by AR Colbert
We walked together toward the van while Emilio matched up ID numbers on the wrist bands with our names typed on a card in the box. “Dax, this one’s yours.” He extended his arm, waiting for Dax to meet us and lowered his voice to where Aiden couldn’t hear him. “Wear it like a watch. I checked them out on the way down the elevator and I don’t think she’ll be able to hear or see anything through them. They really are just little tracking devices to keep tabs on your whereabouts. But don’t take them off or she’ll definitely know something is up.”
The guys kept moving, climbing into the van and leaving Felix and me alone to say goodbye. “Please be careful out there.” His Rider-rage nearly melted away as he took my hand. He rubbed a thumb gently across my knuckles, making my skin come alive, and I quickly pulled it away.
“Of course.” I gave him a reassuring smile, resisting the urge again to pull him in for a hug. “We’ll be back before you know it.”
Felix nodded, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I’ll see you soon.”
I climbed into my seat and Felix slid the door closed behind me, watching through the window until our van pulled out of sight. This mission had just gotten even more important. Not only did I have to find the Exiled to protect the Embers, but now I was doing it for Felix, too. There was no room for failure.
I rested my head against the cold glass of my window, tuning out the boys as they discussed potential plans of action on the way back to the camp. My right hand mindlessly fiddled with the rubber band adorning my left wrist. This was all nuts. How was I supposed to locate a group of crazed criminals, infiltrate their camp without being seen, and place technology that I didn’t really even know how to use—and do it all without dying?
“I think we ought to swing by the camp one more time to see if they’ve had any other developments,” Dax said as we neared Mitchell and Cathy’s settlement.
“I doubt he made another visit since yesterday,” Aiden said. “They said the leader took off to the south, right? Let’s just drive those back roads and look for smokestacks or fresh trails through the woods.”
“Actually,” Emilio interrupted, “it will be good to pull over somewhere. I’ve got an idea for locating them, but we’ll need to stop the van to make it work.”
Aiden glanced over at him skeptically. “What’s the idea?”
“Remember that project I was working on in the back of the van while they were at the camp yesterday? Well I finished it up at home last night. We have a working drone.”
Aiden’s eyes widened with a grin. “No kidding?” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, laughing to himself. “Well let’s go post up by the camp then!”
I looked back to Dax who responded with a shrug. I didn’t know what a drone was, but they seemed pleased. And if it got me back into the Ember camp, I was happy. More and more those camps were beginning to feel like home to me.
Finally, Aiden came to a stop in the same place he’d parked the day before. “Alright. Obviously I need to stay here with Emilio to do some recon. Rider, you can stay with us in case we need a little extra firepower. Dax, you go with Claren. It should be quick today, right? You’re just checking to see if they’ve heard anything new since yesterday?”
“Right,” Dax nodded.
“Good. Well hurry back here. I’ve got a good feeling that it won’t be long before my man Emilio finds this dope and we can go take him down.” He rubbed his hands together, his smile now bordering on maniacal. Aiden had definitely found his happy place.
“You good with that, Rider?”
He looked at me with uncertainty. “Yeah, I’m good with that. We’ll probably have a lot more action here at the van than you will in there, anyway.”
My forehead wrinkled. “I guess I don’t understand. What exactly are you guys doing? What’s a drone?”
Now it was Emilio’s turn to look giddy. He launched into an overly technical explanation of the device he was going to use. It was basically a flying camera that he could control to scope out the area and look for the Exiled camp from the sky. I had to admit, it sounded pretty awesome. But it wasn’t enough to keep me out of the camp. I just had to check one more time to be sure they were safe and confirm that nothing new had happened overnight.
And thank goodness Dax and I went in, because to my surprise, Mitchell and Cathy weren’t the only ones waiting for us.
“Raf!” I ran to greet the tall handsome man who always put my heart at ease. He wrapped me in a warm hug, lifting my feet from the ground before setting me safely down again. “What are you doing here?”
