Page 97 of Hide Little Traitor

A snicker slips into the burrito I’ve made for myself. “Seems it takes more than taking a bullet for you to get into your good graces, huh, Siren?”

Did I say that out loud?

“You sure did, Chlo.” Ronan chuckles, scooping me and all my blankets up from the bed. “You’re adorable when you’re sleepy and disgruntled.”

I crack one eye open to glare at him, but his pinched brows make me pause. “Did something happen?”

“Someone was in the forest,” he tells me as we move into the living room.

“You know those blankets don’t belong to us, right?” Kingston’s voice comes from the kitchen, and I tug the burrito down a little further to see him fully dressed in a dark suit.

“I don’t care. She’s warm, and it’s freezing outside.”

“Is she naked under there?” Damon asks, his words sounding both irritated and concerned.

“No, she’s wearing King’s shirt,” Ryker replies as he steps around us, our bags piled over his shoulders.

Damon pinches the bridge of his nose, muttering something about that making such a difference under his breath before stalking toward the front door with his own bags.

“I can walk,” I murmur. “We don’t have to take the blankets.”

Ronan shakes his head, dropping a soft kiss to the side of my head as he carries me toward the door. “We’ll be on the road for a while, so you can go back to sleep once we’re settled.”

“Where are we going?” I yawn.

“That’s to be determined, Mama,” Kingston replies. “Right now all that matters is getting out of here. We’ll make the rest of the plan on the road.”

“Is that safe? Isn’t leaving here just going to play into their hands?”

“It might, but we’re sitting ducks in the middle of nowhere. If they’re as advanced as we believe they are, they could take down the towers and block the roads. It’s better to be on the move where we can’t be ambushed.”

Ryker’s jaw tightens like he wants to argue, but he doesn’t, instead stepping out into the darkness.

The sun hasn’t even peeked out from the horizon yet, but if the brisk gust of air is anything to go by, it won’t be long.

Ronan carries me out next with Kingston and Damon trailing after us, and I burrow into the blankets despite telling them just moments ago I didn’t need them.

He slips into the back seat with me in his lap, while Ryker takes the other side. Kingston climbs behind the wheel, leaving Damon no other option than to ride shotgun.

It’ll be a miracle if the two of them don’t kill each other.

“She needs a seat belt,” Damon mutters as he climbs into the passenger seat.

My brows just about shoot into my hairline, but Ronan shifts me to the seat between him and Ryker and wraps the seat belt around me and all the blankets.

This is going to be a very weird road trip.

Imust fall asleep as soon as we pull away from the cabin because when I wake up again, we’re on a highway and the sun is up.

The soft hum of music fills the car, tempting me to close my eyes and go back to sleep, but when I glance at Ryker, I find him staring down at me.

“Were you watching me sleep again?” I murmur, my voice sounding too loud for the quiet car.

He smirks. “You already know the answer to that, Siren.”

I shake my head and turn to find Ronan asleep with his head against the window.

Glancing toward the front of the car, I meet Kingston’s eyes in the rearview mirror, and I fight the urge to look away. His intensity has always been overwhelming, but I refuse to allow anyone to intimidate me anymore.