The Three (37 page)

Kael’s strength in dealing with Brian had renewed Anna’s hope and at the same time had thrilled her in a way she couldn’t have predicted. Bearing witness to that passion, that power, had struck something deep inside of her. Kael was utterly, wholly determined to get their lover back, and nothing was going to stop her.

That intensity of focus gave her an energy Anna could feel and see, and she found it irresistibly attractive.

Kael lowered her eyes to Anna’s bare breasts, then shrugged. “You know, I’m more alive right now than I have been since they took Elin.”

Brutal torture helps, huh? Well, I won’t question what works for Kael in this case. Anna drew her closer and said, “I want to feel you.”

She curled into Kael’s body and pinned her narrow hips to the bed by slinging her leg over Kael’s thighs.

Naked Kael was a rare treat and Anna intended to enjoy it as much as possible. Rather than answer, Kael eased her thigh between Anna’s and kissed her slowly. Anna kissed back, then groaned when her thigh found the warm heat between Kael’s legs.

Kael ground her center against Anna’s thigh, squeezing her hips with strong fingers. She pushed her tongue into Anna’s mouth with a hungry moan and rode Anna’s thigh. For a long, exquisite instant, Anna could think of nothing but the heat and force of her lover, then she came back to the moment. There would be time to express how she felt later. Their mouths lost contact, and they drew back slowly from one another.

Anna caught her breath. “I know what you mean about feeling alive. That’s why we’re…like this, I guess.”

“I guess.” Kael stroked the curly hair between her legs.

“I feel…like we can do this,” Anna said.

Tenderly, Kael placed a delicate kiss on her forehead. “Thank you. It makes a difference—that you believe that.” She gave a small sigh, tinted with regret, and ceased her sensual caresses, rolling onto her back. “I think a couple of hours before dawn would be best for the rescue. We’ll go back tonight just before dark for one last reconnaissance mission. We can try to get a message to Matt then, but we won’t actually infiltrate their camp until the early hours of morning. That’s when their sleep will be the deepest. If they wake up, it’ll still be dark enough to really take advantage of their disorientation.”

Three loud knocks on the bedroom door cut off Kael’s words and sent them both scrambling under the comforter. Anna stared up at the ceiling, amazed at how quickly Kael had managed to roll off and hide her nakedness. “Anna? Kael?” Kate called from the hall. “I’m sorry to bother you kids, but—”

“That’s all right.” Anna sat up in bed, folding her arms over her naked chest. “Come in.”

Kate poked her head around the door. “You two need to come downstairs. Right now. Matt is here.” She drew back, giving them privacy.

“Matt?” Kael sat up next to Anna, bringing the comforter with her. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” Kate’s voice was anxious. “He needs to talk to both of you. They’re expecting him back soon, so—”

“Of course,” Kael said. “Just give us a few minutes. We definitely want to talk to him.”

“I’ll make you some hot tea,” Kate said. “We’ll be in the kitchen.”

As soon as the door had closed, Kael jumped out of bed and stumbled across the room for her clothing. “I guess I should tell her I’m not a guy,” she said as she dressed.

“I think she’s guessed that already.” Anna dug in her bag for some fresh clothes, amused when she caught Kael’s faint look of surprise.

“What makes you say that?”

Anna shrugged. “Just a feeling.” Unable to help herself, she broke into a face-splitting grin. “I can’t believe the kid made it back here so soon.”

“I know,” Kael said. “I want to have a nice, long talk with him. We may be able to modify our plans a bit with his help.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Kael gave her a dangerous smile. “Just something to tip the odds in our favor a little more, that’s all.” She buttoned her jeans, rubbed a hand over her shaven head, and turned intense eyes on Anna. “We’re going to have Elin back by tomorrow, you know.”

“Yes, we will.” Now dressed, Anna stepped over to pull Kael into a hard hug, which was returned full force.

There was no longer a question in her mind. One way or the other, Elin was coming home that night.

Matt stood up from the table when Anna and Kael burst into the kitchen. His upper lip was cut and swollen, so his reassuring smile was painful to watch. There was an ugly, purple bruise under his left eye, and his favorite blue T-shirt was torn and bloody.

“She’s okay,” he blurted. “She’s had a rough time, but she’s okay.”

