by Fall, Carly
Sophia nodded, slipped the phone into her pocket, and gave Megan one last hug. “Go. Now,” Sophia said, her voice cracking, her heart breaking. Sophia stood in silence, her hand clutched at her throat, her eyes burning with tears, as she watched Megan and Blake disappear down the hall to the kitchen.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself and calm her nerves. Shutting her eyes, she knew Megan’s life depended on her performance in the next few moments. She met her reflection in the mirror. Get it together.
She heard the back door slide shut just as the front door opened.
Chapter 38
Blake held Megan’s hand, not believing how fast things had gone from crappy right into the proverbial shitter. How did he get stuck caring for a kid? He didn’t like kids, although Megan bothered him a little less than most children did.
They hunched down on the side of the house, tears streaming down Megan’s face as she squeezed his hand. He put his finger to his mouth in a gesture to let her know she had to be quiet. She nodded.
Blake heard the front door open and Sophia greeted Micah. The voices faded as the door slammed.
He took that as Sophia’s signal to get the hell out of Dodge.
Standing, he looked down at Megan. Fear was etched in the little girl’s face, and Blake didn’t blame her one bit. Her mother basically threw her out of the house with a guy who’d been chained in the shed for the past two days, which would be terrifying. However, he had to admire Sophia and her love for her child.
Sophia had helped him in his time of need, and he would do everything in his power to deliver Megan to the Saviors. Certainly they would take her in. As for him, well, the best he could hope for was that they helped him find Sophia and take her in as well. He knew he’d not only burned but also bombed the proverbial bridge between the Saviors and him.
The trek across the desert would be a mental challenge, because he certainly couldn’t rely on his physical prowess. He wore sweatpants and sneakers that were three sizes too big for him, he was handcuffed, and he had a little girl to take care of.
Could it get any better?
As they slipped out the gate and walked into the front yard, Blake couldn’t believe his luck. The engine was still running in the car Micah and Jael had arrived in. Blake smiled as he approached the vehicle, but then realized if Micah didn’t turn off the car, he wasn’t planning on staying very long and would be coming out of the house at any moment.
That meant he had to hurry.
Chapter 39
Sophia slammed the door, hoping Blake picked up on the signal that everyone was in the house. She smiled tentatively at Micah.
“What took you so long to answer the door, Sophia? You usually don’t make me use my key.”
He didn’t wait for an answer, and Sophia realized it was his way of exerting his power over her. “We’re only staying for a moment,” Micah said. “We’ll be taking our package out of the shed.”
Sophia nodded. “Very well.”
“Can you please shut the back blinds?” Micah asked.
For a second, Sophia panicked. She had to keep them in the house for a few more minutes, and she scrambled for something to occupy him.
“Micah, before you leave, can you please take a look at the toilet in the master bedroom? It seems to be running.”
Micah sighed, rolled his eyes, and stomped down the hall. Sophia crossed her arms over her chest and felt Jael’s gaze on her. He took a step forward, and she took a step back. He moved forward, and she bumped into the wall.
“Ah, Sophia,” he whispered as he traced his finger down the side of her face. “How are you this evening?”
“I’m fine,” she murmured.
“What do we have? Ten days until the mating cycle begins?”
She didn’t answer as she focused on his broad chest. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he said, placing his hands on each side of her, caging her against the wall. He leaned down and kissed her cheek, then took her earlobe between his teeth. She shook as he bit her, but refused to cry out or give him the satisfaction of letting him know he’d hurt her.
“Oh, you like it rough?” he asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “That’s good because I do too.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the toilet, Sophia,” Micah bellowed from the bedroom, his voice laced with irritation. “I have more important things to do beside deal with plumbing issues.”
Jael stepped back as Micah came down the hall.
“Where’s Megan?” Jael asked.
Sophia looked up at him. The glint in his eye cemented her certainty that she’d done the right thing, and she had faith in Blake to get Megan to safety. “In her room.”
