Page 27 of The General's Captive

I burst out giggling, something he grinned at, as if he liked seeing me laugh and liked being the one to achieve it even more.

“I am saying nothing,” I said, lifting my fingers from the wheel in a hands up gesture.

“So, a vet, eh?” he asked after another moment of silence.

“Yeah, before this part of the world went to shit and I got stuck in it,” I replied, trying to keep the bitterness from my voice.

“So, you’re from New York, how did you end up here?”

I released a sigh.

“My uncle lives… lived in Yellowstone National Park,” I said, and he winced when he saw the pain in my eyes when I corrected myself, no explanation needed.

“I am sorry you lost him.”

“Yeah, but then who hasn’t lost people thanks to the Rift?”

He looked pained before nodding, offering me nothing in return. So, I continued on, feeling better that I actually had someone to talk to about it.

“I was going to college in the fall, thought I would spend the summer with my uncle.”

“So, you’ve been on your own this whole time?” he asked, seemingly surprised.

“Like I said, I have handled stuff on my own.”

“And managing to kill a class three,” he said, and thankfully this wasn't said in a skeptical tone. Like he actually believed me now. But seeing as I hadn’t yet heard them being referred to as this, I asked,

“Class three?”

“It’s what we call the Myths, based on their kill rate,” he replied, making me frown.

“Kill rate?”

“How difficult they are to kill. A Chimera is a class three,” he offered.

“I guess I don’t want to know what a class one is,” I said, shivering just thinking about it.

“That fucking General for one,” Riley seethed, hatred now pouring off him as that hard jaw line of his tensed.

However, for me, I couldn’t help but shiver for a different reason. Because there was no way I was going to admit to dreaming about the one who had let me go yet was hated by all.

“What do you know about him?” I asked, not denying that I had heard of him.

“Nothing really, especially not any weaknesses, that’s for damn sure,” he gritted out.

“But there have been those that have tried… to kill him, I mean?” I asked, making him scoff but there was no humor in it.

“Yeah, there have been many, and not a single one returns from trying. It’s like they just disappear, leaving nothing behind. Not a living soul left to tell the tale.”

“That’s terrible,” I said, not knowing what else to say. But then after a long, uncomfortable silence, I decided to offer him something more.

“He was there that day.”

“Who? What day?”

I sighed before answering.

“The General, he was there that day I killed the Chimera. He and some of his men showed up at the store after it happened. Like they had been looking for it or something,” I told him, making his eyes widen in shock.