Page 103 of Red

His words change nothing; Stark wants me to be holed up in this house, waiting while everyone else goes to fight against the people who took Pratt away from me.

“I’ll see him when this is done.”

“Maybe see him now?” He starts to retreat as tingles spread across my skin. I look into the dark woods.

You’re going to have to show her one day, Jocko says to Stark through his thoughts. Maybe now is a good time.

What is Jocko talking about? I can’t believe he came to break the ice. I know it wasn’t Stark’s idea—it’s not his style. He doesn’t care for people’s boundaries.

Stark appears at the side of a tree as Jocko’s thoughts fade off.

“You’re not convincing me not to go, and I’m not letting you hold me hostage.”

His hand grips his neck. “I can’t have you out there. You can go if you promise to stay in the SUV.”

“Fine.” I stare up at him. But there’s no way I’m staying in the damn SUV. If it makes him less worried, then I can tell him what he wants to hear.

“You’re mine. There’s no changing it.”

I sink to perch on the edge of the bumper and nod. “I know. I didn’t mean it.” I’m tired of feeling alone, even when connected to someone else.

I reach my hand out and pull him closer, leaning my head against his stomach muscles, I sigh. If I showed him my truth, what if he told someone by accident? What if he thought about it at the wrong time? When if he doesn’t believe the stories and legends about sacrifice and wants to tell everyone the truth? There are too many scenarios that all end up with me or both of us dead. I’ve been isolated my whole grown life, and I will survive the loneliness with him beside me.

He pulls up on my arms, and I stand from my seat on the bumper. “There’s only you, Red. All this might go wrong, and I need you to be here when it’s over.”

“Okay. I promise I’ll be here. You need to come back too.” I kiss him.

“Promise.”

The night stretches on as I spend it listening to the hustle of everyone getting ready. I’ve gone through the plan at least fifty times, including possible scenarios of things going wrong. I have no intentions of turning; our job is to get in and get out. Stark will be out on the front lines where the humans have posts stationed. As long as our first task goes smoothly, I can freak about that after.

Chapter 29

“Ready?” Nikolas walks over to the trunk carrying a large box, dressed in dark clothes.

“Yup.”

Kiya carries over two more boxes stacked so that they reach her chin.

“How safe is this?” I ask, looking at the wires coming out of one box.

“If we don’t crash, we’ll be okay,” she says.

“Good to know,” I say, climbing into the driver’s seat.

Nikolas gets in and slides the seat back to fit his legs.

“Sorry, it’s not designed for a werewolf.”

“It’s why we’re using it,” Kiya adds.

I pull out and see lines of werewolves forming at the house, all varying in height. Most are going on foot to the other side of the camp for daylight.

While we drive, Kiya goes over the plan and each of our jobs. Nikolas is here to help with the weight of the wire. We can only get so close driving, so we’ll have to carry it the rest of the way. Plus, like Pratt and Stark, he has more experience in fighting humans. Not that experience is always enough.

I grip the steering wheel and practice being cool. I need our human heat signatures to be low. Of course, only so low—though me glowing whiter than a fire’s core is not going to help if someone turns their scope in the right direction.

A few hours later, we turn off the main road, and I slow the car to crawl for the narrow trail. The tires spinning in the deep mud, and I switch us into four-wheel drive. The boxes in the trunk thud as we heave over a bump.