Chapter Twenty-Three
Zahra
Elio was the first to get out of the car, and I followed suit. No other vehicles were passing by, and the road seemed like a dead end from where we stood, so I was guessing we would have to walk a great distance before we found a motel.
I exhaled, hugged myself, and walked around the car to Elio’s dark figure on the other side. The moon painted fine shadows over his features, and I let my eyes drink it in.
“Walking or waiting out here for a travel vehicle would be careless when we have the Russians on our tail,” Elio stated.
“I thought we lost them.”
“We stole their vehicle; it’s only a matter of time before they find us. We’re calling it a night.”
I shifted on my feet. “I’m all for … calling it a night, but there is literally nothing out here for miles, and I don’t reckon you have any money on you?”
“We don’t need money to start an open camp in the woods.”
I almost choked on my saliva. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re not deaf,” he said, already walking towards the tall trees that cast shapeless shadows. A shiver of wariness ran down my spine.
When he noticed I wasn’t following, he stopped, turning to me. “Are you coming?”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll wait for a car to fly by and hitch a ride.”
I could feel his eyes roam up and down my body as he walked back towards me, determination in his strides. “Stay here and die. Follow me and survive on a maybe. You should be smart enough to know the good choice there.”
“The woods aren’t exactly safe either.”
“They are, for the night. By morning, we’ll leave because they’ll likely double back when they don’t find us at the nearest motel. When they’re on their way back here, we’ll be on our way to the compound.”
“The car is practically parked outside the woods,” I pointed out.
“Your smartness seems to have faded with your adrenaline.” He sighed.
“The key is in the ignition, the two front tires are blown, and the car is bent to a very odd angle. It’s obvious that it broke down, and the two people previously in it have hitched a ride or walked to the nearest motel because there is obviously a tracker in the vehicle we should be running from. ”
My brain caught up to what he was insinuating. “Nobody in our position would stay behind instead of running away, okay, smart … But what about the painting?”
“We’re leaving it underneath the seat.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s not safe to take it along. And we’re not stupid enough to leave it behind either.”
“What if they check the car? Listen, I risked my damn neck for that painting, and I got a bullet graze that hurts like a bitch because of it. There’s no way I’m letting them find it after all the trouble.”
“Risks are better than consequences. On the off chance that we get found out by whoever these people are, they’d kill us and take the painting, but if they find us without the painting, two things.
They can kidnap and torture until we deliver updates as to who has it and who doesn’t, or we make a bargain.
And I have a gut feeling they won’t waste time searching the car when we are supposedly with the painting and would never be as foolish as to leave it behind. ”
“But—”
“We are doing the exact opposite of what anyone should do in our situation. I will not ask you to trust me because it isn’t a foolproof plan, but I will ask you to follow my lead. I am never wrong.”
I gritted my teeth, looking around the lonely area before my attention settled on him again. “Fine. You might have a point.”
“I’m glad your brain still works. You had me worried there for a second.”
“You don’t have to be rude.”
“That was not me being rude, merely observant,” he said, turning again, and this time I followed him.
“And here I thought you were a man of action and fewer words.”
“I am.”
“Well, you talk an awful lot when I’m around.”
He let a few beats pass before he responded. “A significant mystery I plan to unearth.”
I snickered. “It’s okay; I have that effect on people. It’s like one of my charms.”
He remained silent.
We walked into the woods with only the light from the moon to guide our path.
I commented on getting lost, but Elio simply pretended he didn’t hear me, walking like someone who knew exactly where he was going.
My joints ached, and the pain on my arm from the grazing was numb due to how tired I was.
I could feel fatigue catching up to me, but I willed myself to remain alert.
We reached a clearing in the woods. The space looked like an area where people would pitch their camp tents and huddle around a fire.
I shivered slightly from the cold as we stopped.
“We’ll settle here for the night. I’ll get some wood and start up a fire,” he said, glancing around until his gaze settled on me with a pause. “You’re cold.”
“If you haven’t noticed, it’s freezing out here.”
“No, it’s not. It’s what happens when you wear a nightgown out of the house.”
