Page 50

Nadia

I’m on the fourth hour of my evening shift, staying awake on pure grit alone because…

there is nothing tonight getting my adrenaline going.

And no Grace and Shay to keep me company – their shift is next.

I yawn, looking back to the room, wondering if I need to check on the patient in bed six again when Cole comes to the door of the tent.

I turn and see him standing there, looking for me. “Hey!” I call, raising a hand and jogging over to him, a smile already on my lips.

Cole smirks at me. “And what makes you think I’m looking for you , Amir?”

I slow my pace and put my hands on my hips, grinning at him. “You are.”

He laughs a little and shakes his head, looking around the tent again. “You got a minute?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say, shrugging and looking around for Daniel. He waves to me, already intuiting that I need to step away, and I wave back before following Cole outside. “What’s going on?”

“There was more action at the caves,” Cole says, glancing down at me as we move across the camp towards dad’s tent. “I would have told you earlier but –“

“It wasn’t finished yet,” I say, nodding. I get it. There’s no reason to update me until there’s something definitive to say.

He smirks at me, shaking his head as he holds the tent flap open. “You’re getting awfully intuitive, Nadia.”

I grin at him, ducking inside.

Dad looks up at us, saying his hellos as he finishes typing something on the computer, and then standing, peering at Cole. “Updates?”

“Yes,” Cole says, looking between us. “But fortunately or unfortunately, not more work. At least not right now. Injured parties from the caves are being airlifted directly to hospitals.”

Dad raises his eyebrows, surprised.

“Wait, why?” I ask, frowning at Cole. “What happened?”

He sighs, shaking his head. “We lost track of Slaken. He’s slipped away again.”

“What?”

“We thought we had a full concept of the layout and possible exits from the caves, but apparently there was another one. Either he found a new way out, or he’s deeper in the mountain.

Either way, there was a rather bloodless end to this particular battle.

Slaken’s gone with everyone he could move with him.

He left behind a lot of dead and a lot of terribly wounded people.

Dad made the call to have everyone airlifted to a hospital no matter their condition.

So, there’s no one coming here by truck. ”

“Shoot,” I whisper, crossing my arms and looking down at the ground. I mean, it’s not like I’m disappointed that injured people are getting help elsewhere and being seen in more capable facilities. All of that is good. It’s just…

That maniac is still out there. And he’s still got his hostages.

This is nowhere near done.

“Do you have statistics?” dad asks, frowning at Cole. “On who was airlifted?”

“We should,” Cole says, glancing at the computer. “I’m sure it’s in the brief that my father worked up and sent out.”

Dad nods and sits down in front of his computer again, typing and pulling something up.

“So, what’s our next move?” I ask, stepping closer to Cole.

“A lot of that has to do with what your dad thinks – he’s in military command of this medical camp,” Cole says, nodding to him. “If the patients who are still here are well enough to be moved, then I’m encouraging dad to move this camp.”

I blanche at him. “Cole, don’t you think that’s…extreme? All because there are a couple of kids out there watching us?”

“Kids with ties to an extreme cult leader who is on the loose and getting increasingly desperate, Nadia –“

“These numbers are off,” dad says, shaking his head and studying his screen. Cole and I both turn to him, our conversation dropping like a stone.

“What?” Cole asks, stepping closer. “I’m sure he double-checked them…”

“No, not that they’re incorrect, Cole,” dad says, sighing and pushing away from the computer. “They’re off in that they’re…odd. Two hundred people airlifted, and still no children? No girls? And no humans?” He shakes his head.

“Well, why is that odd?” I ask, my stomach sinking as I study my dad. “Wouldn’t he want to keep the future generations close? And the humans, if they’re his…servants or whatever. His slaves. He’d keep them too, wouldn’t he?”

Dad shakes his head. “I’m sure that he wants all of them, but feeding them?

Keeping them in order? Keeping them obedient ?

” He narrows his eyes, shaking his head, still trying to sort it all through.

