~~~
Petra barely had time to refuse the offer of trail mix from the crazy lady before said lady moved between her and Will. Looping an arm around each of their waists, Neena pulled them closer together. For such a petite woman, Neena was strong.
Petra’s frown deepened as she looked down at the woman. “You’re not what I expected.”
Neena winked. “I’ll take that as the highest form of flattery.” Giving one last squeeze, Neena released them. “But you’ll get used to it. After all, you now work for me.”
Will spoke up. “Wait a second, who the bloody hell are you, lady? I never agreed to work for anyone.”
Neena tapped her chin. “Aw, but you’re wrong. You were working for Gio. Then you agreed to give information to Millie’s boss, which is moi. Since Gio is now my prisoner, that means you work for me.”
Petra took a step toward Neena. “How do you know all of that? I’m pretty sure Millie didn’t have time to call you between the bomb, fleeing, and getting here. Who are you, exactly?”
Millie rejoined their group and beat Neena to the reply. “Neena has visions of the future. I don’t understand how it works, exactly, but her track record has been 99 percent correct to date.”
Neena tsked. “Hey now, that 1 percent isn’t my fault. The idiot ate a peanut and died from shock.” Neena looked back to Petra. “He did it on purpose, too, the rascal.”
Millie rolled her eyes. “Only because you drove him mad first.”
Neena waved a hand in dismissal. “It’s not my fault if he couldn’t understand brilliance.”
Petra resisted pinching the bridge of her nose. “How about we forget the statistics and figure a plan to get the hell out of here.”
Neena pointed deeper into the forest. “Go that way and a team will help you escape. No enemies should stop you in the next ten minutes. Oh, and this fine man here is free of bugs or anything that can track him. Yet another reason you owe me.”
Will spoke up. “I’m not going anywhere until you give me some answers. For all we know, it could be a trap.”
&
nbsp; Neena looked to Will. “Ah, look who’s clever. But I assure you, it’s safe. Ignore my help and you won’t make it out of here alive.” She glanced between Petra and Will. “And I think you two very much want to survive this together.”
Petra reached out to grab Neena, but the woman jumped a few steps back. Neena raised her hand. “Ta-ta for now. The next time we meet, Leyna will rise from the dead.”
Neena turned and skipped into the forest.
Turning toward Millie, Petra shook her head. “There’s no way in hell I can work for that woman.”
Amusement twinkled in Millie’s eyes. “Oh, she’s not that bad. And I’d heed her warning. I tried to resist once, and later ended up with a broken leg.”
Will muttered, “She probably broke it for you.”
Millie looked at him. “Ah, but she doesn’t need to do that. Planting a small nugget of an idea in someone’s brain will help her years down the line. Neena definitely plays the long game.” She motioned toward the forest. “I’m going in the direction she said. You can carry Gio.”
Petra growled. “I’m not bloody carrying him alone.”
Will moved to the unconscious man. “I’ll do it.”
She watched as Will squatted and maneuvered Gio’s body over his shoulder. Will stood up with ease. Petra was impressed. “You were never that strong in our old life.”
She regretted bringing it up, but Will replied before she could dismiss it. “And you had a different name. Do you want to go through everything that’s changed or get a move on? I, personally, don’t want to loiter around. I like staying alive.”
Millie started walking and Will followed. Petra jogged to catch up to him. “I didn’t say it to be negative. I’m actually quite impressed with your strength. It means you might not die on our way out of China.”
Will adjusted his grip on Giovanni. “I may not like my ability, but I can heal myself. It’s going to take a lot to kill me.”
Petra raised her brows. “What, such as decapitation? Unless you can regenerate, that would definitely kill you.”
Will answered dryly, “I’ll try not to get my head chopped off. Does that ease your mind?”