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And at the exact moment she passed by one of those barred windows, she saw him. Light hair, cold features, a sick smile that she’d once looked to for comfort.
Joseph Greene.
Right. Freaking. There.
An overwhelming desire to screw the plan, climb the wall, and stab him in the neck overtook her. So what if more officers would swarm? Joseph Greene would be dead. So what if she wound up leaving this world a bit earlier than expected? Greene would never harm another girl again. Wasn’t that all that mattered to her?
Her stomach twisted into a knot. No, no it wasn’t. Without her even realizing it, something else had begun to matter.
Hayden.
Her mind drifted to their fight at the cabin, after he’d killed that man and saved her life. The tortured expression he wore when he begged her not to let her desire for revenge cost her her life. Anna was pretty sure that was first time someone had cared about her as a person rather than a utility, the first time she genuinely felt like someone had her back.
As much as she wanted this, wanted Greene dead, she was going to do it the right way. A way that wouldn’t end up with her getting needlessly killed. A way that wouldn’t involve Hayden losing anything else to the sick fuck who happened to sire him.
They would do this the right way. Together.
Ignoring the thirst for revenge, she moved on, not wanting to linger too long at the window and draw attention. Instead, she returned to the surrounding village, town, whatever it was, and started up small, harmless conversations with the locals.
She needed to know how many sympathizers were out there, how many possible allies she and the others would have. Hours flew by, plenty of information flowing from the mouths of those around her. She couldn’t help but wish Hayden was here to absorb everything and make sense of it. Not that Anna wasn’t able to do a lot herself, but that man was gifted when it came to reading people and situations.
He wasn’t here, though, and she had a job to do.
She was going to do a damn good one. One that would make him proud.
Not that she cared what he thought, of course.
? ♥ ?
Using his hands to pull something apart and piece it back together had always been an excellent distraction. Hayden’s father used to tell him about the technologies before the Fall. Most of them sounded like massive exaggerations, some so magical he couldn’t wrap his mind around them at all. But many were simple, and many still worked in the right hands.
Passed onto him from his monster of a father or not, Hayden had the right hands, and technology was a good friend to him.
His favorite device, the one he worked on now, was able to fly discreetly overhead, taking video as it went. He’d used it more times than he could count, routinely replacing batteries, wings, and other parts as they aged and stopped working.
It was lucky Austin knew of this special interest he had, because he’d brought three charged batteries from his farm down south, and they were exactly what Hayden had needed. Well, not exactly, but Hayden was able to retrofit them to the device and they’d work just the same. Something told him to bring his flyer on this trip, and now he was glad he listened to that something.
There were plenty of other broken down devices that the small group had brought to him, just to see if he could fix them up, salvage anything usable from them. His main concern was the flyer, but now that he’d put one of the new batteries in and fixed some loose wiring, he might as well turn some of that attention toward the other broken down devices. Most would likely be junk, but even one small piece of usable, untraceable technology would put them eons ahead of the majority of their enemies.
Plus, focusing on the frustrating, confusing pieces of plastic and metal before him kept his mind off Anna. Was she okay? Had she been captured? Recognized? Worse? Had she spent as much of the day thinking of him as he had of her?
Hayden did not like the way Anna had wedged herself into his mind. Now, he was distracted, unfocused, and worse, insecure about his standing with her. While he certainly wasn’t a virgin, he’d successfully avoided any and all romantic or sexual attachments. One night of fun? Fine. Everyone had needs. Anything more? Hard pass.
And yet, with Anna, he hadn’t even tasted her pink lips, and already, she infected his every thought. No moment in his day was untouched by her, even when she was miles away, scouting out the district and no doubt making plans to murder his father.
Plans he should be just as focused on, and yet all he could think of was her.
Behind him, greetings were called, people moving quickly and speaking in cheerful voices. He turned to glance over his shoulder, only to see Mason embracing Liam and Rachel, Anna standing a few feet behind them with a confident grin on her face.
Speak of the devil.
Hayden tucked his flyer in the duffel bag he’d used to bring it here, then pushed the two backup batteries in beside it, zipping it up. The rest of the stuff still laid across his small workspace, but that was fine.
His main concern was his flyer… and her.
Anna’s eyes lit up when she saw him, easing some of the worry he’d felt earlier before she left. While she made no move toward him, he pushed forward anyhow, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him.
“Anna,” he breathed against the crook of her neck.
