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"Weird-looking bearlike creatures with nasty claws and big teeth."
"Ah. Well, if you survived them, I think I might be able to."
"They wanted me alive, Rhoan." Or at least they had, before I'd actually managed to escape the main compound. "It's probably the only reason the orsini didn't actually kill me when I first escaped the cage."
Though their attempts at recapture, if that's what it had been, had felt bloody deadly.
"And you think those things are the reason for the sudden silence?"
"No. But it just doesn't feel right."
He strapped on his weapons, and slung a laser rifle over his shoulder. "Then let's go a-hunting."
I hesitated, ever so briefly. Rhoan smiled grimly. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?"
He didn't mean hunting orsini or whatever the hell else was out there. I looked down and began strapping on the weapons. "I have no choice."
"There's always a choice, no matter what the situation."
I snorted softly. "Like I had the choice of getting the unapproved fertility treatment? Like I have the choice of how it's going to affect me? Like I have a choice of becoming a guardian if it does affect me?"
"That's different."
"No, it's not." I finished strapping on the knife and one of the lasers. The second laser was a small palm model, and that I held. I had to admit, the press of cold metal against my skin felt oddly comforting. I straightened and met my brother's gaze. "I have to go back to that place and uncover what they were doing. For my own piece of mind, if nothing else."
His gaze searched mine, then he sighed softly. "You are such a stubborn bitch."
"Learned from the best," I said, with a smile.
He shook his head, then closed the van door and padded quietly over to the trees at the end of the cabin. I followed at his back, listening to the wind, to the sounds underneath it - or rather, the lack thereof - as I scanned the trees and the dappled shadows for any sound or sight of the orsini.
Nothing.
No sound, no movement, no misshapen bear things or any other creature, nasty or not. The bush was a strange and silent place, and the sensation that something was wrong continued to scratch at my nerves.
We circled right around the property and all its building, and came to a stop near our starting point. "You'd better go get some rest."
"Rhoan - "
"Riley, you look dead on your feet. Just let me do what I'm paid to do, without arguing for a change."
I blew out a breath, then nodded. Truth was, I did need to sleep, though I very much doubted I'd be able to when in two hours' time I'd be heading back to a place that had snatched eight days of my life away. But that wasn't the reason I couldn't force my feet toward the cabin. It was the silence. The creeping sensation that something was near.
"Why do you think Kade is being allowed on this mission?" I asked instead, my gaze on the nearby trees.
"Because Jack knows his history and has every confidence he can handle it." Rhoan shrugged. "And we need the extra manpower."
"So you haven't seen his file?"
"No. And no, I'm not going to steal it for you. If you want to uncover his history, ask the man."
"I did. He said he was a builder."
"The horse-shifter is as much a builder as I am straight." Amusement twinkled in his grey eyes "Now, stop delaying. Get inside and rest."
I scanned the trees a final time, finding no hint of danger or anything out of place. There was nothing around, nothing to explain the apprehension crawling across my skin.
It was probably just the fear of returning to the testing grounds - or whatever the hell that place was - that was making me so jumpy. After another hesitation, I turned and headed for the room.