Jael walked down the hall and pushed open her bedroom door. “She’s not in here.”
“What do you mean she’s not in there?” Sophia asked. “Of course she is. Where else would she be?”
She strode down the hall and went into Megan’s room. “Megan? Come out, honey. Come say hello to Micah and Jael.”
When there wasn’t an answer, Sophia acted panicked and raced through the house. Micah and Jael followed her.
She ended up at the front entryway and heard the crunch of gravel as the car left the property. She hid her grin, knowing her performance over the next few minutes could mean her life. She stuck her hand in her pocket and felt reassured as she touched Blake’s phone.
“What the hell?” Micah said, opening the front door. He ran out as the car sped away.
Jael wrapped his hand around her throat and pinned her up against the wall. “What is this, Sophia?” he hissed.
“I don’t know what you mean,” she whispered as he clamped his hand down.
“Where is Megan?” Jael snarled.
“Jael!” Micah yelled from the front. “Check the shed!”
Jael let go of her and ran out the back. Sophia took a deep breath and allowed the tears to flow. Megan would be safe. She believed it with her heart. Blake was a good male.
She ran out to the front, hoping she looked shocked. In the distance, she noticed the dust cloud as the car sped away.
“Micah, what is going on?” she said. “Who took your car? Where is Megan?”
He turned to her. “Did you go out to the shed?” he asked, his voice seething.
“Of course not! You told us not to. When have I ever disobeyed you or not done something you’ve asked of me?”
Micah weighed her words as he stared at her. She didn’t flinch. “Micah, please tell me what’s going on!”
Jael came around the side of the house. “It’s empty.”
Micah cursed.
“Please, Micah, what’s happened? What was in the shed?” Sophia whispered.
“The shed held a half-breed Colonist named Blake, and if we don’t find Megan anywhere, it looks as though he’s kidnapped her.”
Sophia’s world began to spin. Was Blake really part Colonist? If it was true, what had she done? She’d sent Megan with the one thing in life that she feared and detested more than anything.
She grabbed Micah’s arm. “Oh my God,” she whispered.
Blackness encroached on her peripheral vision and her knees felt weak. Her stomach heaved, and she felt Micah’s large hands under before she passed out.
Chapter 40
“Do you believe her?” Jael asked, pacing the living room.
Micah took a sip of whiskey. After Sophia passed out, he’d put her to bed and made sure she still breathed. Then he called Simon for a pickup, and now they waited for him.
Did he believe Sophia? He had no choice but to believe her. He couldn’t imagine her letting Megan go with an utter stranger. Did she visit the shed? He didn’t know, and at this point it was irrelevant. Blake had Megan, a very important part of his breeding program, and Micah didn’t have his prize for the money he needed to find the Saviors.
Dammit all to hell and back.
“I don’t know, Jael,” Micah s
narled. “It doesn’t matter now.”
“It does matter, because if that bitch is lying, something needs to be done to bring her back in line.”
Micah stood to his full height, his anger roaring in his ears. “And what is that, Jael? Do you want to beat her so she’s hesitant to mate with you? Do you want to make her life so miserable as you did with Beth that she kills herself? Is that what you want?”
He’d never forgiven Jael for tormenting and rutting on Beth so hard the female felt it would be best to commit suicide. Jael had cost him an SR44 female, and it never failed to piss him off when he gave it any thought.
"She's hesitant anyway. Perhaps if she were smacked around a bit, she would realize she can't outsmart us, that we are her keepers.”
Micah shook his head. “You need to treat her right. Her body will not take your seed if she is tense during the mating ritual. And if she ends up killing herself, I will kill you.”
“Is that what has happened between the two of you?” Jael questioned with a smirk. “Is she tense, or are you, as the humans say, shooting blanks?”
Micah turned from Jael. The male had always liked to get people riled up, always pushing boundaries. This wasn’t the first time Jael had provoked Micah, and it wouldn’t be the last. Micah would love nothing more than to shoot the bastard, but Jael served a purpose. There was nothing the male wouldn’t do, and at his core, his loyalty ran deep.
