She’d been grateful for the respite, especially in the beginning, but she hated the groggy feeling that accompanied the relief. It reminded her too much of how she’d felt after one of her sessions on the surgical table back at the Hunter compound.
To her amazement, Cade had spent the entire day in her room, venturing out only for food or to find the doctor when he’d thought she’d been in too much pain. They’d watched old movies from the collection of DVDs, and Cade had caught her up on everything she’d missed during her captivity.
She was pretty sure she’d received a muted version of the truth, but she appreciated that he hadn’t overwhelmed her with details. To survive in their new reality, she would eventually need to know everything. For the moment, however, she had a decent understanding of how the world had changed.
He hadn’t asked her any more questions about the Hunters, but she knew that couldn’t last forever. If the Revenant really were the heroes and protectors Cade described them as, they were the best hope at freeing the other Gemini trapped within the compound. Maybe it was selfish of her not to volunteer the information, but the trauma of it was too fresh, too raw, and it still hadn’t really sunk in that she was safe.
Besides, from the conversations she’d overheard during the day, most of the team was off somewhere else on another rescue mission. Not the best excuse, but it did buy her a little time.
“Who’s Abby?”
She’d heard the name several times, always spoken in hushed tones outside the closed door of her room. Cade hadn’t mentioned her directly, but she got the sense the female was someone important to him.
Looking up from the book he’d been reading, Cade studied her, but he didn’t answer right away. Finally, he sighed, marked his page, and set the book aside.
“The short answer is she’s a friend who’s being held by a group of shifters.”
Mackenna nodded. “And the long answer?”
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
She waved her hand around the room and shrugged. “What else do I have to do?”
“Okay.” Moving to the edge of the chair, he bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. “So, I guess it all started a little over six months ago.”
He told her about being captured by Coalition guards while trying to steal food from a grocer in a small Pennsylvania town called Trinity Grove. While he skimmed over most of the details about his time there, she could sense the conflicting emotions about the ordeal.
“Let’s just say I didn’t react well when I found out Roux was mated to Deke.”
Mackenna tilted her head. “Deke?”
“Deke Collins. He’s a shifter. You’ll meet him later.” He waved his hand. “Anyway, that’s how I met Abby. Roux was having some get together thing at the house where she was living with Deke. I didn’t want to be there, but well, when Roux wants something, she usually gets it.”
She’d met the female exactly once, and she felt confident in her confirmation of that assessment. “I’m sure that must have been very upsetting.”
“You think you’re teasing, but I had some pretty strong opinions back then, and I wasn’t shy about voicing them. We fought. She broke my nose.”
“Did you deserve it?” She guessed he probably had, but it felt rude to say so out loud.
“I did.” He smiled fondly at the memory.
Men. “So, did you meet Abby before or after Roux broke your nose?”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “Okay, smartass, do you want to hear the story or not?”
Widening her eyes innocently, she made a show of locking her lips and tossing away the pretend key.
“Anyway,” he continued around a chuckle. “Like I said, that’s where I met Abby. I walked out onto the back deck, and she was just sitting there.” His tone took on a different quality now, sad, but…more. Almost like grief. “I couldn’t breathe at first. I couldn’t do anything except just stand there and stare at her.”
He was clearly hurting, and Mackenna didn’t want to be insensitive, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to rein in her jealousy. There was no desire in his scent, however, nothing to indicate that Abby was any more than what he’d said she was—a friend. Still, she didn’t like it.
“Is she really that pretty?”
“She’s beautiful.” He said it simply, just a statement of fact, the way one might describe a classic car. “It was like looking at a ghost.” Lost in the memory, he didn’t even seem to realize he was still speaking out loud. “I thought I was looking at my sister. I thought she was Maddy.”
It was clear from the tremor in his voice and the acceleration of his pulse that he cared a great deal about his sister. It was also obvious to Mackenna that something terrible had happened to her.
“Did she die in the Purge?”
Cade blinked several times and wiped a hand roughly over his face. “Uh, yeah, she died in the Purge.”
“Oh, Cade, I’m so sorry.” She wanted to get up, to go to him, but she wasn’t sure if he would be receptive to her comforting him just then.
“I lost her a long time before that, though. Drugs,” he clarified when Mackenna tilted her head again. “She had this new boyfriend who got her hooked. It didn’t matter what I said to her. She wouldn’t leave him.”
“Cade…” She didn’t know what to say, had no words to ease his pain.
“The boyfriend finally left,” he continued, “but she was already addicted
