Chapter 81
**Emilia POV**
“Trust me,” I plead. “I’ve spoken directly with the Deputy Director of the CIA. I know what I need to do. You will be safe.”
We reach the end and the blast doors of the underground bunker split open. Sunlight spills inside growing fiercely, blinded for a few moments as we trudge out. We’re greeted by two black SUVs with tinted windows. The guards go ahead to open the backseat door of either vehicle.
I grab Calum’s hand leading him to the second one.
“We’ll go together, thanks.”
They allow it. Calum goes in and I slide in after him, the door closed behind me. The two cars roll out, working their way to wind down the waist of a summit. The driver and the passenger are both armed operatives, guns holstered at their hips. In due course, we enter a thick copse, leading down a near vacant highway with dappled sunlight streaming through the canopy above. Mountainside. Remote. Dense Forestry. Good cover.
Now, they didn’t brief me on where they are planning to relocate us to—I don’t even know if we’re still in Germany. We were drugged and blindfolded on our way to this undisclosed site. So I have no idea where the hell we are. I look back at Calum and his leg is bobbing uncontrollably. His eyes darting outside the window, his knuckles bright with a false flush. Tentatively, I take his hand and the moment our skins caress. He grabs my hand, without hesitation, in his crushing grip. I almost smile at the eagerness.
“Hey.”
Finally, he meets my gaze.
“Just imagine it's just you and me, and I’m the one that’s driving.”
He snorts with feigned humor. “If it was you driving, I would be clutching on for dear life, even more so.”
“So do that,” I order. I pull my hand away, sending him a meaningful look. “Hold on for dear life.”
His hand gravitates towards the grab handle beyond his head with a concerned look.
I flash forward to yank out the gun of the driver and I pistol whip them both unconscious. Calum curses a litany as the driver slumps on the wheel, sagging to the right and the car veers off road, tyres screeching. I brace for impact before the front slams against the trunk of a tree.
The whip lash renders my whole world black… for a few moments.
The pain is increasing in waves, small lulls give me a fraudulent hope of an end. I arch against the seat, pain crashing through me, the blood in my mouth tasting acrid. All I can do is whimper as I sink to the floor to collect the fallen gun. Calum groans, tipping his back head back in a slow, agonized slant with his throat bared and eyes closed in a way that sends a spark of arousal.
“What the—”
“They were going to kill you.”
His head lolls to the side to glare at me questioningly.
“I have a black belt in bureaucracy, believe me.”
I reach over him to open his side of the door before I retract fast.
“What happens now?” he utters painfully, his forearm slung over his stomach.
“Forgive me.”
I lean back before I lift my leg to thrust a kick with brute force, sending him tumbling out of the car. He lands with a hard thud and cries, yanking the attention of the other two operatives from the first vehicle who are already making a cautious approach. I escape out from my side, crouching low to catch them from behind as one of them rushes to assist Calum. With the one standing tall behind them, I jab the barrel to the back of his head, forcing him an inch forward.
“I’m going to need you to drop your weapon. Slowly.”
He raises both hands in surrender, the gun still in his hand. He complies with my order and lowers to his haunches to place the gun on the forest floor. And then he rises to full height again. His buddy has his hand stilled on his holster with a frenzied glint in his eyes.
“Don’t do it.”
His arm whips up and I shoot—a resounding bang sends fowls launching from branches and flying away. His comrade panics and he drops to grab the gun—I pistol whip him unconscious, he collapses with a halo of red around his head, leaving him to bathe in the pool of partner’s blood. Calum gawks at me, scrambling away from me on his elbows, digging a trench as he tries to claw away.
“Calum, I’m not going to hurt you,” I say with a strain of anger in my voice. “I think the fact that I just committed treason for you should prove that!”
“All it proves is that you’re a killer—just like them!”
“Calum, do you think the Deputy Director was there to give me a kudos? Think about it, you’re smart enough to connect the pieces. The moment you had a lock on Hadassah, they were going to put you down, no questions asked. You’re a liability as much as you are an asset.”
That brain-jarring realization seeps into him as his eyes go wild.
“So what—what—”
“We don’t have time to be shocked. We have to get out of here.”
I offer him my hand. He looks at me and his hand grips my forearm as we both bring him to his feet. Calum casts a lingering glance at the bodies but I force him onwards. We both climb into the SUV ahead that stopped abruptly in the middle of the road with the engine still running. Once we’re in, the car lurches and I accelate. And Calum jerks on his seatbelt with equal speed.
“There’s a tracker in every infotainment system, right? Think you can disable it?”
“I can do way better.” He wakes the interactive display and his index finger darts sporadically across the screen. “For anyone thinking they’re tracking us. I can spoof with a false address so they end up chasing their own tail. But that gag will work for only so long. So I suggest we get a new set of wheels.”
“Got it. But before I can even plan anything. Where are we?”
“We’re at the border.”
“Of where?”
He taps another series before he swipes up and a map emerges.
I steal a glance. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
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