fantasizing, or else the two of them really would be dead by dawn.
“Neither of us could have known something like this would happen,” she said.
He inhaled a deep breath, as if he were going to argue with her again. Instead, though, he only asked, “So what happens after they make their demands?”
Sara tried to smile reassuringly, but she had a feeling the gesture fell well short of its mark. “I wish I could tell youthat we’ll be safe until those demands are met or refused, but I can’t be certain about our safety at all. Nothing is certain with this group. They’re a ghastly bunch. And I can tell you that their demands, regardless of what they are, will almost certainly be refused, because the royal family has a zero tolerance when it comes to dealing with the Black Knights.” She hardened her expression, so that he would understand she was perfectly serious when she told him, “They’re capable of anything. Even murder.”
“You talk like you know a lot about them,” Shane said.
Oh, she knew more than he realized, Sara thought. She’d made it her life’s work to know about the Black Knights and other factions like them. She intended to make a career out of disbanding and punishing such groups. That small, private college near Santa Barbara that she attended was a world-renowned facility for counterterrorist training. But, of course, there was no reason why Shane needed to know that. In fact, the less he knew about her, the better off they’d both be.
“I’m from Penwyck,” she said by way of an explanation. “Everyone in Penwyck knows about the Black Knights. They’ve gone out of their way over the years to make their presence there known.” Which was certainly true, Sara reminded herself. So she wasn’t voicing a deception to Shane when she said it. Not really.
He had opened his mouth to say something more, but he closed it again suddenly, staring at something in the distance behind Sara. When she turned to follow his gaze, she saw two automobile headlights bearing down on them from a few hundred feet down the tarmac. They ended up being attached to a big, black Mercedes sedan that seemed not to emerge from the dark night so much as it did become a part of it. The windows, too, were darkened by tinting, so she couldn’t see who was driving. One of the Black Knights approached the car as it rolled to a stop, but the window went down just a few centimeters—enough to allow conversation between driver and terrorist that was too quiet for Sara to hear.
After a few moments—and what appeared to be a rather heated exchange, she couldn’t help noticing—the Black Knight turned to his companions and signaled them to escort Sara and Shane into the back seat of the car. Of course, they didn’t so much escort the two of them as they did manhandle and dump them, but the end result was the same. Sara and Shane were forced into the back of the car between two of the Black Knights, behind a smoked glass screen that prohibited them from seeing the occupants of the front seat, a point which soon became moot anyway, as she and Shane were promptly blindfolded.
The group rode in silence for a good half hour, Sara deduced, all of it uphill, she also noticed, until the car finally came to a stop. Still blindfolded, she and Shane were shepherded out of the car and across what felt like a grassy yard, to an unevenly cobbled walkway. Then she was nudged up three steps—wooden steps, because they creaked and felt warped—and through a door that was then closed, and ominously locked, behind her. She felt Shane’s presence through all of this, even though no one spoke a word. She thought the Black Knights would separate the two of them, but they were both shoved into a room together. Then she heard another door closed, and locked, behind them, followed by the sound of receding footsteps and muffled voices. And then she realized that she and Shane were alone for the first time in hours. Well, alone in a room,
“Neither of us could have known something like this would happen,” she said.
He inhaled a deep breath, as if he were going to argue with her again. Instead, though, he only asked, “So what happens after they make their demands?”
Sara tried to smile reassuringly, but she had a feeling the gesture fell well short of its mark. “I wish I could tell youthat we’ll be safe until those demands are met or refused, but I can’t be certain about our safety at all. Nothing is certain with this group. They’re a ghastly bunch. And I can tell you that their demands, regardless of what they are, will almost certainly be refused, because the royal family has a zero tolerance when it comes to dealing with the Black Knights.” She hardened her expression, so that he would understand she was perfectly serious when she told him, “They’re capable of anything. Even murder.”
“You talk like you know a lot about them,” Shane said.
Oh, she knew more than he realized, Sara thought. She’d made it her life’s work to know about the Black Knights and other factions like them. She intended to make a career out of disbanding and punishing such groups. That small, private college near Santa Barbara that she attended was a world-renowned facility for counterterrorist training. But, of course, there was no reason why Shane needed to know that. In fact, the less he knew about her, the better off they’d both be.
“I’m from Penwyck,” she said by way of an explanation. “Everyone in Penwyck knows about the Black Knights. They’ve gone out of their way over the years to make their presence there known.” Which was certainly true, Sara reminded herself. So she wasn’t voicing a deception to Shane when she said it. Not really.
He had opened his mouth to say something more, but he closed it again suddenly, staring at something in the distance behind Sara. When she turned to follow his gaze, she saw two automobile headlights bearing down on them from a few hundred feet down the tarmac. They ended up being attached to a big, black Mercedes sedan that seemed not to emerge from the dark night so much as it did become a part of it. The windows, too, were darkened by tinting, so she couldn’t see who was driving. One of the Black Knights approached the car as it rolled to a stop, but the window went down just a few centimeters—enough to allow conversation between driver and terrorist that was too quiet for Sara to hear.
After a few moments—and what appeared to be a rather heated exchange, she couldn’t help noticing—the Black Knight turned to his companions and signaled them to escort Sara and Shane into the back seat of the car. Of course, they didn’t so much escort the two of them as they did manhandle and dump them, but the end result was the same. Sara and Shane were forced into the back of the car between two of the Black Knights, behind a smoked glass screen that prohibited them from seeing the occupants of the front seat, a point which soon became moot anyway, as she and Shane were promptly blindfolded.
The group rode in silence for a good half hour, Sara deduced, all of it uphill, she also noticed, until the car finally came to a stop. Still blindfolded, she and Shane were shepherded out of the car and across what felt like a grassy yard, to an unevenly cobbled walkway. Then she was nudged up three steps—wooden steps, because they creaked and felt warped—and through a door that was then closed, and ominously locked, behind her. She felt Shane’s presence through all of this, even though no one spoke a word. She thought the Black Knights would separate the two of them, but they were both shoved into a room together. Then she heard another door closed, and locked, behind them, followed by the sound of receding footsteps and muffled voices. And then she realized that she and Shane were alone for the first time in hours. Well, alone in a room,
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