“Yeah,” I say, nodding as I force a smile. “I didn’t sleep well last night, and my stomach has been a bit off.”
“Okay,” Scarlett says, smiling and giving me a quick hug. “I’m so happy we got to have a talk and get to know each other. You rest up.”
“Thank you for the clothes,” I reply, getting up to walk Scarlett to the door. “It’s really thoughtful of you.”
“Don’t mention it,” she says, giving me another quick hug. “And you take care, okay? Let me know if there’s anything else you want to talk about, and I’ll be here in a jiffy to help you out, especially if you’re unwell.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I mutter. “Just tired.”
“Uh-huh,” Scarlett says, a little coyly. Her eyes flick downward to my belly, and she smiles, giving me a little wink.
“Anything you need,” she says. “Just call.”
I watch her get into the car and drive away, frozen in the doorway, one hand on the doorknob, the other on my belly.
Jesus, no. Not this. Not now!
Chapter 15 - Brad
Heading back towards Eccles, I feel exhausted in a way I never have before. It’s bone-deep, physical as well as mental. Worse than anything I’ve ever experienced, even on tough missions.
Never had an ancient, unnamed entity stalking me and my loved ones, that’s for damn sure.
It doesn’t help that the science guys have no new information on Anomaly Eight. They have geologists, archaeologists, sorcerers, wizards, and even some experts on old religions out at the rock, but no one can get a clue on our snake. Our military units patrol through the mountains where the heat signature is most often, but the commanders have ordered that no one move into range of the thing in case it incinerates them where they stand.
This meeting with Rex and the other boys shook me quite a bit, because I had to hold in my thoughts on Alisha’s dream.
I grip the steering wheel a bit tighter and clench my teeth as I push the truck a bit faster along the old dirt track.
It was just a dream. They don’t need to know about it.
I’m kidding myself, and I know it. Alisha definitely dreamed about the snake—I’m sure of it. Cross-examining our own feelings is a vital skill for black ops work, and I can’t hide this fact from myself.
Even if I’m wrong, I have to consider the worst-case scenario, and that is that Alisha is somehow connected to this.
I let my mind flick away from the uncomfortable thoughts and go back over the meeting itself. The most important thing here is to focus on facts and our strategy.
Except we don’t have those, either.
I let out a groan of pain as I wipe my brow with the back of my hand. The sun is past noon, dropping towards the horizon, and blazing hot. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, and none of the surrounding shadows are long enough to bring relief.
I must have sweated out half my body weight today!
The meeting was held in one of the smaller military tents outside Rose Hollow and conducted by Commander Manning, an older Shadow who works directly under Sloan. His accommodations away from the main command center were nowhere near as comfortable as hers.
Manning had called us all in to get an understanding of what both packs were doing in response to the anomaly and the military presence. When we explained, they had pretty much forgotten about both; he didn’t accept the answers.
The way he kept pushing, it was like he knew something we didn’t.
The idea adds to my discomfort. If any of the townsfolk are harboring information that could help us, then we have traitors in our midst who are endangering innocent lives.
And potentially harnessing that fucking deity for their own ends.
Even though Manning grilled us for a while, especially me and Rex, he seemed satisfied that we didn’t have any new information. He made it clear that he wanted us to discreetly investigate everyone in town, asking the right questions and paying attention to where people go, especially if they frequent areas out of town.
This gave me the opportunity to ask for more patrols, which Manning happily agreed to. I’ve been insistent uponkeeping a tight border control from the beginning, but even more so now that I have Alisha to protect.
We can’t do any more than what we have, at least for now. So why do I feel like we’ve left ourselves wide open?