Anna stepped over to Matt and pulled the boy into a tight hug. “Thank you, Matt,” she whispered into his ear and pressed her nose into blond hair. “Thank you so much for today.”

Matt gave her a shy squeeze. “Don’t thank me. It was the only thing to do.”

“Are you okay?” Anna touched Matt’s cheek, wincing in sympathy when he inhaled sharply. “That guy really beat the shit out of you.”

Matt gave Kael a sheepish look. “Yeah. Some hero I am, right? If the other guards hadn’t come running, I’m not sure what would have happened.”

Kael shook her head. “Don’t say that. You were a hero today. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for stopping that asshole before he…before he hurt Elin.” To Anna’s surprise, Kael closed the distance between her and Matt and pulled him into a brief one-armed hug. She slapped him on the back, then pulled away, averting shining eyes from his awed gaze. “I owe you, man.”

Matt shrugged. “I’m sorry I knocked you down. I was afraid they would recognize you.”

Kael gestured at the table. “How about we sit down and talk before you have to leave?”

With an eager grin, Matt dropped into his chair for a quick sip of Kate’s tea. Anna sat down and lifted Zep onto her knee, stroking the hot little body as she waited for her own tea to cool.

“Have you spoken with Elin?” Kael asked. “I know you wouldn’t have had much privacy, but…”

Matt gave them a nervous nod. “I delivered some water to her tent. She said to tell you that she’s all right. I told her we’d all seen the marks on her back, and she got upset about that. She says to tell you…she swears they haven’t touched her. What happened today at the river, that was the farthest things have gone.”

“You think she was telling the truth?” Anna’s throat felt parched, and she took a sip of tea. “Or do you think she’s afraid for us to know?”

“I think it’s the truth. She swore it was. And…I think that Trey would have been all over it if that had happened.”

“Well, it’s sure a great thing he’s such an ethical guy,” Kael snarled.

Matt chuckled, a hollow sound. “Isn’t it?”

“So Trey recruited you?” Kael asked.

Matt darted shy eyes over to Kate. She nodded and he replied nervously, “I let him think so. He sent me into town to pick up supplies so that I can leave with them the day after tomorrow.”

Kael gave Anna a sidelong glance. “So we’ve got two days.”

Matt shook his head. “No, Dex gets back with the other guys tomorrow night at the latest. We’ll need to do something before then…probably tonight, to be safe.”

Kael exhaled. “Well, that was our plan, anyway. Probably a few hours before dawn.”

“They’ve got guards,” Matt warned.

“Six of them,” Kael said. “Brian told us. Four around the perimeter and two guarding the women at the center.”

Matt blinked in surprise. “Brian? Do you know where he went? Trey was freaking out when he didn’t come back after lunch.”

Kael’s eyes flashed dark satisfaction. “Brian won’t be coming back.”

“Oh.” Matt cleared his throat. “Well, I don’t know much about the guards. I just know that Trey told me not to worry about pulling guard duty until I’ve been trained.”

“Damn,” Kael swore under her breath. To Anna, she said, “It would have been nice if Matt had been one of the six.”

“What tent are you in?” Anna asked. We need to know who not to kill.

Matt gestured to a pile of supplies on the floor. “I just picked it out. It’ll be the only green and purple tent out there.”

“Okay,” Kael said. “So what have you learned?”

Matt leaned back in his chair. “Trey has a radio in his tent. Dex called him on it while we were talking. He said he would be returning with one additional female prisoner, probably after noon tomorrow. Maybe not until dark.” Matt paused, then said, “Trey told Dex about what happened with Brian today. With Elin. Trey was really pissed.”

“Was he?” Kael asked, voice strained.

“Yeah. Dex thought Trey should flog Brian as an example to the other men. Seems like they struggle with controlling them sometimes, especially the new recruits. Trey grilled me about how I would treat a woman prisoner. To be honest, I think he really wanted to recruit me because I helped Elin. So, he figures I’m not just a rapist looking for women.”

Kael released a disgusted snort. “Funny. I thought that was the movement’s big draw—the perfect place for a rapist looking for an opportunity.”

