She capped the bottle. “I wish you’d shown me a translator so that I could understand labels and people speaking.” She gestured with the bottle toward his pack. “A lot of the stuff in there I had to guess at.”
He froze as fear went through him. If she… oh crap. “Did you turn my computer on?”
“No. I didn’t want them to peg our location.”
Good girl. That alone was probably why they were both still breathing. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure they would have too.” He let out a deep sigh of resignation before he stood up.
She scowled up at him. “What are you doing?”
Caillen took a minute to catch his breath and to ignore the sharp, shooting pain that begged him to lie down.
But he couldn’t do that. He had duties to attend and a small shot of adrenaline would allow him to get it done. Gah, I hate those shots.
You gotta do what you gotta do. That had been the whole history of his life.
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He offered her a kind smile. “You haven’t eaten in days and we’re out of food. I’m going to get supplies.”
She gaped. “You can’t do that. They’ll catch you.”
That was a quick reminder that she didn’t know him all that well. The only way to catch him was when he allowed it. “No, they won’t. Trust me, baby. There are three things in this life that I excel at. One, I can pilot anything that can be flown—with or without wings. Two, I’m the best lover you’ll ever have, and three, scavenging for supplies even when you think they don’t exist. Spent my entire childhood scrambling to help feed my sisters and talking pitiless doctors into helping my sister with her medical problems. When it comes to finesse, no one’s better.”
She snorted at his braggadocio. “I seem to remember that finesse when we were being chased by the Enforcers. Real smooth there, Sparky. Definitely admirable.”
Okay, she had a point, but he wasn’t willing to cede it. “We were trapped and I wasn’t expecting them. Things are different now.”
“Yeah, you can barely stand.”
“Not the first time that’s happened and at least this time I’m sober.”
She gave him a droll stare. “Not amused.”
“Wait a few minutes and it’ll sink in, then you’ll laugh.”
“You’re not as charming as you think you are.”
“Of course I am. If I wasn’t, my sisters would have killed me long ago. Now, you wait here and—”
“I’m not about to stay here.” There was a hint of fear underlying her determined tone.
But his leaving wasn’t what she should be afraid of. The bogeyman was alive and well, and most likely waiting for them just on the other side of that small trapdoor. “You have to. You can’t pass for an Andarion and you don’t speak their language. I now know what to watch for and how to deal with them.” He paused and narrowed his gaze at her. “Don’t worry. You didn’t abandon me and I won’t abandon you.”
Still there was reservation in her expression. “You can barely stand. Are you sure you’ll be all right?”
He winked at her. “I’m a Dagan, baby. We’re street survivors.”
“I thought you were a de Orczy.”
He screwed his face up at her reminder. “Don’t be saying that evil shit to me, hon. You’ll jinx me.”
At least that succeeded in lightening her doom and gloom.
Resisting another urge to kiss her, Caillen grabbed the injector and a small bottle of adrenaline out of his pack. No need to take that around her. Some things he didn’t like sharing. He started to leave.
“Wait.”
He turned back to her. “Yeah?”
“I took your contacts and teeth out while you slept. I was afraid they might hurt you.”
And that was a really good thought. Though it was also creepy to think about someone handling him like that while he was unconscious. “Where’d you put them?”
She pointed to the outside pocket of his backpack.
Caillen dug them out and put them back on. “Thanks.”
She inclined her head to him. “Good luck.”
“Don’t need it.”
He hoped. But no need in stressing her out any more.
Desideria watched as Caillen climbed up and out of their hiding spot. His movements were slow and methodical, and lacked his usual grace but really, if one didn’t know how fluidly he normally moved, they’d never be able to tell he was injured. But she knew he was still in pain. She started to tell him he was a lunatic for doing this, but she didn’t want to make any sound in case some of the Andarions were around.
“Good luck,” she whispered, hoping she’d see him again. Because in the back of her mind was an image of him being hurt and her being killed. God, she really hoped that wasn’t a premonition.
Caillen took a moment to wince as he stood up in the warehouse and got his bearings. There was a slight chill in the air that cut through his coat and sent a shiver down his spine. Man, he was in pain. The last thing he wanted was to hunt down supplies, especially given how bad his head throbbed.
You’ve had worse wounds.
True. Very true. And at least it was night and this outpost only had one moon. Instead of bitching, he needed to be grateful it wasn’t worse.