Brie collapsed onto the van’s floor and stared at the ceiling as she tried to calm the adrenaline flooding her body. With a hand that felt like rubber, she felt along the front of her windbreaker and to the interior pocket that she’d reinforced with more stitching.
Still, after everything happened, there was a chance…
It’s still there!Her hand fell away when she felt the stone tucked securely within.It’s still there.
She closed her eyes against the relief flooding her. It would have been a complete disaster if she’d somehow managed to lose the stone, especially if she lost it in the parking lot where the Savages could find it.
But she still had it. Despite the mess it had turned into, she’d succeeded in her mission. She’d gotten what they returned to the city for, and now they had to get it to safety. She was still trying to catch her breath when she opened her eyes to discover Cabo looming over her.
The dim glow of the cargo light illuminated his dark brown skin, goatee, bald head, and troubled eyes the color of chocolate. Standing at six foot four and two hundred and fifty pounds, the vamp always made her feel small, but she felt minuscule while lying on her back as he stood above her.
“Get yourself into some trouble?” he asked in his deep, rumbling voice.
“Just a little bit.”
He held his hand out to her, but she was too weak to lift her arm and take it. When he bent lower, she managed to get her hand up enough to clasp it. She groaned as he pulled her into a sitting position; every part of her body ached from the run and the fight.
It would fade soon, but right now, all she wanted was a hot bath, some blood, and a good romance novel to take her mind off everything that happened and the shitstorm sure to follow. Leaning against the back wall, she scowled at the hunter who’d thrown such a wrench into her plans.
“What are we going to do with him?” Cabo asked. “Do we have to kill him?”
“He’s not the enemy,” she said.
“Are you sure about that?”
She’d never been more sure of anything, but that didn’t mean she trusted him, or he wouldn’t be a problem.
“Yes,” she said. “Do we have some rope?”
“If he’s not the enemy, then why are we tying him up?”
“Just because he’s not the enemy doesn’t mean he won’t get in our way. I can’t take that chance.”
“Should we leave him somewhere? Maybe throw him out on the side of the road, far from home and any other civilization.”
Brie contemplated this as she studied the hunter. They couldn’t abandon him anywhere in this condition. They’d just gotten away from a group of Savages, but there could be more of them out there, and they had no idea when this man would wake up.
“No. We can’t put him out like this.”
“You’re the boss,” Cabo muttered.
“I hate when you call me that.”
Cabo chuckled as he turned away. “Then stop being so bossy.”
She glowered at his back while scooting closer to the hunter. If it weren’t for his chest’s subtle rise and fall, she would have believed him dead as he remained lying facedown. His head was turned away from her, but she didn’t think he was faking still being out.
Kneeling at his side, she searched his pockets for an ID or a phone. She discovered fifty dollars and a credit card with the name of J.D. Jones on it. She wasn’t surprised by the lack of ID and highly doubted his name was J.D.
She shoved the money and card back in his pocket but kept his phone. Resting her fingers against his neck, she was reassured by the steady thump of his pulse beneath them. He’d have a headache when he woke, but he’d wake.
Cabo searched through one of the duffel bags that had slid back against the wall. Other than the three of them, the two duffel bags were the only other things in the back of the van.
“Everything okay back there?” Zina called from the driver’s seat.
“They’re great!” Brie assured her friend.
Cabo removed some rope from the bag and returned to kneel beside her and the hunter. Ignoring the protest of her bruised body, Brie helped him tie the hunter’s wrists and ankles together.