“Word about the Exiled made its way back to our camp last night. Frank wanted to come over first thing this morning, and I refused to leave him alone until he agreed to take me with him.” Raf grinned at Frank, who shook his head with a small smile.
“He’s very persistent when he wants to be.”
I laughed. He certainly was. “How are things looking here this morning? Any updates?”
“We’ve got everything cleaned up and our losses totaled.” Mitchell frowned. “It was a major hit. But they haven’t been back.”
“We looked for any evidence of a camp on our way over,” Frank said, “but we didn’t see anything out of place. They’ve learned how to cover their tracks, that’s for sure. I suspect we’ll find them somewhere near the river. It’s a source of both water and food, and it’s an easy way to navigate away from the main roads.”
“But the river runs along the north side of camp. They came in from the south,” Mitchell argued.
“I’m sure that was intentional. They don’t want to be found.”
“So how do you suggest we do this? How do you find someone who doesn’t want to be found?” I asked.
“Well we know they won’t be camped along any main roads. But there are lots of back roads and old trails through the forest near the river. I suggest we start there. We can use our vehicles.”
I thought back to the rugged, open vehicles I saw parked in front of the Lodge at Frank’s camp. “Are those things safe?”
He laughed. “Of course they are—if you know how to use them.”
“C’mon,” Raf said. “I’ll show you how they work. You guys mind if we go check them out real quick? We’ll meet you in the mess hall here in a few minutes.”
“Go on,” Frank said with a sparkle in his eye.
Raf took my hand and led me over to where they were parked. “This vehicle on the left is the one Frank and I drove in this morning. This thing is a beast. It’s built to handle any terrain, hobbled together by the strongest parts they’ve been able to scavenge over the years. They’re all a little different, but this one is my favorite. I call her Mildred.”
“Mildred?” I laughed.
Raf shrugged with a crooked grin. “She’s tough as nails and built to last. I don’t know—it just seemed like a fitting name.”
I ran my hand over her dirty, ripped canvas seats. “Poor Mildred. You’re not a very pretty thing, are you?”
Raf gave a hearty laugh, the sound of his voice warming me to my core. “Beauty is only skin deep. Wait until you see what she can do.” He gestured to the driver’s seat. “Climb in.”
“I can’t drive.” I shook my head.
“Well then it’s time for you to learn.” Mischief glinted in his eyes. “Climb in.”
I cocked my head to the side, waiting for him to tell me he was just kidding. But he didn’t. And like Frank said, he could be very persistent. Of course, with those smoldering brown eyes it was pretty easy for him to talk me into doing just about anything he wanted. So I climbed in.
“Now what?”
“Turn it on,” he said, hopping into the seat beside me. He leaned in close to show me where the ignition was, and I couldn’t help but smile as Mildred roared to life. He went on to show me a few of the controls—different knobs and levers and pedals, but I only halfway heard him. His scent was intoxicating, and I wondered how someone living in the woods could stil
l smell so fresh and clean. It was hard to concentrate with him leaning in so close. His arm was perched on the back of my chair and I turned to face him, our faces just inches away.
“You’re not really going to make me drive this thing, are you?”
“I can’t make you do anything. But I promise you’re gonna like it.”
He winked, and I wanted to laugh at his poor attempt to flirt with me. But who was I kidding? It totally worked. And he knew it. The bad thing about two Empaths being attracted to one another was that we fed off of each other’s emotions, each of us ramping the other up unless one of us deliberately pushed on the brakes. But why would I want to do that when the pounding of my heart and the roar of the engine and the minty, woodsy scent of Raf all felt so good?
Raf had more self-control. He pushed off of my seat and said, “Alright, shift her into gear.”
