But I’m not sorry the first gang is getting destroyed. If anyone deserves it, it’s them.
Eventually the gunfire peters out. Then the shouting does too. It’s weirdly quiet when I lift my head again and try to peek over the edge of the truck to see what’s happening.
People are milling around, checking the bodies of the gang who captured me. They’re all wearing Zorro-style masks. Maybe to protect their identity or maybe to add to the Silver Wolf’s mystique. They’re not all men. I do notice that much.
That’s a hopeful sign.
Maybe.
“She’s here,” one masked guy says, surprising me by coming around the other side of the truck from me. “I got her. She’s here.”
Sheis evidently me.
I’m more confused than ever.
The man is smiling as he opens the back flap of the truck and drags out two of the bodies that were blocking the exit. “Come on, darlin’. You can come out now.” He gestures with his hand. “It’s safe now.”
I raise myself to my knees and stare at him, but I don’t know this man, and I’m not his darlin’. I have no idea what’s going on.
Another man strides over. He’s big. He has a thick beard and is wearing a large silver mask rather than a black one like everyone else. This must be the Silver Wolf himself.
I grow very still as he stands beside the other man.
He stares at me through the eye holes. “Come on down,” he says in a gruff voice.
A voice I know. Iknow.
“You’re okay now,” he says, reaching a big hand in my direction.
A hand I know. Iknow.
I’m shaking as I make myself move, crawling awkwardly over and letting him pull me to the edge, lift me down to the ground, and untie my hands and feet.
I grab for his shirt because my legs won’t work.
“I… I don’t… I don’t un…” I can’t get words out. The world blurs around me again. I’ve been hiking in the rain all day. I’ve been punched, kidnapped, tossed around, and suffered through a not insignificant bump on the head.
Then this.
This.
Because that’s Cade. Right here. Sliding an arm around me as if he knows I’m about to slump over.
It’s Cade.
And that means…
He must be the Silver Wolf.
10
I don’t faint.
At least, I don’t think I do. I do slump, and my vision darkens. But I definitely don’t faint for real.
Since Cade’s arm is already around me, he holds me up for about thirty seconds. Embarrassed, upset, and bewildered, I try to pull away, but my knees wobble dangerously.
Without a word, he swings me up into his arms.