“I just…can’t fathom how not even one got away.

Surely, there are those who were discontented, looking for a way out. ”

I watch my dad, worried now too. He’s right – it’s just…too neat. The total absence of both groups in a huge rescue mission like that is bizarre.

“Something’s off,” dad murmurs, dropping his head in his hand and then massaging his forehead with his thumb and forefinger in the way he does when he’s got a stress headache.

“You’re right,” Cole says, sighing, hands going to his hips as he looks over at the phone. “Let me make a call. I’ll run it by dad, maybe Jude, and see what their perspectives are on this.”

Dad nods as Cole looks to me.

“I’ll update you when I’ve got updates?” he offers, brows rising. I nod and half turn towards the entrance, wanting to get back to work.

“Thanks,” I say, nodding to him. “For keeping me informed.”

Cole shrugs like it was only natural, reaching for the phone.

I leave the tent, heading back to the nursing tent, hoping that the steady work will help me get my mind straight.

Unfortunately, the work doesn’t do the job of distracting me.

An hour or two slips by without any updates, and even while I keep my hands busy, my mind turns and turns over the problem.

Where are the girls? Where are the humans?

I try to put myself in their place, attempting to figure out what it is that I would do if I were them.

And an idea comes to me that’s…a little crazy, my heart filling with the fear that these children – wherever they are – must be feeling.

I jump when Cole says my name, spinning to see him standing there. He frowns at me as I press a hand to my heart, catching my breath. “I surprised you?” he asks.

“No, Cole,” I snap, giving him a half-hearted glare. “I’m just so stunned by your good looks –“

He laughs, shaking his head at me and then glancing around the tent. But when he sees that no one’s close by, he nods towards one of the empty beds. “Got a minute?”

“I do, but can we talk over food?” I ask, grabbing my hoodie off of the desk and pulling it on, my hands slipping into the pockets to check that my little wolf carving is still there. I smile as my fingers slip over the wood grain, which is now becoming so familiar to me.

“Yeah, of course,” Cole says, frowning at me. “You didn’t eat?”

“I did,” I say, shrugging as we walk together out of the tent, my shift ending anyway. The night is pitch black now, and the camp is mostly abandoned except for the nurses I see heading towards us, ready to take the night shift while my group exits. “I could use a snack, though.”

Cole nods, leading me to the mess tent where wrapped sandwiches are waiting on a table inside the door. I smile, taking one, grateful for a cooking staff that understands that we don’t really stick to regular mealtimes when things get crazy.

“So, any updates?” I ask, unwrapping my sandwich and heading to the empty fire pit with Cole, waving to Gracie and Shay as they head off to their shift. They wave back before I turn my attention to the Prince.

He sighs as he sits, and I take my place next to him.

“Nothing useful,” he murmurs. “Dad didn’t have any strong theories on why there were no children or humans present.

His thinking was along your lines, suggesting that these are people who Slaken wants at his side.

He won’t give up valuable populations without more of a fight. ”

“Damn,” I whisper, shaking my head.

Cole nods, agreeing with my baffled sentiment, my feeling of helplessness.

I take a bite of my sandwich, chewing carefully and picking my next words. “Hey, Cole?” I say, wrapping my sandwich back up and dusting my hands off, trying hard for casual and not quite reaching it.

He looks over at me with a frown, sensing that something is up.

“Um,” I say, tucking my hands inside my hoodie and leaning closer. “What if we…went to the caves?”

“What?”

I grimace, speaking fast so I get all my words out at once. “I was just thinking that if I was one of Slaken’s captives and was feeling discontent like my dad said, that I would hide –“

“Nadia –“

“No, seriously!” I say, nodding eagerly. “I would be hiding from Slaken, but then I’d also be scared of the Moon Valley military people, right? Especially if I’d been brought up to fear them. So, I wouldn’t come out while they were searching for me. What if we –“

“ Absolutely not, Nadia,” Cole says, his mouth drawing to a thin line.