She wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. He thought it was a problem. It wasn’t. She couldn’t have kids. It was a pain she had long ago pushed beneath her surface. “I’m protected,” she said flatly.
She expected him to ask questions. But he didn’t. No question of how or why she was protected. He simply accepted her answer. He nuzzled her temple, the soft male scent of him reaching her nostrils and making them flare. “You are protected Holly. I will never let anything happen to you. Trust me.”
Holly turned then, moving to face him, her hands resting on his chest as she looked up at him. “You ask for something you don’t return. If you trusted me, then you’d tell me where we’re going.”
He brushed a wayward strand of hair out of her eyes. “It’s not like that, Holly.”
“Than how is it?” she demanded, trying to think. When he touched her she forgot what was important.
He seemed to consider and then he let out a sigh. “We’re headed to the mountains, to a top secret facility. You’ll be safe there.”
“How long will I have to stay?”
“A while.”
“How long is a while?”
“Until you’re safe.”
Confusing feelings were surfacing. Would he leave her there? She was mad at him but she couldn’t stand the thought… “And you? Where will you be?”
He studied her intently. “That has yet to be determined.”
“You can’t leave me there, Mason.” She paused as her eyes searched his carefully guarded expression. In a softer voice, she said, “Please.”
“There’s a lab there. You can study the Arions and hopefully help us stop them.”
“You meaning who?”
“Me. The government. Sterling.”
“Exactly who are you and Sterling?”
He hesitated only a moment. “Black Knights.”
Her eyes widened. “As in, the legend of the Black Knights?”
“As in, the real thing,” he assured her. “We aren’t just some tall tale.”
Holly didn’t know what to say. The Black Knights had been talked about for years. When some covert American mission showed up on the news, the Black Knights were always given credit.
It all started to make sense. No wonder Walsh didn’t know who he was. “I’l