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  “My knife?” she asked without turning.

  Sliding the KA-BAR out of the loop on the back of his belt, Deke weighed the hilt in his palm. “Military issue combat knife,” he muttered. He thumbed the edge of the blade, nodding at its sharpness. “Where did you get something like this?”

  An audible sigh rose on the wind as Roux turned to face him with her right hand extended. “My father.”

  Eying the human female, he pinched the end of the blade between his thumb and the knuckle of his index finger as he offered it to her. “Do you actually know how to use this thing?”

  “I prefer if I don’t have to get that close,” she answered, gripping the handle of the knife with such force her knuckles cracked audibly. “If I have to, I can take care of myself.”

  Under different circumstances, he might have believed her. If her enemies were fewer, if she only had to fight other humans, maybe she’d have a chance. As it stood, he likely sent her to her death.

  “I know what I’m doing,” she repeated, turning her back on him. “I’m not going to thank you.”

  “I hadn’t expected you to.”

  He should let her go, let her walk away and forget he’d ever seen her. Nothing good would come from an association with him. Even alone, hungry, and weak, she stood a better chance on her own.

  “Wait.”

  He didn’t speak loudly, but Roux stopped walking and looked over her shoulder. “Clock’s ticking,” she reminded him.

  Moving silently to the back of the SUV, Deke opened the hatch and grabbed one of the three emergency packs from a plastic utility box. “Take this.” Rather than approaching her, he tossed the army-green canvas bag to her, smirking when she grunted from the heft of it. “It’s not much, but it’ll hold you. A few MREs, first aid supplies, matches, a blanket—general survival shit.”

  Roux’s eyebrows arched toward her hairline, but she masked her surprise quickly. “I’m still not thanking you,” she muttered as she shouldered the extra pack.

  Deke didn’t blame her. In fact, he hoped her suspicious nature would keep her breathing until she found refuge. “Stay off the roads, and do not go west past the state border. If you don’t want to go to Pittsburgh, then turn north.” He shuddered to think of her crossing through werewolf territory. “If you decide to go north, I suggest heading toward Ithaca.”

  Watching him through narrowed eyes, Roux shifted her larger pack on her shoulder, clearly trying to decide whether or not to trust him. “Okay.” She nodded, her lips twisting as though the next words tasted bitter on her tongue. “Thank you.”

  Despite himself, Deke laughed. “Good luck, Roux Jennings. I hope you make it.”

  In another time, in another place, he would have died before he let her walk away. They didn’t live in that world anymore. Revealing the Gemini to what remained of civilization had seemed logical at the time. The survivors of the Purge needed order and stability, leaders willing to make hard decisions for the greater good.

  Without a common enemy, however, the Gemini had taken to fighting amongst themselves, each faction warring for more territory, greater power. Vampires wanted more blood donors. Shifters argued that they needed more land to run and hunt. The werewolves simply desired free rein to seek their fruitless and never-ending revenge.

  Everyone wanted something, and there seemed to be no end to the lengths they’d go to get it. Being linked to him didn’t just place Roux in the crossfire—it painted a giant target on her back.

  Every part of him rebelled as he watched the female disappear across the highway and into the trees. Standing beneath the streetlamp in front of the grocer, Deke did something he hadn’t done in ages. He questioned himself.

  Despite his arguments that she’d be safer on her own, it took everything in him to turn away and climb back into the driver’s seat. Once upon a time, a mate had been a coveted and cherished prize, a sacred treasure held above all else. Now, only approved unions were acknowledged by the Coalition, and only those deemed worthy fell under their protection.

  A human female—a commodity for her blood alone—would never be granted such status.

  Shoving away his depressing thoughts, Deke reached out to close the door. His patrol had ended at sunset, and normally, he wouldn’t have tagged along on a simple retrieval run for a handful of human rebels. When he’d heard from the informant that the group had a woman among them, however, he’d felt uneasy about leaving her in the hands of the other city guards.

