Loving Ashlynn (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 60 - Ride (Ansel Conrad POV) Pt. 3

Chapter 60 – Ride (Ansel Conrad POV) Pt. 3

Left hand placed over my mouth, my fingers – unusually – chilled against my warmed skin. The coldness wasn't only in my extremities. It felt as though the blood in my veins, no longer rushed, seeping slowly cold like molasses.

Seconds had gone by though they felt longer.

Well into midnight now, I sit at my desk with Angela, waiting after being in here for hours.

Rubbing my face roughly, I scrap my nails down groaning.

"There is much we are not aware of," Angela breaks the tension, her fingers tapping away at the keys in front of her. She was always working, searching, gathering data now. It was a change I noted in her recently. I thought us to be on top of the data or gossip concerning our kind, but with Naomi and Faith, that new information received – we never saw coming.

The Elders' army? The Robert Delaney? The lies from Cynthia? Snowhawk flowers and the natural defense mechanisms against the Elders? None of that information was just lying around and since I wanted to keep our growing Den off the Elders radar, we were blind fools.

"I'm not understanding why they cannot see the same individual when they're looking at the images you sent," I replied or maybe branched off speaking what was beating down many other worries.

"What makes Imogen, Samson and Faith see what we do not? That is the question."

Nodding despite my silence, I scrub my hands over my face feeling bits of muck hardened on my face rubbing against clean skin. Glancing down, dried dirt pieces are scattered on the desk and the floor besides me. The same dried mud Samson commented on.

I doubted anyone here thought this was how we would be ringing in the New Year, racing to build homes for those cramped in this mansion, and situating our animals and crops. Angela try as she might had configured as much as she could with programming, however, there were just some things that we could not leave to technology – they required getting our hands dirty.

Thankfully, though we were cramped at the moment, the number of people in the Den was surely working in our favor when it came down to splitting who was doing what. It was tiring, my back ached at the end of the day, recovering during moments of rest but the support between us was also a great aide.

"Humph," Angela grunts, resting back looking at her screen, eyes shifting from left to right.

Redirecting my gaze I give her a leveled stare. Inquiring as my patience was thinned out.

"I'm following the guys-" Angela stops mid-sentence as a mechanical ring tone sounds, once twice and without her doing a single thing the call is answered.

"They pull over!" one voice sounds, I recognize Xan's voice. His frustration clear. "Slow down and hang back-"

The other speaker, Mack, snorts. "Xan..." he says the name slowly, as though Xan should pick up on just what he was going to say, his tone unsure.

When Xan apparently doesn't pick up on the reluctance in his voice that even I do, Mack finishes.

"Slow down? On the highway?"

"Then – then-" Xan stammers, a pounding coming out with his growl of indecision and anger at the situation at hand. A slow smile forms on Angela and my face. Both of us equally pleased. "Do you think they spotted us? Is that why?" Xan asks and from the noise carried over to us, I hear a few horns sound echoing.

Shaking my head, I know immediately that he tried to possibly slow down or lost control of his car – slipping out of his lane maybe without signaling.