Wild Hunt - Kali Argent Page 0,9

of his self-control not to growl at her like some feral animal.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mackenna’s grip tightened on Cade’s shirt, and she began to shake again. “I don’t understand. What Raiders? What’s a Ravager?”

A frightening thought began to take root, and Cade glanced up at the other three members of his team. “It’s okay.” He ran his hand up and down her arm, soothing her. “One thing at a time. What were you running from?”

“Hunters,” she whispered.

Cade thought about the cuts and bruises that covered her body, the blood that coated her skin, and he felt sick. “They took you?”

A single nod.

“How long ago did they take you?”

“I…” She paused, a frown pulling at her lips. “I don’t know. A while ago, I guess.”

“Before or after the Coalition was formed?” Miles asked.

The Allied Races Coalition had risen as the new governing body after the Purge, declaring a kind of martial law across the country. With limited communication, he couldn’t say what was happening in other parts of the world, but Cade figured it was a reasonable assumption to think their reach extended around the globe.

They were meant to patrol the divided territories, guard prominent families, and protect the towns and people under their watch. Mostly, they just made sure humans didn’t step out of line or forget their place.

“The what?” Mackenna asked, a note of rising panic in her voice. “What is that?”

The silence that descended over the vehicle was deafening.

“People were sick,” Thea prodded gently. “Humans. Do you remember?”

It was several moments before she finally responded. “They called it the Purge.”

Cade nodded. “That’s right.”

“It happened so fast. Thousands of humans died.”

“Try millions,” Rhys mumbled from the front seat.

Of course, with her supernatural senses, she had no problem hearing him. “What?”

“Easy,” Cade soothed when she tensed. “You didn’t know?”

Mackenna sniffled. “I don’t understand any of this. How long was I there? How long ago was the Purge?”

Sharing a look with Cade, Thea sighed. “Two years ago.”

Mack froze, her small frame becoming eerily still. “No.”

Cade had been held captive for a matter of weeks, and he was still having a hard time processing everything that had happened. He couldn’t imagine being imprisoned and tortured for years. The fact that Mackenna could string even two words together without falling apart impressed the hell out of him.

“What can you tell us about the Hunters?” Rhys asked, twisting halfway around in his seat to look at her.

Cade had to bite back a scathing rebuff when Mackenna cringed away from the wolf’s gaze. “No,” he said instead, finality ringing in his voice. “Whatever you want to ask her can wait.” Gently, he coaxed Mackenna’s head back down on his shoulder and brushed her hair away from her face. “Sleep now. I’ve got you.”

A long sigh spilled from her lips. “I don’t understand any of this,” she repeated, “but thank you.”

Her continued gratitude made him uncomfortable, and her very presence raised a lot of questions he couldn’t answer. For the time being, however, he was content to simply hold her and watch the forest whip by through the window.

“Cade?”

Without conscious thought, he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Rest.”

It took a long time for her grip on his T-shirt to loosen and her breaths to slow into an even rhythm. Halfway back to the safe house, however, she finally relaxed into him and stopped fidgeting, drifting into what he hoped were peaceful dreams.

Chapter Three

Quiet, steady beeping lured Mackenna from a fitful sleep.

Prying her eyelids open, she blinked against the bright, golden light that spilled through the wall of windows. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, grimacing at the cloying dryness.

She felt like she’d been hit by a bus.

The mattress beneath her was comfortable. The blanket covering her felt thick and soft. A far cry from the cold piece of floor at the back of her cell.

Mackenna jerked upright and shoved her hair out of her eyes.

Clean, white bandages covered her hands and fingers. Another had been taped to her neck where she’d removed the tracking chip. Medical equipment beside the bed proved to be the source of the beeping that had awoken her, and a single saline bag hung from a metal stand, the line connected to her left arm.

Where the hell was she? Maybe more importantly, how had she gotten there?

Someone had gone to a lot of trouble to patch her up and make her comfortable. They’d even gone so far as to