The Three Most Wanted Read Online Free Page B

wolves?”
    “Didn’t say anything about wolves.”
    Jon muttered something rude under his breath about Bane’s tent-selecting abilities.
    “ R e lax . I don’t think the wolves will come calling unless they really want to eat us, in which case a smelly tent isn’t going to help much. A bear may just wander up to have a look around—scavengers, remember? Anyway, they didn’t have a wolf-repellent tent.”
    “ And Margo doesn’t mind wolves but hates bears!”
    “Which part of ‘didn’t have’ can’t you understand?”
    “Oh, come on,” I interrupted hastily. “Aren’t you two tired?”
    “Yes,” said Bane shortly,
    “Let’s just all pray against fire, theft and wolves and get to sleep, huh?” said Jon, letting his irritation go in that easy way of his.
    “I’ll do fire, theft and bears,” I said.
    “To hell with wolves and bears!” said Bane. “You can both do fire, theft and humans .”
    “So can you.”
    “I don’t talk to things I’m not convinced exist.”
    Yes, you do, sometimes... But I didn’t say it out loud. Bane ignored my silence.
    “Well, my sleeping bag’s beckoning.” He unzipped the tent and threw the flap back...
    From the way his shoulders went rigid a scowl had just appeared on his face—I shifted just enough to peep over his shoulder. Ah. Jon had put my sleeping bag in the middle.
    Oh. Yeah… I was going to be sharing a tent with two guys for this trip... hadn’t really thought it through before. No way could we carry any extra weight—nor would it even be very safe. Not to mention that most New Adults on camping trips wouldn’t worry about such things, so separate tents would be very suspicious.
    Looking like you might be practicing chastity was grounds for suspicion of being a Believer—you’d be receiving a court summons to make the Divine denial before you could say “Credo in unum Deum.” And given that “Practice of Superstition,” as Faith was termed, was a capital crime…
    PreSorting, all copulation was banned, of course. But in the Facility, Jon and I had been forced to pretend to be a couple in order to avert suspicion and protect our Believing families. Unfortunately, I knew how close Jon was to falling in love with me for real.
    Awkward, yes.
    But we were running for our lives and there was nothing else for it. I was pretty sure in the circumstances that I could put aside my desire for Bane and after sleeping in such close proximity to Jon at the Facility, I knew how chaste he was. But Bane didn’t. He’d taken my word about what had happened, but…
    Bane’s eyes darted from Jon’s sleeping bag to mine, and I could see the suspicion sneaking through his mind… Help, Lord? Don’t let this divide us… I’m pretty sure Jon just wants me beside him because it’s comfortingly familiar but Bane isn’t necessarily thinking coolly enough to realize that…
    “My sleeping bag has got hold of the scruff of my neck and is yanking me into the tent,” said Jon into the sticky silence, would-be calmly.
    How desperate was he to hang onto this one—only?—possible bit of normality? Once we started hiking properly, he’d be following us blindly day after day across an entire continent, never having anything but the most limited idea where he was or what was around him. Don’t freak out, Bane . This is going to be bad enough for him as it is...
    Bane turned to glare at Jon, opening his mouth as though to attempt some verbal decapitation—shut it again. Did he understand? But he still reached out as though to shift my sleeping bag away from Jon’s to the outside of the tent. Then a more calculating look passed through his eyes... Ah yes, anything coming through the sides of the tent would eat either Jon or himself before me.
    Clearly the deciding factor. He withdrew his hand. I breathed a tiny sigh of thanks. Thank You, Lord.
    “Come on, Margo...” He moved to help me to the tent—Jon took advantage of the empty doorway and slid inside; by the