I moved my feet on the pedals as he’d taught me, and before I knew it we surged forward. The cold air was made colder as we flew across the hard earth, but the sting of the wind on my cheeks made me feel even more alive, just like the ride on Tim’s boat had a few days earlier.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins and I could barely hear my laughter through the wind and the engine. We drove away from the buildings of the camp and out into the hilly pasture beyond the tree line. The trees made me nervous, but the pasture was wide open—calling me. I pushed harder on the gas and we flew across the land, pulled by the sense of freedom in the wild.
“Woo-hoo! You’re a natural!” Raf threw his head back, laughing into the wind.
I spotted a patch of trees near a pond and turned toward them, hoping to take shelter out of the wind for a few minutes to warm up before we headed back to the camp. My foot hit the brakes a little too hard, and we jolted to a stop, sending me into a fit of giggles again.
“Whoops.”
“Easy, there!” Raf smiled as he leaned over and smoothed some very windblown hair out of my face and behind my ear.
“That was exhilarating.” I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.
“It’s pretty fun, huh?” He was adorable with his dark hair pushed straight up from the wind. I ran my fingers through it to smooth it back down, and his smile slowly faded. The laughter in his eyes was replaced by something else, something more raw, and I felt it again. There was a magnetism between us that couldn’t be denied.
My fingers curled into his hair as he leaned in, our lips meeting softly. His kiss was warm and gentle, and he pulled away too soon, leaving me hungry for more. I bit my lower lip, still tingling from the touch of his mouth on mine, and his eyes intensified.
I pulled him close again, meeting his intensity with my own. He slid one hand behind my neck, and our hearts were beating in sync with loud hard thumps against our ribs that matched the movement of our lips. The cold and the wind and even the cows in the distance all faded into nothing as Raf consumed me.
But again, it was over too quickly as the crackle of my walkie shook us back to our senses.
“Claren! Dax! Get back here!” Aiden’s voice buzzed loudly through the small speaker. “We found ‘em!”
CHAPTER 17
Raf and I sped back to camp to find Dax and Frank in an animated flurry of discussion.
“They’re going to insist.” Dax was motioning wildly with his hands. “These guys live for this stuff. There’s no way they’re gonna let us go in without them.”
“There’s no way you will succeed if they do.”
Dax put his hands on his face and groaned.
“What’s the matter?” Raf hopped out of the vehicle and I followed him to where the others stood.
“I was just telling Dax that we’ll need as small an operation as possible to go into the Exiled camp. Too many people will give us away for sure. And I don’t want any more deaths on my hands.”
“Well what if Dax and I go with her now? We don’t have to meet up with the rest of Claren’s team at all.”
Frank frowned at Raf. “You won’t be able to find the camp without them. They’re the only ones who know where it is. And Raf—”
His shoulders tensed.
“I think you need to sit this one out.”
“No.”
“She’s got a whole team of men trained to look after her. We don’t need our men mixing with theirs. It will only complicate things.”
“I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
“Hang on,” I said. “Emilio found the camp with his drone, right? What if we let my team tag along, but keep them near the main road? They can watch over the mission with the drone, and still be near enough to jump in if we need some extra firepower. But I’m really, really hoping we won’t need any firepower at all. Then Dax and I can head in alone.”
“I’m coming, too. It’s not negotiable.”
I met Raf’s eyes, dark and storming. Any passion we’d felt moments earlier had now evolved into an unstoppable force to be reckoned with. He was fiercely protective of me. And though I knew I could be strong on my own, he offered an additional sense of safety I couldn’t argue against. Raf was coming whether Frank liked it or not.
“What if they recognize you?” My voice was quiet and full of concern. “They’ll consider you a defector. An enemy of the state. Even if we make it through this mission unscathed, you’ll have a target on your back. You can never go back to the city again.”
Raf glanced at Frank, some unspoken understanding passing between them, and Dax scoffed.
