Unbound (The Captive #7)(64)

He wouldn’t allow anything to happen to her. He didn’t care who, or how many beings he had to destroy to keep her safe, he would do it. Ducking around the corner, he steadily crept toward the closed gate. Little light penetrated this area, but he didn’t return for the torch, it would only give him away to whoever remained hidden beyond the gate.

Had he missed something when he’d gone above again? Had there been a spy somewhere that he hadn’t seen or scented? It would be possible if they were good and stayed downwind of him, but he’d been so careful with every move he’d made in and out of these caves.

Jack reached the bend in the tunnel. Pressing his back against the wall, he slid down until he was sitting on his haunches. Another click caused him to freeze as he strained to hear anything more.

Have the others returned? Even as he thought it, he knew they hadn’t. They would have opened the gate and come in.

No, it was not his friends in the shadows beyond, hunting them.

He poked his head around the corner, careful to expose as little of himself as he could to any arrows that might come his way.

He froze, and his hands tightened on the stakes when he saw what waited for him there.





CHAPTER 25


Max

Daniel slept with his chin on his chest while Timber kept watch over the crevice. Beside Max, the girl had fallen asleep an hour ago. Her knees were against her chest as she slept with her back to the wall. Many rebels slept with their backs to a wall, but he’d never seen any who slept in a ball before. She was tiny enough as it was. This position made her appear like a fox trying to hide from a coyote.

In her hands, she clenched a small knife before her nose. He knew it had to be a weapon she slept with often if she felt comfortable enough not to accidentally stab herself with it in her sleep. In the early morning sun filtering through the roots, he could see that the scar on her face started at her hairline above her right eye. It trailed all the way down the center of her right cheek to curve around to the middle of her chin before stopping.

The scar was white in color and he saw no evidence of stitches on her skin. The knife she held had not created it. She would have woken long before she could have cut herself like that, but a blade had left the mark upon her.

Max’s hands balled at his sides as the desire to destroy whoever had done that to her slid through him. No one should ever be abused in such a way.

The scar could not deter from her prettiness though. His fingers itched to brush back the black hair falling around her face, but he kept himself restrained from touching her. It had taken hours of her eyes falling closed then opening again to stare at him warily before sleep had finally succeeded in dragging her under. If he touched her while she slept and woke her, she might stab him, and she would never come close to him again. For some reason, he wanted her to trust him, even if he didn’t entirely trust her.

Across the way, Timber shifted and sat with his back against the wall. Sleep tugged at Max’s eyelids, but he wouldn’t give into it, not until she woke again. He had to guard over her.

The girl never moved, but he sensed her eyes on him. He turned his head to find her watching him as one would watch a wolf circling them. She kept her back pinned against the wall when she pushed herself into a sitting position. Anger filled her eyes, but he had a feeling she was angrier at herself for falling asleep than she was with him.

She slipped the knife into her ankle holster and tugged her pants back into place over the weapon. “Have you heard anything from them?” she whispered.

“Nothing,” he replied.

“We can’t move until we know they’re gone.”

“We may not have a choice.”

She scowled at him. The expression pulled on her scar, causing it to become whiter against her flesh. She looked to be about his age. Though the knowledge in her eyes gave her an air of someone far beyond her early twenties.

“I don’t like it either,” he said to her.

They had to get to Jack soon, hiding in the shadows of a cave had never been part of the plan. Every passing day was one day closer to when they would have to call all those they’d been gathering to move against Sabine. They couldn’t delay their plan for more than a day, maybe two. The people and vampires they’d recruited would get nervous if they did, and the fear within the palace would grow. Aria would have to move without Jack; she would have no choice but to go on without him.

No, they had to get out of here, preferably today. Max’s head tipped back as he examined the roots above his head snaking through the earth to create a spotty dome above. Lowering his head, he found her gaze still on him.

“I’m Max,” he said and extended his hand to her. “The tall guy over there is Timber and the one sleeping is Daniel.”

“The queen’s brother is named Daniel, and from what I’ve heard, he has a friend named Max.”

Max kept his hand extended to her. “Hmm,” he replied.

Her gaze went to Daniel, and her head tilted as she studied him before she looked to Max again. “He does look a little familiar, but then it’s been a while since I saw the queen’s brother, and it was only briefly.”

Another minute ticked by before she extended her hand toward him. The sleeve of her shirt pulled slightly back to reveal the scars marring her wrist, scars he knew well. She jerked her hand back before he could take hold of it. Tugging at the sleeves of her shirt, she pulled it back into place while she glowered at him.