Fate Unexpected (Earth Defender Book 1) by Marisa Chenery Read Free Book Online

gone into
town and had talked to a few remaining townsfolk. They’d been taking as many
supplies as they could before leaving. To where, she hadn’t bothered asking,
and they hadn’t been forthcoming with that information.
    Kylah sighed and turned the music up. Even though Rune couldn’t
communicate with her, at least he was company. She hadn’t realized how much
she’d missed being around someone else until now.
     
    * * * *
     
    Rune’s hands were numb by the time Kylah finally brought the vehicle
she drove to a stop and then turned off the engine. As she’d told him, they’d
driven for many hours to reach the Cascades. He looked out the window. The
place was very remote, and thick forests were abundant.
    They’d driven through something that would have been a checkpoint,
which Kylah had said was the border. According to her, they were now in Canada.
They’d been in the United States before that. To him, it made no difference. It
was all Earth, the countries ceased to be after the Xphens had released their
chemicals into the atmosphere and the humans mostly either died or changed.
    Kylah got out of the vehicle, then came around to his side before
she opened the door. She held on to his arm as she helped him get out as well.
Rune’s feet were numb so he lost his balance as soon as he stood. She wrapped her
arms around him and steadied him. Her strength still surprised him.
    Since she was so close, he had to look down at her. Some of his
anger for her had eased during the hours it’d taken to get where they were.
Kylah had done a lot of talking when she wasn’t singing to the music she’d
played. He now knew she was twenty-three, and that she used to work in the
local drugstore. She didn’t talk about her family, which made Rune assume she
no longer had any.
    If he was honest with himself, he’d admit that if under different
circumstances, he would have liked to get to know her better. He may have even
thought of her as a potential mate. He found her attractive, and she had the
kind of personality he liked in a female, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try
to escape the first chance he got. He was paid to be on the opposite side of
the Earthlings.
    Kylah met his gaze and smiled. “I have you.”
    She certainly did, and the feel of her curvy body pressed against
him made his body react. He was hard within seconds. He did his best to ignore
his wayward cock. Nothing was going to happen between them. She considered him
the enemy, and he thought of her as a human he was hired to capture. That was
the way things were.
    The silence stretched between them as they stood there, staring into
each other’s eyes. Kylah was the first to break it. She slowly pulled her arms
away after she pushed him back to lean against her vehicle.
    “We’d better head out. We have to find a good spot to bed down for
the night. In the morning I’ll get our camp set up. Stay there.”
    After Kylah turned away and headed to the back of her car, Rune
shook his head. She continued to talk to him as if he understood English. He
had no idea how long he’d be able to keep up the charade. The longer they were
together, the more likely it was he’d slip up and answer her. And there would
go one advantage he had.
    She’d opened the trunk and then took something out. Rune dropped his
gaze to what she held as she returned to him. She had a coil of rope. Kylah
took one end and tied it around his waist. As she gripped the other end, she
unsheathed her sword and used the tip to cut his bonds at his ankles.
    She sheathed her weapon and met his gaze. “I’m going to trust you to
walk since there’s a lot of gear and supplies we’re going to take with us. I’m
going to load you down. Don’t bother trying to get away. I can guarantee I run
faster than you.”
    Rune gave each of his legs a shake and grimaced as the blood rushed
to his feet. Kylah tugged on the rope to get him into motion and towed him to
the trunk of her vehicle. There were