Despite all that, the irritation with him grew daily.
There was a soft knock on the front door and Micah went to answer it. Simon and Titus stood on the other side. While Jael had his use, Simon didn’t, and Titus was just as worthless. Micah noticed Simon pulling away from the Platoon the past couple of months, just as Nico had done before he joined the Saviors. Titus had become nothing but a lazy party boy, spending most of his time hungover or drunk. As the anger of Jael’s words grew, so did his irritation with both of them.
“What took you so long?” Micah snapped.
Simon shrugged. "We came as fast as we could, Micah."
A storm brewed within Micah as he stared at Simon. Things had not been easy since they arrived on this damn rock, and it seemed there wasn't an end to the trouble in sight. His irritation grew and morphed. Perhaps he should tell Daniel to let his little army of sickos loose on the streets to kill. Mass hysteria and mayhem would ensue, but at least he'd be the one in charge of it all. At least something would happen the way he wanted it to.
Memories of being sliced and studied by the government flashed in his mind. He'd come so close to killing the Saviors, but it seemed they were one step ahead of him, and they didn't even realize it. Where did they hide? Why was it so difficult to find them? He needed that computer software Daniel spoke of.
He wanted to scream and rage, but instead, he pulled out his gun and shot Simon in the head.
Raising his gun to Titus, the male’s eyes grew wide, and he ran. Micah pulled the trigger a few more times, not really aiming. Titus disappeared into the desert, and Micah hoped he’d at least put one hole into the son of a bitch. If Micah failed, Titus would most likely die out in the desert.
Jael stared down at a very lifeless Simon. "Why did you do that?"
Oddly, Micah felt a little better, like he was disposing of the dead weight in his life. He needed people like Jael around him, and Simon had gone soft, just as Nico had.
"He was worthless," Micah grumbled. "Let's put him out back in the shed, wake Sophia, and get out of here."
Chapter 41
Sophia startled at the shot and fought the urge to scream. Were Micah and Jael simply shooting off guns, or was there an intruder? She pulled the blankets over her head when silence fell on the house.
She slipped the phone Blake had given her from her pocket. The silver square had become her lifeline to Megan. Her stomach rolled at the fact she'd sent her daughter with a half-Colonist, unless Micah lied about that.
However, she reminded herself of her initial assessment of Blake during her astral travels: he was a male in pain, but a male of honor. What purpose did he have to lie to her? Besides escape, there really wasn't one, and he'd been so weak, she probably could have beat him in an altercation. She did feel he told her the truth about the Saviors and their mates, as well as the outside world.
Recalling the conversation she’d heard between Micah and Jael regarding Megan, she knew she'd done the right thing. She couldn't imagine anything worse than subjecting her daughter to Jael's torment. In just over a week, she would experience it, and just the thought made her want to die.
She turned the phone on and the screen came alive, turning a bright silver color. In the upper left of the screen, the battery icon showed a fifty-seven percent charge. Turning it off, she slid it back into her jeans. Just in case Blake decided to come after her, she would keep the phone and turn it on in two days as he'd instructed.
"Sophia?" Micah called from the hallway. "Get up."
"What was that shot?" she asked.
"It was nothing. Get up. It's time for us to leave."
He sounded very angry, and she pushed the covers down. Leave?
"Micah, I don't want to leave my home."
There was a brief silence, and then the door opened. "We are leaving, Sophia. We can't stay here. Not now when Blake knows where you are. After he's done killing Megan, he'll most likely come back for you."
Sophia gasped, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "Don't say that!" she screamed, refusing to believe his words even though panic welled within her.
Micah stepped over to the bed and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "It's the truth, Sophia!" he yelled. "I've told you how things are out there! It's now come home to roost!"
He pushed down to the mattress. "We're leaving in ten minutes."
