Highland Son (Highland Sorcery: A New Dawn) Read Online Free Page B

one else was in a hurry to feed them.”
    “Hungry men make talkative men.”
    “Yeah, well, I don’t think that tactic would’ve worked on these guys anyway.”
    “I explicitly told Henry not to feed them.”
    Jewel pushed up to her feet and found herself hemmed in to the shelves by Sheppard’s wide stance. “Well you didn’t tell me. Where’d you run off to anyway?”
    “Not your concern.”
    “Dad.” She sighed. “Anytime you leave the motel, I’m concerned. Especially after Lance.”
    The gruff demeanor softened around the edges. “I know. I’m sorry. Hank reported that a group of Sifts were edging in on the south perimeter by the bell tower. We had to check it out.”
    She stiffened. “Are there?”
    He pushed a stray hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. “There was a small group, three alone, but they’ve moved on. We followed them at a distance to be sure.”
    “You didn’t shoot them?”
    “Too close. Didn’t want their stink to draw any more to the area, and we didn’t want to spend the time dragging them out farther. So we let them go.”
    Jewel nodded. It was smart, but she couldn’t help think that any Sifts not taken down where Sifts that could potentially find another group of humans to harm, or even… She squelched down the unbidden thought and looked up at her father.
    “You shouldn’t risk yourself like that.”
    “Would you have me put someone else out there instead?”
    She lowered her gaze. “No.”
    He lifted her chin. “Now about these strangers… I don’t want you going in there again.”
    “I thought the point was to get them to join us.”
    “If they are found worthy of us.” The lines fanning from the corners of his eyes deepened. “But since you recklessly went in there anyway, what do you make of them?”
    “They’re good men, Dad.”
    One brow rose. “You know that after a few minutes with them?”
    Heat flushed her skin. “I can tell they’re loyal to each other. And protective. People who look after each other like that…and trust each other…can’t be all bad. They’re not like any of the other marauders we’ve run into. I think we can trust them.”
    “You’re willing to risk all our lives on your brief assessment?”
    Was she?
    Her gut said yes.
    But she’d been wrong in where she placed her trust before. Deadly wrong.
    “Hesitation?”
    “If it were just me, I’d say yes, but the children… Mae…”
    “Now you’re thinking like a leader.”
    She frowned. “We can’t keep them shut away indefinitely. We either extend a portion of trust or send them on their way.”
    “Agreed.” Sheppard stepped back, giving her space to move around him. “But Jewel…”
    She stopped.
    “I want you to keep your distance.”
     
    ~~~
     
     
    They slept in shifts. No one else came in after the girl—Jewel—left with their bowls and utensils and her fancy silver tray. The entire night and into the early dawn they’d been left to stew in their juices.
    They were supposed to check in with command at the lighthouse in two days’ time, otherwise Chesterfield would have entire squads scouring the area for them. With all the Sift activity near this area Alexander didn’t want any of his men placing themselves in unnecessary jeopardy while out looking for them. This group was running out of time before he opened a rift and hustled Ethan and Dez out of there. Hell, they didn’t need a rift in space. Any one of them could kick down the flimsy door. But that would mean fighting their way out through innocents.
    In the meantime during his watch while they slept, Alexander had taken two of the outlet covers off the wall and had a couple lengths of wire assessable in his pockets before he replaced the covers as though they’d never been tampered with.
    “Time is it?” Ethan stirred, yawning huge enough to crack his jaw.
    “Best guess, around seven.”
    Dez snapped awake at their voices, alert even in sleep, and immediately flopped to his