I’ve been back at camp. If I fight him any more, he might think something is wrong, that I’m up to something.
But if I don’t, everything will go wrong.
All I can do is smile, which he returns before stepping forward again and tugging me along.
“We need to hurry. We’re losing daylight.”
“Lead the way,” I say, doing everything in my power to keep my voice steady.
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
Sig does not know where Dane is about to take me, and I have no way of communicating with her. No one should be following me after I told her to trust me, and dread fills my stomach as I curse myself for forcing that.
What is she going to think when I don’t show up at the safe house? Is she going to think something happened? Will she think Dane took me somewhere else?
Or is she going to think I double crossed her?
Sweat coats my palms, and my hand slides in Dane’s as we walk. He doesn’t seem to notice, but I feel as if my body is on fire.
Everything is going wrong.
This entire plan, so meticulously crafted, has been turned upside down.
I didn’t find how to replenish the dust, and now I am not at our designated location.
I’m alone.
No one knows where I am.
Using the same calming technique as when I shoot, I inhale deeply through my nose and let it out of my mouth, trying to slow the pounding of my heart.
At least I still have my dagger, even if I don’t have Sig there with me.
