Page 72 of Ronan

“Think so, do you?” His skin dimples where he chews on the inside of his cheek, and his thumb traces over my bottom lip. “Awfully sure of yourself.”

“Should I not be?”

“This is so not what I was expecting,” Reyes mutters, and both of us startle, having almost forgotten he was here. I clear my throat as Cameron cleans up his medical supplies.

I hold up my glowing palm, and Reyes’s eyes land on it before moving back up to mine. “You recognize this.” It’s a statement, not a question, but he nods anyway.

“The Mate’s Mark.”

Cameron assesses him carefully as he sinks into the chair beside mine, palm absentmindedly running over his mark. “You said something outside… that there should be more of us?” Reyes pulls his mouth into a flat line, glancing around like he’s searching for an escape. “You don’t have to be afraid of us.”

“Speak for yourself,” I grumble, but he ignores me.

“We’re by ourselves out here, and we don’t know anything about this.” He gestures at his arm again, and Reyes stares at the swirling light for a few long minutes before he pushes a long exhale through his nose.

“The camp is mostly quiet. Occasionally, a raider or small group comes through, fills their bags, and heads on their way. But a few months after the military left this place abandoned, a group of soldiers came, driving the exact same type of van you’re in.”

“How big a group?” I ask, and he bites at his lip as he thinks.

“That first time? Four soldiers and six prisoners. The captives were half human, half monster, except these monsters didn’t seem as vicious as the ones in uniform. Unless the humans were threatened, and that’s when they’d fight their chains and shout.”

“Are there restraints that can hold a pissed off monster?” Cameron asks, and I nod.

“Of course there are. Even though we came over here as a unit, there are always those who will dissent or want to grab power for themselves. There are ways to restrain our kind that are painful and sap our strength, and there are ways to subdue magic.”

“Magic?” Cameron asks, and Reyes appears curious as well.

“Some races from our side have abilities they are able to call on. Healing magic, shifting, heightened strength or stealth. The military has developed a type of collar that dulls that magic. It can’t get rid of it fully, but it suppresses it enough to where it’s harder to use, especially in such a stressful situation.”

“A few of them had metal collars on…” Reyes’s eyes narrow as he chews on the inside of his cheek. “How do you know so much about the military?”

“Ninety years of service will do that.”

His eyes flare slightly before darting over to Cameron, who traces his fingertip along the bare skin of my arm. “And how long have you been…outof the military?”

“You mean how long have I been on the run?” My brow arches slightly and he nods. “Hmm... how long’s it been now, Cameron?”

“How long have we been here?” he asks.

“A little over a week,” Reyes answers, and I give an agreeing nod.

“Well, there it is, then.”

“Therewhatis?”

“How long I’ve been away from the military.”

“You…” He sputters to a stop, jerking back enough to make the legs of his chair scrape against the floor. “You mean to tell me you’re fresh on this path of desertion and you stophere?!”

“Forgot to mention you broke me out of prison,” Cameron points out, and I grin as Reyes looks like he might faint. “And killed your commander.”

“Dear fucking gods above, I’m going to regret this. You’re going to lead them right to my door.”

“Enough about that,” I say, interrupting his spiral. “Continue your story. The humans and monsters were restrained by the soldiers?”

He takes another few deep breaths, and thinks I don’t notice him testing the ropes binding his legs before he sags in defeat. “They only stopped here for a night, but they had marks. Not all of them, or at least not where I could see them, but several had them on their hands, like you. A human woman had one on her forearm, and another I could see peeking out from a man’s shirt, on the back of his neck. They didn’t talk much, but you could tell they were couples. They’d curl up together as best they could with the chains, and the monsters were very protective of their humans.”

“The guards took turns on watch,” he continues, gesturing blindly towards the wall. “But they’d come inside for rest in shifts, and I could pick up on pieces of theirconversations. They said they’d picked this group up from Atlanta.”

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