Live Free or Die Complete Series Boxed Set: Age Of Madness - A Kurtherian Gambit Series Hayley Lawson (ebook reader play store .TXT) 📖

Peter in the arm. “Hey, what did I tell you? I told you she was. But oh no, you just said he was a bit girly. I knew it!” Mama Lou beamed at the fact that she had been right all along.

“He, I mean she, hid it well,” Peter added.

Terrier nodded his agreement. “She had to.”

“Do you think she’ll come back?” Mama Lou asked.

“I do. She loved those kids more than her own life. Every day she tried to come up with a new way of getting them out of here. I don’t think she could not try, even if she wanted to,” Terrier admitted.

“The question is, how long will it take her to get here with help?” Mama Lou asked.

Terrier scrubbed his hands across his eyes. “I don’t know.”

Mama Lou paced a little. “We need to get that door locked so Afana can’t get in here. Place everyone on rations, and hope that helps.”

The gang was headed to the last contact, Graham the blacksmith’s assistant, when they saw a figure sitting outside Kelvin’s house.

Vicky came alongside Ryder and slowed down so that the group was in front of them. “You don’t mind me messing around with your boyfriend, do you?” she asked bluntly.

“In what way?” Ryder said defensively, then added, “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, yeah. Well, keep that between us girls. I just mean fucking with him.” Then she raised her hands. “Not what I meant. Not actually fucking, more like messing around with his head. You know, winding him up. He’s wired so tightly I can’t resist.”

Great, all he needs is another person to screw with him, but it is kind of funny. “Like I said, he’s not my boyfriend. You can do what you want with him.”

“Cool.”

Ryder didn’t really want her to do whatever she wanted with him, so it had been a bad choice of words. She didn’t actually know what she wanted, other than to help her friends in the bunker.

Once they were safe, she could think about other things.

To get to Graham, the gang needed to walk past Kelvin’s house first. Massimo wasn’t going to ask one of his closest friends Kelvin to help with this rescue, because he had a family and they should be his main priority.

The gang headed towards Kelvin’s home.

Vicky looked over at Ryder then winked. “Hey, hot stuff, how’s it hanging?” Vicky asked Leandro with a lascivious grin. Leandro instantly went red. “You’re a shy one, aren’t you? I love the quiet, mysterious type. I heard on the grapevine that you’re really mysterious. Is it true you’re a werewolf?”

“Did Carter tell you that?” Leandro asked.

Vicky shook her head. “No. He’s not allowed to talk to me. So, is it true?”

Leandro nodded.

Vicky linked arms with Leandro. “That’s totally awesome! I want to hear all about it.”

Leandro looked back at Ryder and mouthed, “Help!” which was greeted with a grin by Ryder.

Kelvin was on his outside porch. “Hey, Massimo, what are you doing down here?” He asked as the gang got closer.

Tonya, Kelvin’s wife, stepped out on the porch. “Hey, Massimo. Good to see you.”

“Mrs. Smith,” Massimo replied. “We’re rounding up good folk to help free the people in Afana’s bunker.”

“Good. That should have happened years ago,” Tonya stated, and her husband and the others looked surprised.

“How do you know about the bunker and Afana?” Kelvin asked his wife.

“Before I came to Pinewood I heard the stories about Afana’s men rounding up people—although they made it sound like it was just a story to scare the kids and make them stay close to their parents. I knew it wasn’t.” Tonya looked at her husband. “You should go with them.”

Kelvin nodded slowly. “It’s the right thing to do.”

“You don’t have to come with us. You’ve got a family to look after,” Massimo told him. He was both happy and sad his friend was coming with him.

“Kelvin knows I can look after the family. I want you to go.” Tonya gave her husband a kiss. Then she whispered something into his ear, and Kelvin grinned.

“Just make sure he comes back in one piece,” Tonya told Massimo.

Massimo nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

Kelvin kissed his wife back and joined the gang as they said their goodbyes and left.

He came to walk alongside Massimo. “She told me I had to watch over you. She said I have to make sure everyone returns or I’ll have her to deal with.” Kelvin, smiling, pulled at his collar like he’d rather not have to deal with his wife.

Massimo patted Kelvin’s back. “Nice to have you with us.”

Sergei and Yegor quickly made their way out of the woods. The wolves never came back, and they hadn’t been attacked by any other crazy women. They were glad to be out of the trees and were standing on the edge watching Ryder stopping at the stables. She was rounding up an ugly group of men for some reason.

Sergei had a feeling he knew the reason: to go back for Terrier, which would be pointless as Afana would have found him by now and his head would be on Level One where hers belonged.

“Come on!” Sergei demanded through gritted teeth.

Yegor’s pants were covered in blood around the area in which he’d been bitten. A very small part of Sergei felt bad for him, but mostly he was just annoyed.

Out of everyone, why did he bring Yegor with him? Why couldn’t he have died in the bar instead of Pavel? Sergei had been thinking about why Pavel had been in the bar, and he had concluded that he had been there for Ryder. He would’ve taken her head back to Afana and claimed it as his own, that fucking traitor. He was surrounded by traitors.

Yegor moaned and groaned behind him as they followed Ryder, and Sergei slowed down a little to let Yegor catch up.

“How are you doing?” Sergei asked in a very sincere tone, because he needed his help. Ryder wasn’t alone.

“I’ll be all right,” Yegor lied, trying to