“We need to transport her before she freezes to death,” the guy on her left said.
Was I freezing to death? I was cold, but dying? I ju
st wanted to take a nap, not die.
Thalia strode over to me, grabbed my arm, and stared down at me with pure malice shining from her eyes. “You’re going somewhere nice and warm. Lots and lots of sand. Sun.”
I thought of the Caribbean. Palm trees. Fruity drinks with umbrellas. “Sounds nice,” I replied, my teeth chattering.
“Nice?” I barely noticed a shrug of Thalia’s shoulders beneath her heavy coat. “The raiders of Hobart 6 will think you’re very nice. And the arms trade that will come from sending you there will be nice for me.”
I frowned, my cheeks stinging from tightness. Sunburn? Windburn? Oh wait, tears. I had tears frozen on my cheeks. I lifted my hands to feel the frozen tracks, but my fingers were too numb to feel anything. “You’re giving me to raiders?” I had no idea what a raider was, but it didn’t sound good.
“I’m trading you,” she clarified.
“Coordinates are set,” one of the guards said, tablet in hand.
“Good. With you gone, Rager will be all mine. So will the weapons from Hobart 6.”
She stepped away, the snow crunching beneath her boots as she left me in the center of the square.
“You’re going to leave me here?” I asked.
She didn’t walk far, just about ten feet away. “I’m not leaving you here.” She pointed to the poles. “You’re standing in the middle of a temporary transport pad. Goodbye, Bella.”
My words stumbled out of the space between my lips, my cheeks and tongue felt numb. “I’m not going to…to wherever. I’m going to the testing center for new mates.”
“Told you. She’s not even wearing a coat,” one of the men said. I couldn’t tell who it was anymore.
“At least she’s not fighting us much,” the other said. “The cold’s made her docile.”
“Get her out of here,” Thalia coaxed. “Rozin doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“You would know.” The first man chuckled, but Thalia ignored him completely, her gaze locked on me as if she needed to watch me disappear with her own eyes.
Transport pad. Docile. Raiders. My brain was fuzzy, but I knew what they were going to do wasn’t good. I didn’t want to go to Hobart 1 or 4. Warm or not. I could be warm here with my mates. No, not Rager and Liam and Evon. With new mates. Big guys with warm bodies and a soft bed. Thick blankets.
No. Not Rager and Evon. They didn’t want me.
But Rager hadn’t been with Thalia. So maybe he did.
It all seemed too complicated. Really. All I wanted was my mates. I wanted them around me, making me feel safe, keeping me warm, holding me.
I wasn’t going to let Thalia send me away. If I was going somewhere, it would be my choice.
“No way,” I said, my tone adamant. I would have sounded like a bad-ass bitch if I’d been able to manage more than a whisper.
* * *
Evon
“I never thought these things were slow until now,” I grumbled, at the wheel of one of the two rovers rolling over the rugged terrain.
Dravon was beside me, Liam and Rager in the seats behind. Liam’s three-guard group was in the other rover, following behind. I’d been more than ready to run all the way to wherever the fuck Thalia had taken Bella, but Liam’s good sense prevailed. Rager, usually the calm one, was too angry, too enraged to be much good. He’d fight like an Atlan beast, but not until it was time. For now, he sat, gripping the arms of his seat. I couldn’t see him doing it, but I knew. I was as tightly leashed and my hands were practically strangling the steering controls.
“They walked. Father has confirmed that. We’ll be upon them quicker this way.” Dravon’s words made sense and drove me on. “You’re too emotionally invested in this.”
I turned my head, looked at my younger brother. His gaze was out the window, squinting into the brightness.