Kean

“What?” he yelped.

“I think,” Mila said from on the stairs above him, “that she said you’re leaving now. So you’d better go.

“But…” he protested.

He wasn’t ready to go anywhere. Where were they going anyway? And did he need to bring anything? Wouldn’t he—

“She’s getting away,” Pierce pointed out.

Shit.

Kean growled, but took off after Madison as she used her leggy figure to her advantage, taking her away from him. Not for long though. His much longer legs easily closed the distance between them as he clomped heavily through the forest, sticks and even small branches easily crunching underfoot as he plowed through anything in his way in his rush to get to her side.

It was only after he slowed to her pace that he looked over his shoulder and realized he’d taken a shortcut through the forest itself, avoiding the cleared path.

No wonder it felt like there were so many things in my way. Idiot. FOCUS.

Madison wasn’t saying anything as she walked. After a few minutes, Kean wondered if she was even aware that he was there. Should he say something? Get her attention?

His boots loudly broke another branch. There was no reaction from Madison.

There’s no way she didn’t hear me. So she’s either purposely ignoring me, or she doesn’t think now is a good time for conversation. Which is all well and good for her, since she knows everything that’s going on. But considering that I do not, I think now would be the perfect time to learn a little bit more about her. Or her “organization.” Or the mission. Basically now would be a good time for me to know anything more.

“So, where are we going?”

There was no response. Kean frowned. Okay, fine, so she didn’t want to discuss that.

“Are you assuming that I’m bringing anything with me besides myself?” he asked instead. “Because at the moment, I’m not. So if there’s something I should have, best tell me now.”

“I’m not assuming anything,” she replied, still without looking at him.

“I see. Well good, ‘cause, uh, neither am I,” he replied.

Seriously? That’s your reply? What’s next? If she insults you are you going to reply with “Takes one to know one” or something stupid like that?

Kean felt his face burst into heat.

“You’re not making any assumptions?” Madison said, surprising him by responding.

“Uh, nope,” he said lamely. What was he going to do? Go back on what he’d originally said? That wouldn’t go over very well either. Best thing to do was just push on and hope he didn’t get embarrassed.

Madison spun, producing a tranq gun from somewhere that suddenly poked him between the ribs. “You didn’t assume that I was trustworthy? That I was on your side?”

So much for not getting embarrassed.

Kean thought about his response for a moment. Then he laughed.

Madison swayed backward in surprise. “Are you laughing?”

He nodded, his smile huge now. “Yep.”

“There’s a tranquilizer gun in your ribcage.”

“Sure is,” he agreed.

“I could shoot you right now,” she said. “You wouldn’t have time to react before you went down.”

Kean looked at the gun, looked at her, then shrugged. “No, I’d still break your neck before I passed out, actually,” he said, his voice calm all of a sudden as his laughter disappeared.

“So why are you laughing?”

“Because of your ridiculous threat.”

“What do you mean?”

Kean slowly took one finger, and pointed at something on the gun. “You still have the safety on.”

Now it was Madison’s turn to go red in the face as she quickly thumbed it off. But Kean just shook his head and gently pushed the gun aside.

“You still have no idea who I am,” she pointed out. “Perhaps guns aren’t my strongest point. But you still were willing to just get up and get in the car with me?”

“Yeah.”

She frowned. “Why so trusting?”

“Logic, mainly,” he said calmly.

“You’re going to have to explain that one to me,” Madison said as they approached a big white SUV.

“It’s fairly simple,” he said, eying the artificial construct skeptically.

Combustion vehicles were not something he liked for several reasons. First and foremost was the simply brutal impact that they had upon the environment around them. The pollution they spewed—even reduced as it was compared to the predecessors that came before them—still threatened nature, which was his home. Another large reason he disliked them was for the simple fact that he rarely fit within them. They were not made for people with frames like his.

“How far are we going?” he asked, hearing the pensiveness in his voice even as he reached for the door handle.

“A couple of hours,” she said, eying him over the front windshield as she paused near her door. “Is that going to be an issue?”

There was a slight challenge in her voice, as if she wanted him to wuss out, to tell her he couldn’t do it. Kean wanted to snort in her face, but knew that wouldn’t win him any friends. So he just smiled, though it was a tight look, not his usual relaxed grin.

“It’s going to have to be a non-one, now isn’t it?” he replied, pulling the door open and getting in. “Anyway, like I was saying. Logic.”

“Logic,” she mimicked.

“Let’s assume you weren’t trustworthy.”

“Maybe I’m not.”

“You are,” he replied. “Or at least, I have no real choice but to believe you are.”