  He could just imagine Roux’s reaction if she learned one of her own had betrayed the group. The thought almost made him grin.

  His left hand still rested on the handle of the door when the scream rent through the air. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, his muscles tightened, and a slow-building rumble vibrated through his chest.

  It wasn’t fear that propelled him out of the car or sent him sprinting across the highway and into the woods. A primal, unfettered rage coiled in the pit of his stomach, spurring him through the squelching mud that covered the forest floor. His heart pounded too hard, and his chest tightened when the next pained scream reached him.

  Gripped by instincts he didn’t fully understand, Deke crashed through the low-hanging tree branches, following the sounds of Roux’s struggles. The skin on his neck and chest rippled while the veins crawled along his arm. His beast clawed just below the surface, demanding to be set free, but it would have to wait. He couldn’t afford the time it would take to shift.

  A deep, masculine yell erupted through the night, followed by a vicious growl that chilled Deke’s blood. His nostrils flared, his upper lip curled above his fangs, and a red haze descended over his vision. A small voice in the back of his mind murmured in warning, but he could barely hear it over the roar of blood in his ears.

  The clouds parted, and the rain slowed to a fine mist that clung to his overheated skin. Eventually, the trees began to thin, opening into a small clearing littered with fallen branches and moss-covered stones. Silvery moonlight filtered down through the canopy of sparse leaves, illuminating the fog and glinting off the raindrops that clung to the grass. On the edge of the circle, calling to him like a beacon, Roux struggled and screamed as her attacker dragged her through the mud by her hair.

  “Phelps,” Deke snarled. He needed to get it together and regain at least a vestige of control, but he could barely breathe through the cold, hard rage. “Let her go, Phelps.” His voice still sounded more animal than man, but the ability to form intelligible sentences was a start. “Let the girl go. Now.”

  “Captain.” Sergeant Jordan Phelps faced him, but he didn’t release his grip on Roux’s hair. “I found this stray wondering in the woods. I’m pretty sure she’s part of the group we took in earlier.”

  “Who are you calling a stray, Fido?” Roux twisted and squirmed, trying to free herself from Phelps’ hold. “You heard him. Let go of me and go fetch something.”

  Her smart mouth and fiery indignation helped to loosen the knot in Deke’s chest, allowing him to fully breathe for the first time since he’d stepped into the forest. He’d been wrong in his earlier assessment. Roux wasn’t like the other rebels, especially not the other females. Hell, most of the men wouldn’t be brave enough to provoke a werewolf, but Roux clearly took pleasure in her defiance.

  “Is that any way to treat a lady?” Deke asked, his tone even, less guttural.

  Phelps barked in laughter. “You’re not serious.”

  Deke didn’t share in his amusement. Leveling a glare on the sergeant, he folded his arms over his chest and nodded toward Roux.

  “I trust I won’t have to repeat myself.”

  “Since when do you care about a little human stray?” With an exaggerated huff, Phelps untangled his fingers from Roux’s hair and shoved her away. “The team is going to think you’re going soft, Captain.”

  “I don’t really give a fuck what the team thinks.” The asshole was lucky Deke hadn’t already
liberated his head from his shoulders. “I’m headed back to the city. I’ll take the female.” Striding forward, he grabbed Roux by the elbow and hauled her up against his side before she could do something stupid. “Get back to your patrol, Phelps.”

  The werewolf looked like he wanted to argue, but after a short hesitation, he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Thanks for the assist,” Roux said once Phelps had disappeared back toward the highway. “I can take it from here.”

  She tried to pull away, but Deke held tight to her arm. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen.” She’d been seen, and he couldn’t let her go without arousing suspicion. “It’s both of our asses on the line now.”

  “I could stab you,” she offered, shaking off his grasp to grab both of her packs from the ground. “I’ll try not to nick anything important.”

  Deke had to chuckle at her solution. He’d been stabbed before—shot, burned, clawed, and bitten—and he had no desire to repeat the experience. If he believed, even for a moment, that the other guards would believe the ruse, he might actually let her attempt it.

