Relentless (Option Zero #2) - Christy Reece Page 0,4
was easy to figure out. At that realization, his gut twisted. They wanted him to make a connection with Cat. Once he had, they would use her to make him talk. There was no other reason to bring them together. And he’d fallen right in with their plan.
He had taken an oath to protect and defend his country. He would do that to his last breath. The secrets he held were substantial and deadly serious. A lot of people would die if he spilled his guts. Weighing that against what would happen to Cat wasn’t easy, but he knew one irrefutable truth. No matter if he spilled his secrets—told every single thing he knew—Cat would not be spared. Yeah, they’d use her to get to him, but once they were through with her, then what? There was another reason she’d been grabbed from a Paris marketplace and brought here to Syria. The fact that there were other women here, too, was a good indicator of what would happen once they’d finished with her.
He was going to have to do some quick thinking if he and Cat were going to survive what lay ahead for them.
Chapter Three
The sound of harsh coughing jerked Liam awake. Cat’s breathing sounded more labored than it had earlier. If she didn’t get medical care soon, she wasn’t going to survive. The infection had set up in her lungs and sounded like severe bronchitis. If left untreated, she’d develop pneumonia, if she hadn’t already.
“Cat?”
“Lion?” She hacked another cough and then added, “Are you awake?”
“Yeah, I’m awake. How you doing?”
“Okay, I guess.”
He didn’t believe it for a moment. She sounded awful, but one of the many things he’d learned in their long conversations with each other—Cat was not a complainer.
“You get any sleep?”
“A little. It’s awfully quiet. I’m used to city noises.”
“Caldoria has big cities?”
“Cal…?” She gave a little laugh and then coughed again. After several seconds of coughing, she finally caught her breath and answered, “Yes, we have several large cities.”
“Bet it gets confusing to keep naming children with names that start with a C.”
“It does. In fact, I have decided to make a change. Upon a royal decree, we are going to allow another letter into our kingdom.”
“Oh really. What is it?”
“L.”
Liam grinned. “Then I’ll just have to come for a visit.”
“When we get out of here, I’ll send you an official invitation.” She paused for a second and then added, all humor gone, “Will we get out of here?”
“Yes, we will. I promise you, Cat.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because we’re still alive. If they’d wanted us dead, they would have killed us already.”
“I’m not sure that’s much of a comfort.”
Probably not, but the fairy tales could last only so long. One eventually had to face the harsh reality of life. And this was about as harsh as it could get.
“Can I ask you something…something personal?”
“You can ask me anything, Cat.”
“Okay, thanks. Umm. What do you look like?”
The question didn’t surprise him. With only brief interruptions from their jailers for their one measly meal, they’d talked continuously. Cold canned beans and stale bread could take you only so far. Talking had staved off the hunger pangs as well as the loneliness.
During that time, they’d shared more than a few personal stories. Nothing that could be used against them, but he and Cat were beginning to know each other very well. The more he learned, the more he wanted to know. She was fascinating and sweet, wise but still so very innocent. And he’d been wondering about her, too. Was she as pretty as she sounded?
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind. Let’s see. I’m six-foot-three, weigh around two-ten or so. I’ve got brown hair. Brown eyes.”
“Dark brown or light brown hair?”
“Umm. Dark.”
“Short or long?”
“Longish…for a guy.”
“And your eyes? Light brown, dark?”
“Kind of medium dark.”
“Pointed, round, or square jaw?”
“Not pointed or round, so I guess kind of square.”
Each question became more and more specific. He’d never had to describe himself. If anyone asked, he’d probably just say he was average looking. Though a few former girlfriends had told him that he was handsome, it wasn’t something he gave a lot of thought to. He was who he was.
For Cat, though, he did his best to give her an image she could carry in her head. If picturing him helped her deal with what was happening, then he’d give her whatever detail she needed.
Once he finished answering her last question, she was