“With God’s blessing.” Matt cast shamed eyes to the table. “I felt awful telling Trey just what he wanted to hear from me, agreeing with the things he said. The guy’s a piece of shit. We can’t let him take those women.”

“We’re not going to,” Kael said.

Kate gazed around the table at each of them. “You’re talking about a wide-scale rescue? I hope the three of you have one hell of a plan.”

“We kind of have two,” Anna said.

Kael gave her a smoldering look that was meant for her alone, full of heat and need and deep, abiding love. Anna felt that look between her legs.

“I’m not sure either is very impressive,” Kael drawled. “We’re hoping one will work.”

“So what’s the plan?” Matt asked. “Are you bringing weapons? Will you come to my tent when you get there?”

“The plan is to conduct a rescue mission as quietly as possible for as long as possible,” Kael said. “I don’t want to start fighting any sooner than absolutely necessary. There’s too much chance that the women will get hurt. Not to mention the fact that the men could use them against us.”

“How are we going to get to the women’s tents without anyone noticing?” Matt asked.

“First, Anna and I are going to take out the guards. If we do it well, we won’t even wake anyone up. Then we’ll start getting the women out of there. Elin first, so she can help us with the rest. Anna and Elin will have to tell them what’s going on. If you or I stick our heads into their tents in the middle of the night, we’ll be asking for a scream or two.”

“Maybe Matt can get a message to Elin, and she can spread the word ahead of time,” Kate suggested. “If the women know to expect something, it’ll make things easier for you.”

“No good,” Kael said. “I don’t want people talking about what’s going to happen. All it would take is one of those guys catching wind of the plan…Trey’s not an idiot. He could even guess it’s about Elin. Then what?

He’d probably beat the truth out of her.”

Anna shuddered. To Kate, she said, “I wish we could risk it, but I agree with Kael.”

“I know it’s a dangerous plan.” Kael took Anna’s hand without looking and stroked the length of her fingers.

“I expect that we’ll be forced to fight at some point. In fact, even if we got every last woman out without disturbing a soul, I’d still need to go back to kill Trey.”

Matt’s head snapped up from his serious contemplation of his now-empty tea mug. “You’re killing Trey?”

“I have no choice. Brian told us that he wants Elin for himself. I can’t take the chance that he’ll come after us.”

“But any of the men could come after you,” Matt argued. “A lot of them are very devout about their beliefs.

They’re not all just assholes hoping to take advantage of their prisoners.”

“I understand that.” Kael gave Matt a hard look. “That’s why I’ll have to kill as many of them as possible.

Maybe all of them.”

Kate gasped. “Oh, honey…”

“Kate, they want to take those women back with them and force them to bear children. They want to take that little girl we saw today and take her innocence away as soon as she’s able to reproduce. These are evil, soulless people. I refuse to apologize for wanting them dead.” Her eyes darkened, and she threw her shoulders back. “Every single one of them. For every woman they’ve ever hurt.”

Blinking in surprise at the impassioned words, Kate touched Kael’s free hand. “I’m not judging you, young man. I’m just reacting to the scope of your plans.”

Kael fell briefly silent, apparently calming herself down, then she said, “I was hoping your husband could show me how to make some explosives. I figure that in the worst-case scenario, if the men start waking up, we’ll have something to distract them with.”

Kate nodded. “I’ve sent word to Walter that we need him to return home right away. He should be back soon, and I know he’ll help you with the explosives. He owes that group a payback.” Kate’s smile was grim.

“I’m sure he’d love to go with you, but he’s the one who lost a leg. Afraid he wouldn’t be much help against their numbers.”

“There are twenty-five guys, not including Brian,” Matt said to Kael. “All they have to do is start climbing out of their tents, and you’re surrounded.”

Anna’s heart rate picked up as she thought of something. “We could zip-tie their tents closed. It wouldn’t keep them from getting out, but it would slow them down.”

Kael’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea. Matt and I could handle it while you and Elin get the women out.”

“I still think you’re being extremely optimistic,” Kate said. “All you need is one light sleeper to ruin your plan before you even begin.”

“That’s why we’ll need explosives. We have to be prepared to wage one hell of a war if need be, but we’ll try to avoid it, if we can.” Kael pressed her fingertips to her temple. The tightening of her lips was almost unnoticeable, but not to Anna.