Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
My first choice would be number three, but he probably saw that coming and that’s why he got into bed so fast. I’m not sleeping on the floor, so… I shrug, throw up my hands, and let out a long breath as I slide my body in next to his.
It’s a tight fit and our shoulders are squished together as I look up at the ceiling. “OK. I’m in bed with you. Now answer my question. Where will you take me?”
He doesn’t say anything. And this silence lingers long enough to be awkward, so I turn my head and look at him. That one open eye. It’s not any kind of brown I’ve seen before. It’s very light.
“Well?” I ask.
“I’m trying to decide how much to tell you.”
“Because if you tell me too much, then you’ll have to kill me?” He doesn’t laugh. “It’s a joke.”
“Yeah. I know it’s a joke.”
“But you didn’t laugh.”
“Because it’s not funny.”
“Oooookay.” I let out a frustrated breath and pull the covers all the way up to my chin, even though they’ve been on this bed for years and smell stale. Because the shaking that started out as a chill a few moments ago is starting to turn into an out-of-control shiver. The kind of shivering that reminds me of when I was a young, cool teenager who refused to wear a heavy coat in the winter because it clashed with my outfit. So I would find myself standing at the bus stop in the rain and wind, shivers bursting out of my body like tiny explosions because I was so cold.
It’s summertime, so the room is warm. Not overly warm, but much too warm to be shivering.
When I turn my head to side-eye him, Riggs is watching me, his eyes narrowed down a little. “I can’t tell you everything, obviously. There’s a real chance I would be killed if we aren’t careful and I get caught bringing you down below.”
I turn and look at him, hugging myself as I try to stop the shivers. It’s panic, maybe? Fear? Exhaustion? “Then why would you help me? Wouldn’t it be easier if you just left me here? I would promise not to say anything. I wouldn’t. My word is good, it really is. Why risk everything by taking me with you when leaving me behind is the easy answer?”
He’s shaking his head the whole time while these words are coming out. “No. It’s more of a risk to leave you behind.” That one exposed eye flits up to meet mine. “This operation is important. What I’m doing here, it’s important.”
“Because you’ll go back down to those tunnels if you mess it up.”
“That’s only part of it. The selfish part. But the mission is something I believe in.”
My whole face screws up. “What mission?”
“That’s not something you need to know about. But there are things I should tell you. About the city, at least. So you’re not looking around like a fuckin’ tourist the moment we come out of the tunnel.”
I turn on my side, cheek pressed into the pillow, and hug myself even tighter. “OK. I’m ready then. Let’s hear it. Tell me all about your secret underground city.”
That one eye squints. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“You’re shivering like it’s cold in here. It’s got to be seventy-five or eighty degrees in this room.”
“I don’t know. It’s… adrenaline, or something.”
His upper body comes up off the bed and he stares at me with narrowed eyes. “Do you need more blankets?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“Don’t get sick on me. I’m warning you. If you get sick when we’re underground, we’ll get caught for sure. They’ll send you to the clinic and everything about that visit will be a red flag because they won’t be able to match your biomarkers.”
“I’m w-w-way too tired for words like ‘biomarkers.’” My teeth are chattering now.
He actually smiles and lets out a chuckle.
“And I’m not sick. I’m just…” I let out a long breath, trying to calm myself out of this trembling that seems to have taken control of my body since he offered to save me. “It’s just exhaustion. Just tell me what I need to know.”
We stare at each other for a moment, him propped up on his elbows now, me still hugging myself, trying to stop the shakes. “First of all, I need to understand how well you know Ike Monroe.”
“Not at all. Why?”
“Because he runs the Blackberry Hill Colony and that’s where we’re going first.”
“I’ve never heard of Blackberry Hill. I’ve heard about Ike Monroe, but only because Lowyn got herself mixed up with him when she was younger. I was away at school when that happened, though. So I didn’t even know about her story until just this year when it all came back to haunt her and Collin had to go in and get her out of Ike’s secret mountain town up in the hills above Disciple.”