Page 50 of Citadel

“They have Breanna,” I choke out. My voice is barely working.

“I know. I saw the tail end of it from a distance. I was looking for you but then heard you scream and came back.”

“You saw it? You saw them take her?”

“I saw. These guys must trail behind as scouts or sentries. They caught her the way they caught you, and they must have called the rest of them back. I saw her go with them from a distance. I thought you might be dead.” There’s a weird rough sound to his voice.

I have no idea what to do with it, so I push the weird moment to the back of my mind. “So they kidnapped her? That gang that passed by?”

He nodded. “She went with them willingly.”

“You can’t possibly think she wanted—”

“Of course not! But she didn’t fight them. She’s smart, and she knows how to survive. She went with them willingly.”

I stare at him, but I don’t really see his tense face. I know exactly what happened. I can see it as clearly as if I’d witnessed it in purpose. Breanna would have been trapped. She’d shift immediately into survival mode, the way she did all the time in the past when she was trying to keep us both alive. She’d smile. Make up a story. Act like she was willing.

Offer them what they wanted so they didn’t take it by force.

And so that they’d stay away from me.

She’s always known what to do when she’s cornered, and she’s always been willing to use her own body to keep me safe.

Today wouldn’t be any different.

“I wasn’t here at first—when just the two of them caught your sister. When I got here, there were nearly eighty of them,” Cole says gruffly. “There’s no way I could have—”

“I know you couldn’t have stopped it.” Not once would I have blamed him for what happened, no matter how upset I am about Breanna. “Thanks for saving me anyway.”

He gives a curt nod, eyeing me closely, like he’s trying to figure out what I’m thinking. “What are you going to do?”

I gulp. “I don’t know. I’ve got to try to help her.”

“I figured.”

“But I’m not sure how.”

He stares at me for a minute, breathing heavily. There’s sweat dripping down the sides of his scalp and beaded on his forehead, but he doesn’t wipe it away. His eyes look charcoal gray rather than silver right now. Then, “I figure you’ve got two choices. You can head back to Monument and try to muster some help.”

I shake my head. “It wouldn’t work. They’re decent people, but they’re not going to risk any number of them on what they’d see as a useless cause. Not to save one person. Chasing down eighty thugs with Jeeps and motorcycles? Uh-uh. They wouldn’t do it.”

I’ve seen them make choices like that before, and I’ve always understood. Things won’t be different now—just because Breanna is the one at risk.

“Then you and I can follow them and wait for an opportunity.”

I blink. “You’ll come with me?”

He frowns. It wrinkles his forehead. His eyes narrow into a glare.

Like he can’t believe I’m even asking.

I gulp, the churning in my gut calming just a little. At least I won’t have to do this alone. “Okay. Thanks. That sounds like the best option.” I pause and cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not going to just let her be taken.”

“I know you won’t. I’ve known that from the beginning. So we’ll follow. Scout things out. Maybe we’ll find a chance to save her.”

He doesn’t sound optimistic, and I can hardly blame him.

There’s not much chance we’ll come out of this with all three of us alive. The smartest thing would be to go back to Monument and live my life without my sister. That’s what Breanna would want me to do.

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