Unstable by Lacey Carter Andersen
7
Kiera
We’d driven all day,with a few stops, but tension still hung between us in the strangest way. There was so much that needed to be said. But at the same time, did it? Did I need to tell Emory that some part of me would never forgive him for what happened with his brother? But that I still loved him and sympathized with why he’d done what he’d done. Did I tell Drake that if he never flew again, if he continued hurting, I’d still love him? That none of that mattered to me.
And how the hell did I address things with Adam? I should’ve been able to protect him against Maxen, but I couldn’t. I didn’t. I watched him be imprisoned, tortured, and treated like garbage. In his eyes, there was nothing but love and forgiveness, but we both knew I didn’t deserve that.
We find a motel and decide to stop for the night. We rent a room, and then our group walks across the street to get some food. Adam orders a few things for Princess, who wanted to stay outside, and promptly brings it out to him, before we all dig into a table loaded with food.
No one talks. I don’t know if it’s exhaustion, or the things left unsaid, but the silence feels like something I don’t want to break.
“Did you notice that?” Cole says, keeping his voice low, and glancing at the truckers at the other tables.
I look around the room. “Notice what?”
All the truckers look exhausted as hell and fully focused on their greasy burgers and fries. There’s nothing that would explain the worrisome tone in Cole’s voice. I look at the others, but they seem just as confused as I am.
“Notice what?” Drake repeats, in an irritated voice.
“The car that just drove slowly past.”
I sigh. “I didn’t notice it, but I’m sure it’s nothing.”
Cole’s gaze swings to me for a minute, and there’s disbelief in his eyes. I don’t know what the hell we’re missing here, but we were going to get the truth out of this sullen, quiet guy if I had to kick his ass myself. But first, I was going to finish my double bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Because this place might be just a hole in the wall along our path, but it was the best food I’d had in who the hell knew how long. And Maxen’s little soldier wasn’t going to ruin that for me.
We all continue eating, and I can tell Drake and Emory are irritated by the newcomer too, but they stay busy with their food. Adam keeps smiling, looking between all of us, and out to, where I assume, Princess is eating in the alley.
Finally, Adam asks, “So, Cole, what are you going to do when we get back?”
Cole’s gaze moves from where he was staring out the window to my mutant. “Survive.”
Adam’s nose wrinkles up. “I mean, we’re dropping off the relic and getting the hell out of there. Do you plan to come with us or return to Maxen?”
The bastard actually shrugs.
My temper snaps. “Adam, don’t waste your breath talking to him. Just accept he can’t be trusted.”
Cole lifts a brow and glances at me. “I never said I could be.”
“We’re all just trying to figure you out,” I throw back at him.
“Good luck with that.”
“Watch your tone,” Drake growls.
To Cole’s credit, he seems smart enough not to want to piss off my dragon, because he stays quiet.
When we finish, Cole pays for the meal with cash, which he seems to have a lot of, and we all head back outside. Princess is nowhere to be found, but Adam reassures us he’s okay. We go back across the street and reach our room door, but standing outside, every hair on my body stands on end. I glance into the parking lot, to the alleys across the street, but see nothing alarming.
“Coming?” Emory asks.
After a minute, I nod and head inside.
There are two queen beds in the “suite,” and I plunk down on one of them and eye Cole. “What aren’t you telling us?”
He glances at me. “It’s not something I’m not telling you. It’s something you should know without being told.”
Drake flashes a smile, then punches him in the stomach.
Cole gasps in a shaky breath and curls over his belly.
I sigh. “Cole, just a word to the wise, that attitude won’t get you far here.”
Cole looks at Drake like he wants to kill him, but then stands up to his full height and says, a little breathless, “Maxen has eyes on everything, and he wants Kiera more than anything in this world. He knows she’s the key to getting the berserkers to accept him as their king. By now, I expect he knows she’s out of the demon prisons, but he may not know where she’s headed. I would bet he’s got eyes on us already.”
“Well, fuck,” Emory mutters. “That would’ve been good to know.”
“You know your brother, how did you not think about it?” Cole throws at him, an edge to his words.
Emory lifts his head, squaring off with the other man. “I might be his half-brother, but I don’t think like him the way you do, Cole.”
“I don’t have to be like him to know how to think like him,” Cole counters.
I sigh. “So, do you think we’re safe here for the night?”
Cole takes a long second to answer. “I think so, but we shouldn’t get too comfortable.”
I stand and head for the bathroom. “Okay, then I think someone should find new clothes, and then we should take turns taking showers. No offense, guys, but we all stink like hell and look like hell. I’m pretty sure our waitress thought we were miners, if not for my wedding dress.”
“Cole and I can get clothes!” Adam volunteers.
I freeze and look back at him, then at Cole. “Okay, but you be careful.” And then I give Cole a look that promises pain if Adam isn’t kept safe.
Cole gives me a nod that says he knows exactly what I’m not saying.
Ducking into the bathroom, I shut the door. I don’t know what I need, or what’s wrong with me. But starting with a shower and clean clothes is enough, for now.