  “Here, let me carry that.” He reached for the larger bag, but pulled up short when Roux glared at him. “Or not.”

  “Why are you doing this?” she demanded as she brushed the mud from the canvas backpack. “What do you want?”

  Deke held his hands up in surrender. “I’m just trying to help you, Roux. Is that such a bad thing?”

  “In my experience, nothing comes without a price, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. I’m not going to some prison in the city, so you—”

  “No, you’re not. You’re coming home with me.”

  For all of his assurances that she’d be treated fair and kindly, he refused to leave her protection in the hands of someone else. He’d tried to do the right thing, tried to let her go, but fate had intervened, and now, he couldn’t bring himself to walk away again.

  “Like hell I am.” Roux reached for her blade as she stumbled away from him. “I’m not going to be your fucking plaything.”

  Deke pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed while he fought to control his temper. He had to remind himself Roux didn’t understand what she was to him. She didn’t know what it meant to be a mate, didn’t realize that he’d give his life to keep her safe.

  “I’m not going to hurt you, Roux, and I’m damn sure not going to force myself on you. Even if I let you go, how far do you think you’d make it before another guard caught up to you?”

  “I’ll take my chances.”

  “Damn it, female, stop being so stubborn for one minute and just think. If I wanted to hurt you, why would I go out of my way to help you?”

  “What’s in Pittsburgh?”

  Of all the responses he’d expected, that hadn’t been one of them. “There’s an abandoned warehouse north of the city. It’s just a temporary outpost for travelers, but it’s protected.”

  “Outpost?” Roux’s matted hair slithered over her shoulder when she tilted her head to the side. “Who protects it?”

  Seeing an opportunity, Deke chose his next words carefully. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, but not here. Come back to my place. You can shower, eat, and get a good night’s sleep. Just give me tomorrow.” Easing closer, he reached for her pack again, encouraged when she didn’t immediately shrink away from him. “If you still want to leave, I won’t stand in your way.”

  Roux let him take her bag this time, though she didn’t relinquish her knife. “In other words, you need everyone to see me tomorrow so they know you did your job.”

  He hadn’t been thinking about his job at all, but if it bought him time and got her back to his vehicle, he’d run with it. “It’s the least you could do after causing me so much trouble.”

  After a long pause, Roux tucked her blade into the waistband of her tattered jeans and crossed her arms over her small breasts. “One day. You get one day, Captain.”

  Though pleased by her response, Deke shuddered when the hair on the back of his neck rose once again. Lifting his chin, he sniffed at the air, searching for any scent that shouldn’t be there.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Quiet,” he answered, scanning the nearby trees. “Someone’s out there.”

  To his surprise, Roux didn’t argue. Reaching for the handle of her blade, she shuffled closer, angling her body in the opposite direction and pressing her back against his. “Where?”

  “I don’t know.” He heard nothing but the natural sounds of the forest, and the most prominent scent in the vicinity came from Roux.

  “Well, did you hear something?”

  “No, not exactly. It’s just a feeling.”

  “Like someone’s watching us.” Roux nodded. “I feel it, too. Could it be that werewolf?”

  “Phelps? I doubt it.”

  Whatever lurked in the trees, he couldn’t get a read on it—no scent, no sound, not even a heartbeat. Something definitely stalked them, though. He could feel it, like a charge in the air, even if he couldn’t locate the source. He’d grown up hearing stories about ancient shifters that could mask their presence, but he’d never actually seen one.

  Worse than the infighting and petty disputes, worse even than the savage appetites of the Ravagers, the Gemini’s rise had opened the door to something that could destroy them all. Dangers far more unpredictable than werewolves stalked the night, creatures that should have stayed hidden like long-buried family secrets.

  They didn’t even have a name, and Deke had never actually seen one. Most just called them the Others, and not much was known about them beyond legends and myths. His grandmother had said only two existed at a time and the magic that allowed him to shift flowed through their veins in spades. Deke had never met a witch, and as far as he knew, they didn’t exist, but these ancient creatures came pretty damn close.

