***
“Anna.”
She stirred, shaking her head. “Nnnnnnn.”
“Anna wake up.” Something warm draped over her shoulder, rocking her gently back and forth.
“Buh’ I wanna sleep,” she complained, reluctantly coming closer to wakefulness.
“I know, but it’s time to go.”
Go? Where were they going? She tried to remember, but nothing came to her. Forcing her eyes open, she groaned as light invaded her brain, making everything hurt. “But why?”
“I’m sorry my l—I’m sorry. But the helicopter is leaving, and so are we.”
Anna sat up, inhaling deeply, feeling the rush of wakefulness that came with it. “We didn’t talk about leaving, Caine. What’s going on?”
Caine paced back and forth in front of her. “It’s not safe for you here,” he said. “Colonel Mara and I talked about it, and we came to the decision that it would be best if we left.”
“You and Colonel Mara talked about it, did you?” She looked around. “I assume I was asleep for this discussion?”
“I…thought it best t-that you get some rest,” Caine sputtered. Could he really not understand why she was growing upset?
“Caine, I’m a grown woman. I can go without some sleep for a day, believe it or not. Especially when that involves major decisions that are being made on my behalf.”
“I’m sorry. We can talk about it on the way, okay? But we have to go, and we have to go now.”
What had gotten into him that he was suddenly being so pushy? “Caine, it’s the middle of the day. They’re not going to try anything right now. What is the rush for?”
“The helicopter is leaving, and we need to go.”
“Where is it going?”
“Fort Banner, the military base outside of town that Colonel Mara works from and is partially in charge of.”
“A military base. You want us to go to a military base? You don’t think that here, surrounded by other dragon shifters, is perhaps a tad more safe than a military base? Didn’t you say the men that attacked were military? And now you want to take us among them?”
She could see the logic of his decision, but it royally irked Anna that Caine had just gone ahead and made the decision without her. Especially right after she’d told him all about her past, about others controlling her, thinking they owned her and could tell her to do whatever they wanted.
Pushing him to the side irritably she got up, her back and neck protesting after the awkward way she’d fallen asleep, slumped into the corner of the couch. That was going to leave a kink, she was positive of it.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she headed toward the elevator.
“To the car,” she snapped. “I left some stuff in there. If we’re leaving the tower, I want it with me.”
Caine threw his arms up in the air. “What the hell, Anna? I just did what I thought was best for us.”
“You are not in charge of me!” she shouted. “You make decisions with me, not for me, do you understand?”
Caine seemed ready to argue his point some more, but she spun on her foot and marched down the stairs to the elevator, jabbing her finger angrily at the button, hitting it over and over again repeatedly.
“You’re coming back, right?”
“Probably,” she said over her shoulder as the doors opened. “I’m assuming you went ahead and made that decision too?”
Caine’s growl filled the room. “I am not Senator Lee,” he rumbled. “So stop treating me like him.”
“Then stop acting like you can go ahead and make decisions without my input! You’re the only one in all this who knows what happened to me, Caine. You’re the only one I trusted. Now you’re starting to act like you’re in charge, as if I’m just supposed to follow you. I am not your servant. Nor am I your brothers’.”
She stepped into the elevator and let the door close behind her. For a long moment she sat there without doing anything, the elevator unmoving.
It wasn’t where they were going that was the issue. She wasn’t sure it was the best idea, but she could see the merit. If Anna had been awake, she might very well have agreed, though she would have raised the points about just who their attackers had been first. No, it was the deciding factor for her, and assuming that she would just do as he said that had triggered the response in her.
It may be a bit over the top, but she needed Caine to know it wasn’t okay. Other people, other women, they might not have an issue with it. He was more experienced in situations like this than she, but it was her past that needed to be taken into account if he wished her to continue to trust him.
Finally she hit the button to head down to the underground garage. In the rush to get from Violet’s house to the tower, she’d left her jacket and a few other belongings inside. It hadn’t been a priority to remove them then, but a helicopter ride sounded like it would be chilly.
Plus she could use the time to think everything over, and how to tell Caine so that he would understand she wasn’t just freaking out over going to a military base. Maybe she could buy time for a coffee too.
She eyed the shattered back window of the SUV. Things had gone from full stop to runaway acceleration with Caine in a hurry. Until she’d met him, Anna had only ever worried about the boogeyman over her shoulder, the ghost of Lincoln coming and grabbing her in the middle of the night. Never before had she feared permanent injury or death.
Everything had been ratcheted up a notch or three upon his arrival, however, and the night before they had taken on an unimaginable twist. Mercenaries had come for her in the middle of the night. For her. Annalise Walker. She was not that important! Maybe there was more going on, though she couldn’t imagine what.
Pulling open the car door, she grabbed her lost items.
Behind her there was a whirring sound, followed by metal clanking on pavement. She whirled, her back pressed almost into the car.
“Who are you?” she gasped as something out of the future strode out of the shadows.
It was a metal robot. Humanoid in nature, it moved with an almost human grace. Painted pitch black, she’d somehow missed it earlier.
“Is everything okay, ma’am?” The voice was decidedly human, as was the body language.
“You’re in one of those battlesuits, aren’t you?” she asked suddenly. “Vanek told me about you, but he never said that the suits were so big.”
The person—and she knew it was a person on the inside now—chuckled, and she relaxed. Vanek hadn’t told her everything, but when they’d taken refuge in his apartment she’d recognized him from when Colonel Mara had first arrived on the building roof. She’d asked him about the uniform, and he’d told her about the Steel Scales, his combination dragon-rider and battlesuit unit. They were working together on a project that he hadn’t spoken about.
“Of course. And you are, ma’am? I’m sorry, but I must verify everyone in the tower.”
She relaxed. The suited human was on her side. “I am Annalise Walker. I’m here with Caine.”
There was a pause. “Right. Of course, ma’am. Please, this way.” The suit gestured up the ramp, leading toward the surface.
“But I have to go back inside,” she said, turning to head back toward the elevator.
The suit moved to block her.
“I really must insist you come with me, ma’am.”
Anna swallowed, her throat constricting as fear settled in. What would one of Vanek’s men want with her? Had the helicopter left without her?
The giant metal suit stepped closer.