His nonchalance has me all off balance. “I don’t know.”
“A man’s word is their bond. It’s magic on a deeper level. Upholding honor in the face of a dozen reasons why you shouldn’t.”
“I’m not a man.”
Malix grins with that panty-melting charm. “No, you certainly aren’t. But you’re honorable. So are we.”
I glare at him. “There’s no honor among evil men.”
He shrugs. “That’s fine you think that. Try to kill me, and my brothers will stop you. Manage to kill me before they realize it, and they will kill you. So you’re going to have to find a better way to do it than attacking me in my sleep.”
Gritting my teeth, I shove against the ground with just my bare toes and stand, then whirl around and stalk back to my “bed.” Even though I don’t like it, I know it’s true. It’s the same catch-22 of Frost and me both being poisoned. If we die, Kian and Malix are still alive to do their worst. If I take out Malix without making sure the other two can’t kill me before I kill them, they’d kill me and be on their merry way.
I slide my knife back into its holster and sit on the ground next to my bag, then glance back over at Malix.
He’s on his side now, his head propped up in his hand as he stares at me in the darkness. His eyes glitter in the moonlight. “Smart choice, kitty.”
I growl low under my breath and lay down, rolling away from his twinkling gaze. I can feel his eyes on me still, and when the wind blows, his sunshine scent tickles my nose. Taunting me.
How can I want someone and hate them at the same time?
Frustration and anger settle into my bones, along with every single confused emotion I could possibly feel. I curl into an uncomfortable ball, ignoring the weight of his gaze on me, and beg silently for sleep to come.
But no matter what I do, it never does.
Chapter 12
I finally doze off around the time dawn begins to paint the sky red, though I feel like I’m barely under before I wake again. What little sleep I managed to get was fitful and full of shadows.
When I awake, Kian, Malix, and Frost are already up and loading their bikes. The moment my eyes open, they stop talking and all three glance my way like they’re one goddamn person.
Not suspicious at all.
Malix grins. “Sleep well, kitty?”
I bare my teeth at him and briefly consider throwing my knife at his face for funsies. It would only cut him a little. Add a little extra pizazz to that stupid smile.
“Yeah,” I snarl. “How ‘bout you? Did the bed bugs bite?”
Malix’s grin widens, and I wasn’t even aware that was possible.
“Time to go.” Kian speaks up as he closes his under-seat storage compartment. He turns a dark, unreadable gaze on me. “We’ve got another few hours on the road.”
I get to my feet and roll my shoulders, working the tension out of my muscles. While I load my gear back into my bike, none of the guys speak. Not even to each other. The deep silence feels more like a condemnation of me than anything else, but at least no one mentions my attempted murder.
And I know Malix told them.
We ride for a few more hours, breaking around lunch time to grab food at a local barbecue joint off the highway. There’s a western boutique next to the restaurant, and even though the selection isn’t great, I manage to find a pair of boots that look more heavy metal than cowgirl. Good thing too, because my ankles are starting to blister.
Back on the road, there’s nothing as far as the eye can see. This is deep desert, absolutely beautiful but deadly. In places like this, people can get lost and die pretty easily. We stick to the state highway for the rest of the morning—prime real estate for enjoying the view without getting lost in the wilds.
I start to see signs for the Mexico border in the early afternoon. I’m concerned they’re about to drag me across the border and kill me, until Kian signals to leave the interstate in the middle of damn nowhere only a few miles before the country ends.
The off-ramp spills us onto a two lane road with yellow lines so faded they’re almost nonexistent. A gas station sits right near the highway, and behind that, a general store that looks straight out of the wild west. We pass a few dusty strip malls, half the spaces empty except for a bar, a diner, and a few odds and ends like a lawyer’s office and a tax pre
paration place. We fly through one green light and don’t see another one for the rest of our trip.
We turn off on a gravel road surrounded by empty desert. Several houses dot each side of the road, though they thin out the further we drive. Then the gravel ends and turns to dry, caked dirt, and up ahead, a rundown shack leans listlessly on a backdrop of barren land.