Sophia sobbed as Micah left the room, praying she'd done the right thing. Even if she never saw Megan again, at least she’d freed her of this life.
Chapter 42
Blake drove through the night finally satisfied he knew where he was going. Leave it to Micah to drive an old piece of shit Corolla without a GPS system.
After leaving Sophia's, he hung a left on what looked like a main road and gunned it. He followed the sun as it set, but then the road had curved, taking him south. Since he didn't know where he was, he went with it until he noticed a sign letting him know the Mexican border was ten miles away.
Shit.
He turned around, feeling fairly confident he'd be able to find his way. As long as he wasn't heading to Mexico, he should be good to go once they got out of the desert and into some sort of town. There, he would simply follow the road signs. Right now, there weren't any signs, just cacti, sagebrush, and miles upon miles of dirt.
Glancing over at Megan, he was surprised to see her awake. Her eyes glowed a mixture of rust and a deep brown. It was different from what he was used to seeing with the Saviors. Their eyes gleamed like someone had stuck a flashlight up their asses, but Megan's eyes were a soothing muted color, just like Sophia's.
Hell, that woman had some balls. Who gave their daughter to a stranger in hopes of a better life? A brave, desperate woman who loved her kid.
Based on her actions, he couldn’t help but wonder if their meetings before he was kidnapped had really happened. Perhaps she was able to astral travel. If so, they had shared a bond on some level.
"Have you ever been outside that house?" Blake asked.
Megan shook her head. "I've never been in a vehicle," she mumbled. "It's scary and fun all at once."
Blake wondered what she would think of a swing or a rollercoaster. "The good things in life usually are," he said.
They rode in silence for another few minutes. "Why didn't my mama come?" she asked.
Blake understood Sophia's reasoning. She knew they had one chance to get Megan out of there, and her staying inside the house acting as a distraction to Micah and Jael ratcheted up their chances. "Because she loves you and she doesn't want Micah or Jael to hurt you."
&n
bsp; Megan nodded. "I don't like either one of them."
Blake smiled. "Me neither."
"Will I ever see my mama again?" she asked.
He didn't know how to answer that. He was going to do everything he could to get Sophia back, and he hoped like hell that phone still had some juice in it. If the Saviors could activate the GPS, he'd at least have the element of surprise on his side when he went for her. God knew he didn't have strength. Exhaustion tugged at him, and he fought the urge to pull over and sleep. Glancing over at Megan, he knew that wasn't an option. If the cops came upon them, how did he explain his handcuffs and Megan's glowing eyes? Yeah, that scenario didn't bode well for either of them.
"I'm tired," she yawned.
"Me too."
The next thing he knew, Megan placed her head on his lap and curled up. "I'm afraid, Blake," she whispered.
He put his hand on her head and stroked her baby-soft curls while keeping the other on the bottom of the steering wheel. "Don't be," he murmured into the dark. "You're going to be safe in just a few more hours."
After a couple of miles, her breathing evened out. He continued to stroke her hair, liking the feeling of it as it slipped through his fingers.
He smiled, thinking how odd it was he'd found a kid he actually liked.
Chapter 43
Blake drove down the familiar highway, his nerves taking over his exhaustion. As he hung a right onto the dirt road, he glanced down at Megan, who was still sleeping soundly in his lap.
It was just after two a.m. Blake knew that once he pulled up to the gate, an alarm would sound in the War Room. The computer would then call whoever was on duty for the night, and he imagined that person would not be very happy to be woken up. It was the security detail he had failed at before.
He slowed at the gate, wondering who was getting the phone call, and he hoped it wasn’t Hudson.
A few minutes passed, and he raised Megan’s head, slid out of the car, and gently set it down on the seat. He stood in front of the camera wondering what they were thinking inside the silo. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, his sweatpants were grimy, and the big sneakers flopped off his feet. Not to mention the handcuffs, and he guessed he weighed twenty pounds less than he did the last time he saw any of them over two weeks ago.