Page 88 of Citadel

I know what the words mean. Exactly what he’s asking me. My heart bursts into ridiculous flutters of joy. I beam down at him. “Forever sounds perfect to me.”

INTERLUDE

Four months later

Crouched down behind overgrown foliage,I wait semi-patiently as Cole looks into the distance through a pair of old binoculars.

The binoculars cost us an entire pharmacy-sized bottle of prescription strength ibuprofen, which we miraculously uncovered in the ruins of an old drug store. For that in trade, Aidan gave us the binoculars and took us to the best vantage point for seeing the old hotel the united gangs and wolf packs have established as a stronghold.

It was hard to let the medication go, but the binoculars will be equally valuable to us in so many ways. More importantly, his brother is a constant source of grief and worry to Cole. He won’t talk about it to anyone but me, but he hasn’t given up hope of finding him again, saving him.

So when he initially rejected Aidan’s offer, I talked him into it. He needs to try. And it’s worth a small sacrifice to take another step closer.

Cole scans the location in the distance for several minutes until he wordlessly passes the binocular to me.

I can’t see without lifting myself higher on my haunches. The position is slightly unstable, and Cole steadies me with a hand on my ass.

It’s an automatic gesture on his part—practical rather than sexual—but it still gives me a tiny thrill.

His first instinct is always, always to help and protect me.

Life would be so much harder without him.

Shifting my attention, I peer through the binoculars, taking a minute to adjust the focus and get the direction correct. Eventually, I manage a good view of the hotel, startlingly close through the artificial magnification.

In its day, the hotel must have been a luxury mountain resort. There’s a huge, picturesque, lodge-style main building with a number of surrounding cottages in various states of disrepair. It’s situated high on a mountain, and they’ve built an impressive wall around it, accessed only through a heavily guarded gate.

“Shit,” I breathe.

“Yeah. Not sure we’re getting in there any time soon.”

“It’s like a drove,” I say, lowering the binoculars and then lowering my body back into a more comfortable crouch. “But instead of thousands of bad guys roaming around and pillaging, they’ve holed themselves up there.”

“That’s basically what it is. A drove that’s put down roots.”

“I know we’re here for your brother, but it seems dangerous to everyone to let bad guys get so established.”

“It is. Folks in the surrounding areas should never have let it happen.” He reaches for the binoculars again and takes another long scan.

“They probably couldn’t stop it. Everyone is in small, isolated communities that don’t have the manpower.”

“Yeah. I know.” His face tightens, clearly worried, but then he relaxes it and stands up. Extending a hand to me, he murmurs, “Come on. Let’s get out of here. I don’t like you being so close.”

“We’re pretty far away.” I take his hand and let him pull me to my feet.

“Too close for me.”

We push our way through the trees and thick brush until we reach a dirt trail at the base of the hill. Aidan is waiting for us there.

“Get a good look?” he asks, straightening up from where he was leaning against a tree.

Cole nods. I smile at Aidan. “Yeah. Thanks for taking us here.”

This polite comment earns a low grumble from Cole. He likes Aidan well enough, but he was annoyed that he demanded so much in trade.

But Aidan has always made it clear that he does nothing out of the goodness of his heart. He’s happy to help whoever pays him.

Despite this blunt self-interest, I can’t help but like the clever, handsome, always unpredictable man.

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