Madison gave him a bewildered look, but he waved it off. “So, if you aren’t trustworthy, really you have two things you might be after. No, three, sorry. First, you want us dead.”

“Exactly,” she agreed. “How do you know that’s not my plan?”

“You came upon us, with me and all my brothers unable to do a damn thing, and only Mila in your way. It wouldn’t have been hard for you to tranq her, then tranq us with full strength, and then slit our throats. We’d bleed out while still in forced sleep.”

Madison looked uncomfortable at the brutal nature of his comments, but Kean forged ahead. She’d asked, and he wanted to explain his logic.

“There’s no reason for you to take me by myself, under the pretense of some sort of covert mission, just to kill us. That’s too much, even for a movie villain.”

“Okay,” Madison conceded, “I guess you have a point there. What are the other two things I might be after?”

“Second, is you’re with the Institute in some way, and want us back in their jail. But the same thing applies. You could have just tranq’d us and then had a goon squad come in and take us away.”

“What if I wanted just you?” she countered.

“Same deal. Tranq everyone, but just take me. There’s far too much risk that I might catch on at this point and ruin everything by killing you or something. Real bad people don’t take stupid risks like that.”

Madison opened her mouth as if to refute his logic, then shook her head. “All right, fine,” she said, bringing the engine to life at last and guiding them down the single-lane road that wound through the campground.

“And the last and final thing is that you work for the Institute, but want me to somehow do something for you that you can’t do on your own. So this mission will make me an unwitting accomplice to whatever the Institute is up to.”

“That doesn’t concern you?” she asked.

Kean laughed, the noise seeming to shock Madison. “Not at all.”

“Why not? Wouldn’t that be the hardest one for you to tell if it’s real or not?”

“Absolutely,” he told her. “I know you’re using me to do something you can’t do on your own. That’s not up in the air. If you’re working against the Institute though, it’s likely because you have limited resources at your disposal, and you need my help. If you’re part of them though, and you still can’t do it without my help, it means you’re incredibly incompetent, and that before long I’ll have seen through your act and I’ll snap your neck without a second thought.”

He took an extra-long pause while Madison swallowed hard at his calm statement.

“I guess it’s a good thing I’ve decided you’re trustworthy, isn’t it?”

Her long blonde ponytail swished gently from side to side as Madison moved her head back and forth in a conceding manner. Her face was still white as a ghost at the bald-faced threat, and he noted her knuckles tighten around the steering wheel. Then all of a sudden her posture relaxed, tension flowing out of her.

Kean didn’t say anything, but the change was so blatantly evident he knew she had a reason for it.

“Well maybe I won’t be so put off the next time you greet me by saying I’m pretty and you want to kiss me,” she shot back at last, glancing over at him. Her blue eyes danced with humor, her cheeks dimpling delightfully as she smiled over at him, recognizing that he was, for the most part, teasing her.

He grinned, his face going red at the reminder of his earlier comments. Although what he’d said was mostly true—he likely wouldn’t kill her or any other human, simply because that would bring down a lot of trouble on him, his brothers, and their homeland of Cadia—Kean had absolutely no interest in hurting Madison. When he’d told her he’d decided she was trustworthy, he’d meant it.

Now he wondered if she would decide the same about him.

“Does that mean I get to find out where we’re going? Or what the hell it is we’re doing?” he asked lightly, trying to relax as she turned the vehicle out onto a two-lane paved road, accelerating quickly to get up to speed.

“We’re going to the last place that the item was known to be at,” she said cryptically.

There was no hint of a smile this time. Madison was back to being all business. Kean carefully kept his face still as he watched the change in her. Whatever it was they were after, the fact that it was missing bothered her immensely. Enough to make her clamp down on any humor and enjoyment, and become laser-focused once more.

“Which would be where?” he asked.

Silence.

Trying not to let his anger get the best of him, Kean took a deep, calming breath before he spoke again.

“Okay, what sort of item is it we’re looking for?”

Once again Madison didn’t reply. Instead she tightened her grip on the wheel and stared straight ahead, as if she hadn’t heard him.

“And, my last question,” he said lightly, acting as if she’d been answering him all along. “How do we know the Institute took this item?”

He held up a hand abruptly. “Wait, let me guess the answer to this.”

Then Kean sat back in his seat and didn’t say anything. He counted to five, then smiled falsely. “Glad I was right.” His voice was becoming angrier at the lack of even a shred of trust from her. He’d thought they had made at least a bit of progress, but apparently not.

“Couple of hours’ drive you said?”

Madison nodded this time, still not taking her eyes off the road.

“Sweet,” he said sarcastically, tilting his chair back slightly and closing his eyes.

If she was going to play games with him, then he was going to play right back.

Moments later he was asleep.