“It’s not a—” I paused, doubling back with the conversation. “You know what? Fuck you. I own what I fucking wear out. Nightgown or fucking lingerie, it remains my choice.”
He took me in, something dark passing through his stare. It made the gray in his eyes seem darker as he advanced towards me, like a predator approaching its prey.
I swallowed, standing my ground and raising my chin as he stopped before me.
“Look at you, Zahra,” he said, voice barely above a whisper, an edge to it that had my stomach sinking; flashbacks of moments before we fell into that pool plagued my mind, but I held firm, refusing to let him intimidate me.
“Dressed in the most revealing outfit,” he continued, “alone in the woods with a man who tried to drown you … a man that wants you dead.”
He took one more step, closing whatever distance remained between us. I sucked in a breath, one that was filled with his scent.
“No one is here. I can do”—his eyes searched my face—“anything I want to. You could scream, and no one would hear you or rescue you. You are wounded, tired, bruised, and weak, entirely at my mercy. I won’t try to control what you wear, no.
I have no care in the world if you decide to roam the streets naked.
All I’m saying—is I have eyes; I see how attractive you are and how you love to flaunt it on occasion, but one thing you should never do is be careless.
And right now, Zahra, you are. Being here with me this way is the most careless you’ve been.
“You’re smart, but you lack wisdom. You know how to protect yourself from people who threaten you, but you do not know how to protect yourself,” he said, leaning away from me as he took off his trench coat, wrapping it around my body before his gaze locked with mine, and he spoke.
“I could have been anyone else.” He stepped away. “Stay here. I’ll get wood for a fire.”
When he left, I let out a long breath; it was shaky and cold, but I quickly slipped both my hands inside the arms of his trench coat, hugging it to my body; the warmth gave the distinct feeling of how intense it felt to be standing close to him.
As I do with every piece of advice I have ever been given, I held on to his, seeing my mistakes and making sure never to repeat them.
Elio was … confusing. His threats somehow managed to seem like advice, a warning, and a guide at the same time. He had no reason to stick with me at this point; he could have gone on his way, but he was still here, and I doubted it was because he wanted to know what was really in the painting.
I wouldn’t delude myself and think he was here because it was kind of the right thing to do. The only reason I could think of right now was Devil. He was sticking around because his brother would want that.
I sighed, looking around me, trying to find a stone or a log to sit on.
I arranged something not even close to comfortable, but my legs were killing me so I sat down and relaxed against a tree, the roots supporting my sitting material as I tried to get as comfortable as anyone could in a situation like this.
I rested my head against the tree, sighed, and decided to rest my eyes.
The crackles from a fire and the distant howling of what might have been a wolf had me jerking awake, my brain confused for a moment before I remembered where I was. The smell of burning wood and wet earth lingered in the air, and opposite me sat Elio, gaze steady on the dancing flames.
I relaxed back against the tree, ensuring I didn’t make a sound while I moved, not wanting to draw his attention because he seemed very far away from this space, and I couldn’t help but watch him.
He didn’t have any mask on; that was the first thing I noticed. He didn’t wear a blank look of indifference … rather, he looked … sad and tired. His hair was also slightly wet. There were dark circles underneath his eyes, very visible.
I cleared my throat, and he blinked away from whatever daze he had been in, gaze rising from the fire to me.
“How long have I been out?”
His stare shifted from me to the fire. “Four hours,” he said. “It’s five A.M. now. We’ll leave at daylight. You can go back to sleep.”
I sat up, stifling a yawn, feeling more refreshed. I didn’t know time would go by like that. It didn’t even feel as though I’d slept that long.
“No,” I said, hugging his coat to me and maybe sniffing it a little because it smelled good. “I’ll keep watch. You should get some sleep.”
“There’s no point,” he said. “It’s already morning.”
“You look tired. You’ve kept watch all night. Why didn’t you wake me?”
“There was no point,” he repeated, and I watched him in the silence that followed, wondering if I should let my questions out or keep them to myself, but I was very curious, and the worst he could do was ignore me, right?
I cleared my throat, waiting a few beats before speaking and breaking the silence with a question. “Why did you hesitate?”