Page 52 of Citadel

He glances at the hill in the distance and then back at me. His mouth twists like he’s torn.

“Tell me,” I bite out, knowing whatever is conflicting him has to do with my safety.

“I can go check it out. I need to get my eyes on the situation. But I don’t want you that close to them.”

There’s nothing I want more than to see Breanna is alive and whole with my own eyes, but what I want is not the most important thing right now.

What’s best for Breanna should be our priority. And we can’t save her unless we know what we’re dealing with.

“If there’s somewhere you think I’ll be safe, I’ll stay there, and you can go scout it out on your own.”

He blinks, clearly surprised by my offer. “I’m not too thrilled with you being left alone either.”

“Well, you can’t have it both ways. Either I’m with you as you get closer, or I’m left by myself. Choose whichever you think is safer, and we’ll do it.”

It’s almost imperceptible, but his mouth softens just slightly. I have no idea why. “Okay. You stick with me then.”

I nod and keep following him as he makes his way up the hill. We’re still in the trees—still out of sight—when Cole turns off the flashlight as we crest the hill.

There are lights around their camp. A couple of bonfires and a lot of battery-operated lanterns. So we can see much of what’s happening down there.

A lot of drinking and carousing, as far as I can tell.

No sign of Breanna, but there are a couple of tents set up. She’s probably in one of those.

There are armed guards stationed all around the perimeter of the camp. My stomach sinks as I see how many.

Even with the majority of the gang distracted by their recreation, there’s no easy way to get into that camp.

Not without being shot and killed.

Not for only two people even if one of them is as strong and skilled as Cole.

He shakes his head. “Don’t see a way. Not tonight.”

I gulp. “Okay. At least we caught up with them. If we keep following them, maybe we’ll find a vulnerable moment.”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t sound hopeful, but neither am I.

If these thugs have survived this long and amassed so many possessions, they can’t be stupid. They know what they’re doing. They aren’t likely to leave themselves vulnerable.

But what the hell else can we do?

“So we should camp somewhere nearby?” I ask.

Cole’s jaw clenches. “We’ll need to be far enough away to stay safe. I’m sure they make a habit of running sentries and scouts like those we ran into earlier. But we’ll stay close enough to hear them. We’ll have to camp in the woods.”

“That’s fine. I’ve done it plenty of times before. I wish we had more supplies. I’ve got a day’s worth of food in my bag, but I’m running short on water.”

“I saw a stream not too far away. If we get far enough away, we can light a small fire and boil it so we’ll have drinking water for tomorrow.”

It’s a good idea. Better than risking water straight from an unknown stream.

Our well water in Monument is so clean that we haven’t had to deal with such realities in a long time.

“Okay,” Cole says. “Come on. I’ll find us some place to spend the night.”

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