“I didn’t see that coming,” she murmured. “It’s so frustrating only to get glimpses but not the whole scenario.”
Asher imagined it would be infuriating. Grasping her chin, he lifted her head, so she had to look at him. “You’re doing the best you can, and if you already have seven stones, then you’re doing pretty awesome.”
Brie stared at him as her irritation fell away, and she found herself getting lost in the gold flecks of his eyes. His words warmed her soul but didn’t ease the tension growing inside her.
Shehadto get that stone. They were so close her fingers itched to touch it, to put it in her pocket and whisk it far away from here. It should be locked away somewhere safe.
“Thank you,” she murmured and again dropped her gaze to his ankles.
Asher couldn’t resist stroking the stubborn set of her chin before releasing her. He’d really like to draw her close and kiss her, but considering she was still muttering curses as she jerked at his bindings, he didn’t think that would go over too well.
He rubbed his wrists together and smiled over being able to move them so freely again. “Can we park on the side of the road and walk through the woods from somewhere?” he suggested.
“This is the kind of town where that will be noticed,” Zina replied.
Brie finished untying his ankles and pulled the ropes away. She almost leaned closer to him but edged back toward the opening in the middle.
“Thank you,” Asher said as he stretched his legs out and groaned while flexing his toes.
A stab of regret shot through her. She knew what it was like to be captured and bound, and while her imprisonment had been far worse than his, it was still an awful feeling to be at the mercy of others.
“I’m sorry we had to do that to you,” she said. “It’s not… it shouldneverbe done to another.”
Asher frowned when her eyes flicked away from his. His gaze fell to the scars on her wrists. Had ropes caused those?
He doubted she’d give him the answers, but he’d never been more curious about anything in his life. He was eager to know everything about this woman, and if whoever harmed her was still alive, he’d kill them.
The vehemency of that thought, and the certainty accompanying it, was a little startling. He was a killer, but he’d never felt as murderous as he did right then.
He lifted his eyes to her face, she wasn’t paying attention to him, but he drank in every nuance of her. Why did she affect him so strongly? He didn’t know the answer, but he would find out and get closer to her.
“You did what you had to do,” he assured her. “If our roles had been reversed, I would have done the same.”
“Hmm,” Brie murmured.
Leaning against the doorway, Brie rested her head on the side of Cabo’s seat as she stared out the windshield. This was a small setback; she’d experienced hundreds of them over the years, and most were far worse than this. She would get the stone and get through this too.
“There’s a gas station up ahead,” Cabo said. “Pull in there, and we’ll pull up a map of the town on our phones. Park in the back, by those air hoses.”
Zina turned on the blinker and pulled into the gas station.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Asher leanedover Brie’s shoulder as she pulled up a map of the small town. “Where’s my phone, by the way?” he asked.
“Somewhere on the side of the road in Boston,” Zina said as she studied her phone.
This answer didn’t surprise him. He wasn’t happy about it, but he would have done the same.
“Here,” Brie said as she placed her phone in the middle of the floor. Cabo, Zina, and Asher leaned closer to examine the screen as she pointed at North Street.
“And here’s the woods behind the house,” Cabo said, pointing beyond the cul-de-sac.
The forest took up a good chunk of land, but a few side roads ran through and along with it. She doubted any of them would be a better place to park as they all looked like residential neighborhoods.
“Here,” Cabo said and pointed at one of the streets as he placed his phone down. “There’s a grocery store and other businesses here. We can park behind the buildings, and you can cut through the woods to get to North Street again. No one will know you’re there.”
It was only about a mile trek back to the neighborhood, and no one would be suspicious of a white van behind a grocery store. “Sounds good,” Brie said.