  It was rumored they lived high in the mountains of South America—if they even existed at all—so it made no sense for one to be in the small Pennsylvania town. Deke mentally berated himself for even considering the possibility. Having a new mate was clearly making him paranoid.

  Without a clear threat, Deke had nothing to fight, so he turned his focus to getting Roux as far from any potential danger as possible. “Let’s go. If there’s someone out there, I can’t find them.”

  “Okay.” Roux grabbed the emergency pack he’d given her and slung the strap over her shoulder. “This doesn’t change anything, though. One day.”

  It didn’t sound like much time, but Deke knew better than anyone that one day could change everything.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Clutching her muddy bag to her chest, Roux stared through the windshield from the front seat of Deke’s SUV. She didn’t know what had possessed her to agree to the captain’s ridiculous terms, but she had to admit she was greatly looking forward to a hot meal and an even hotter shower.

  Deke Collins confused the hell out of her. He didn’t fit the mold of what she knew about the Gemini. As much as she hated to admit it, he might have actually saved her life. On the other hand, if she hadn’t been thinking about him, pondering over why he’d been so kind to her, she wouldn’t have stumbled into that fucking werewolf in the first place.

  In the early morning hours just after midnight, an eerie quiet blanketed the city. Darkened storefront windows, vacant sidewalks, deserted streets—no life moved within the center of Trinity Grove.

  Streetlamps shimmered through the falling mist, lining their path with ghostly halos of amber light. In some ways, it was beautiful, peaceful, a place untouched by the destruction of war. Then Roux remembered she sat next to a shifter in a region controlled by vampires, and suddenly, the serenity morphed into something straight from one of her nightmares.

  “What just happened?” Deke glanced at her from the corner of his eye before making a turn onto a narrow neighborhood street just past the Square. “You were smiling, and now, you look like someo
ne spit in your lunch.”

  “I wasn’t smiling.”

  Deke bobbed his head a few times, but he didn’t say anything, which only served to annoy her. She didn’t want his understanding or compassion. Each time he tried to help her, every ounce of consideration he showed her, just made it that much harder to dislike him. She just had to remind herself that he didn’t do it out of kindness or a sense of morality. He did it because he wanted something from her, but she had no intention of sticking around long enough to find out what that might be.

  The vehicle slowed before bumping over a drainage grate near the curb, jostling Roux sideways in her seat. Deke turned into a single-car driveway in front of a small, one-story brick house with decorative lattice shutters. The white pillars that bracketed the porch had yellowed with age, but the property didn’t appear neglected. The manicured lawn, the trimmed hedges along the side of the house, and the potted flowers near the front door spoke of someone who clearly took pride in his home.

  “You live here?”

  Deke chuckled as he cut the engine and threw open his door. “Not what you expected?”

  Pursing her lips, Roux held tight to her backpack while she slid out of the SUV on the other side. She’d never given much thought to how the Gemini lived when they weren’t out terrorizing humans. Logically, some part of her had known they didn’t sleep on the ground or build dens in the forest, but she hadn’t expected something so…domesticated.

  “You said there would be food.” Her stomach twisted sharply at the reminder.

  “There’s plenty of food. You’re welcome to whatever I have.” Without waiting for her, he cut across the lawn and bounded up the front steps. “There’s a spare bedroom, so you’ll have some privacy. I’m afraid all I have is an air mattress, but the couch is comfortable if you’d rather sleep there.”

  It had been a long time since Roux had slept on anything as luxurious as an air mattress. Most nights, she huddled on the ground, or on cold, damp floors in places like the fishing shack, using her bag as a pillow.

  “The air mattress is fine.” Climbing the steps after him, Roux glanced over her shoulder while she waited for Deke to unlock the door. Nothing moved, no dogs barked, no lights shined from the windows of any of the houses. “I don’t need much.”