“He can’t go back anyway!” Dax threw his arms out to the sides as though this was obvious. He looked back and forth between Raf and me. “Wait—”
“Enough, Dax.” Frank was firm, and we all quieted to hear what he had to say. “Go back to the van and carry on the way your team has planned. Raf will follow in one of our vehicles.” He turned to face Raf. “But you’ve got to keep out of sight.”
“Of course.”
“I like the drone idea, but are you sure you can convince them to let you and Dax go in alone?” Frank turned to me now.
“I can try.”
Dax was shaking his head. “I can’t believe we got ourselves into this in the first place.” He scowled at Frank. “Are you sure Claren is the one you want to send out there? We could just send her back with the team and go in on our own. Get rid of two problems at once.”
My jaw dropped and Frank raised a hand in Dax’s face. This was the closest I’d ever seen Frank to losing his cool. “I said that’s enough. Your job is to protect Claren and help her advance in the Leadership. Are you capable of that?”
“I am, but—”
“NO. No buts. If you weren’t already in so deep with the rest of her team I’d hold you back. But as it stands, we must move forward. And we need to do it now. We’ve already wasted too much time. You have a responsibility, Dax. Don’t let us down.”
I stomped quietly back to the van with Dax hot on my heels. Raf was preparing supplies, but he would be right behind us with a vehicle by the time we reached the rest of my team.
“Claren, you should know—”
“I don’t want to hear it, Dax. I get it. You don’t like me. Maybe you don’t trust me. But I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing it for Cato and for the Embers. I’m doing it for everyone who wants to choose how to live. You have a choice, too. Go on if you want. I don’t need you.”
“Whatever.” Dax waved me off as he stormed up ahead of me. But unfortunately he walked straight to the van instead of leaving like I’d hoped.
“What took you guys so long?!” Aiden was practically jumping up and down. “We found them! Let’s destroy this scumbag.” He started the van and pulled away in a hurry, sending a cloud of dust up behind us.
“Let’s get him,” I agreed. “Where’s the camp?”
“It’s about four miles north of here,” Emilio pointed to a map on a screen he held. “There’s a clearing up there near the river.”
“Perfect. Looks like we’ll need to go by foot though. I
don’t see any roadways.”
“There’s an old farm road that winds about a half-mile away from the camp, but it looked pretty overgrown on the drone footage. I’m not sure how far we’ll be able to get the van, but hopefully we can get close enough to keep the hike short.”
“Is the whole area overgrown like that?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty unruly until you get to the clearing.”
“Hmm...” I scrunched my brows, pretending to be deep in concentration. “Maybe we ought to keep a few people here at the van to monitor drone footage. We need someone to help us find our way in case we get lost in the brush.”
“I’d be happy to volunteer,” Emilio said with a hopeful grin.
“That’s fine,” Aiden said with a serious expression. “Yeah, I think that’s good. Watch over us, E. Call through the walkies if we take off in the wrong direction. You can even let us know if someone’s coming.”
“But what if they spot the van?” I frowned at Aiden. “Or if we get stuck? We’ll need someone to bail us out.”
Aiden shook his head. “No, no, no. We’re not doing this again.”
“She’s got a point,” Dax chimed in. “You’re the only one who can drive.”
Aiden dropped his forehead to the steering wheel, blowing air through his mouth out of frustration. He quickly jerked his eyes back up to the road again when the van veered hard to the right. “I hate this,” he grumbled.
“You might want to hang back too, Rider. Protect this precious cargo. These amplifiers are taking forever to build. I don’t want the few we have to get destroyed in an attack.”
“Nope.” His stare cut straight through me. He wasn’t buying my charade. Not for a second.
“I do think we need to keep the operation small,” Dax added. “Fewer people increases our chances of going unseen. And we’ll be able to get in and out quicker with just the two of us. Being stealth is key here.”
“If stealth is your concern, then you’re the one who needs to stay back. She’ll be safer with me.”
Dax’s jaw clenched. “Fine,” he said through gritted teeth. “The three of us can go while Aiden and Emilio watch and direct us from the air.”