CHAPTER28
Sig
“Are you sure Brando didn’t give you directions to this place?” I asked, passing the binoculars over to Rafe.
We were concealed behind a large sand dune, north of the complex. It sat down in a little valley south of us, sitting out in the sun like a dog basking on a porch. The building belonged there. It was made of stone and had been there for who knew how long. The people scurrying in and out were another matter.
Arsen and I had tried to convince Rafe to camp out in the little oasis we’d found. After the conversation we’d had with Colby we could’ve all used some time to adjust.
Rafe had disappeared for an hour and when he’d come back he’d climbed on Ayad and ridden off. We’d had to scramble to pack up and catch him. This was a big change for him and giving over his need for control in order to keep Colby was something he wasn’t swallowing easily. It wasn’t surprising that he was throwing himself into the next mission.
I was just glad he’d agreed. I’d hate to fucking lose her because of this bullshit. Setting aside my own dominant nature wouldn’t be too difficult, especially not for her. But I wasn’t Rafe.
“Just general directions,” Rafe replied, watching the movement with the binos. He had a cold, calm mask firmly in place. He was focused on the mission. There wouldn’t be any discussing what’d happened right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he strived to never bring it up again.
Colby nudged him. “Let me see.”
He dutifully passed them over so she could watch the men hurrying back and forth as they unloaded trucks. Her eyes lingered on him and I read the flicker of doubt on her face. She wasn’t sure if she’d done the right thing.
In my opinion, she had. She wasn’t going to be able to adjust to living the way we demanded, not if the things she’d told us were true. And they had been. We could all read the emotion on her face, the hurt in her eyes. She needed this and it was our job to give it to her. Rafe would get over being butthurt about it. I suspected that, in time, he would find greater pleasure in trying to dominate her within the rules she set. Ultimately, he wanted the challenge.
She probably didn’t realize that asking him to do this for her was as difficult for him as it’d been for her to beg to be fed. It went against his very nature. She was right, though, she’d made concessions for us. We could do the same for her. We needed her just as much, after all.
“What do you think is in there?” she asked, shaking off the insecurity she was feeling and focusing on the building out in front of us.
They were unloading crates. “Nothing good,” Rafe told her. “Now’s the best time for me to go.”
We all looked over at him like he was insane.
“They’re going to see you approaching if you go now,” Arsen pointed out.
“Yeah, but I can also say I am a part of whoever is dropping off that supply. I’ll go in through that open spot there.” He pointed to our west.
“Rafe,” Colby said, hesitation and worry in her tone.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, cutting her off. He spared her a glance. I wasn’t in position to be able to see them as clearly, what with Arsen’s huge melon of a head blocking the view, but I didn’t need to see to know something passed between them. “I’ve done this type of thing a hundred times.”
Colby’s mood had certainly improved after she’d dressed us down. We were all glad to have her almost back to her normal self, even with having to agree to her terms in order to keep her. We didn’t know what we were going to be walking into and the last thing we wanted was any of us injured or dead with these negative feelings floating between us. Rafe seemed to be the only one hanging on to them. That’s what that look was about, I was sure of it. A promise that when we all made it out of this, he’d make things right.
I was grateful to him. It was a pain in the ass having them all be pissed off at each other. Anger was something I rarely felt. It didn’t help anything, so I usually refused it. I preferred laughter.
“I’m going,” Rafe said.
“Be careful,” the three of us responded in unison.
“What’s the signal?” Colby asked as he got on Ayad.
“If I’m running back this way like demons are chasing me. That’ll be the signal,” he said with a wry grin—the first one he’d cracked since we started this trip.
“Fantastic,” she replied in a sour tone.
His lips tipped up into a faint grin again as he kicked Ayad into a run. The camel bellowed and sprinted away from us. We went back to our spot and took turns passing the binos back and forth for what felt like hours.
The sun crept across the sky, making me realize that it was taking hours. “This isn’t good,” I muttered.
“He’s been gone too long,” Colby agreed.
“We’re not going in there,” Arsen responded. “He’d kick our asses if we go in and blow his cover.”