“We’ve got to catch up with her,” Zach said, breathing hard.
“You leave that poor girl alone,” ordered Miss Mabel. “You boys have done enough damage for one night. Setting the diner on fire. What were you thinking?”
That fire hadn’t exactly been part of their plan—they’d planned on being out of the diner before the demons awoke—but no one bothered to explain that part to her. The sirens grew louder and Thomas was already behind the wheel, starting the engine. Zach slipped inside and slammed the door shut. Hard. “Did you see which way she went?” he asked.
“East. I’ll try to find her.” Thomas moved the vehicle into traffic and got caught at the first light.
“Shit!” bellowed Zach. “Blow through the intersection.”
“You mean drive right over this nice young couple in the itty-bitty convertible in front of us?” asked Thomas, peering at Zach in the rearview mirror.
“If that’s what it takes.”
“I think not. We’ll find her, Zach. Chill.”
Zach pounded the seat next to him in frustration. “I can’t believe she got away.”
Drake had a hard time believing it, too, but right now his top priority was Helen and finding out why she hadn’t said a word or offered any resistance since the moment she’d seen those flames. Not a good sign at all.
Lexi gripped the steering wheel so hard her hands cramped. She hated leaving Helen and Miss Mabel behind, but there was nothing she could do for them now. She should have known better than to let herself get close enough to care what happened to any of the regulars of Gertie’s Diner. She should have learned her lesson by now. Caring that much about anyone was foolish.
Helen and Miss Mabel were gone. The Sentinels had them, and once they had someone, they never let go. Her mother had drilled that lesson into her since before she was old enough to walk.
She’d come close to being taken right along with them. Too damn close. Zach had overwhelmed her with his size, which was something she could handle. But he’d also overwhelmed her with his personality. He was a disturbing mix of charming humor and deadly hunter and she hadn’t been prepared for the swift change in his demeanor. She also hadn’t been prepared for the way he looked at her. The way he smiled at her.
He had seemed like a harmless flirt all through dinner, which was why she hadn’t let the men’s tattoos and collars alarm her. As long as they thought she was human, she was safe, so she played the part. Even flirted back, taken his phone number when he’d offered it.
Staying had been a mistake.
When he attacked her, she knew he’d figured out her secret. She fought back as hard as she could, but he was too strong. She stabbed him and he grinned. Who the hell did something like that? Only a lunatic. That’s who.
A lunatic whose mark tingled on her arm. She had to do something about that as soon as possible.
Damn him. She loved that job. Loved the people she got to see every day. It was almost like having a family, and Zach had stolen that all away from her just by showing up and barging into her life.
Lexi let out an enraged scream, making the windows on her old Honda vibrate. She hated this—hated being afraid, hated being alone, hated having to rebuild her life every few months—but it was time to move on. Again. The damage was done and she was no longer safe here. Everything she owned was in this beat-up old car. She was leaving a week’s pay behind, but that was something she’d have to deal with. She had enough money squirreled away to keep moving for a couple of weeks, which was exactly what she was going to do.
Her mother had warned her that she could never let the Sentinels find her. They were dangerous men who enslaved women, forced them to do unspeakable evil. Her mom had never been completely sane, but on the days she was lucid, this was the one thing she drilled into Lexi’s head over and over, and Lexi took that warning to heart. She knew what would happen to her if they ever learned of her secret—if they ever learned she wasn’t entirely human.
She’d have to get a new name, alter her appearance, and find a new town. It was getting harder and harder to change her identity, and the papers cost more every time, but there was no help for it. She was free and she’d stay that way or die trying. She couldn’t let herself fall into the hands of the enemy. The lives of too many women—special women like her—were at stake.
Helen couldn’t even scream. She was too terrified to pull in enough air. Seeing that pillar of flame while Drake wore that half smile on his face . . . It was so much like her vision that she just shut down, waiting for the blistering end to come.
But it hadn’t come. And although there were similarities between reality and her vision, it wasn’t exactly the same. She could see too much of her surroundings, it was bright inside, not dark, and the fire was behind Drake, not engulfing her. That was the biggest difference—the one that really mattered. She wasn’t burning alive.
Breathe. Just breathe. That’s all she had to do.
She couldn’t open her eyes yet. She could feel the vibration of a car beneath her thighs and the slight swaying of her body as they turned corners. Someone was holding her. She could feel the heavy weight of a man’s warm arm around her shoulders. Strong fingers drew comforting circles over her bare arm. Her head was tucked against his shoulder and she could smell smoke clinging to his shirt, a subtle hint of soap clinging to his skin. Streamers of energy that felt like warm bubbling water trickled into her flesh where his other hand circled her wrist.
Drake. Drake was holding on to her, keeping her from flying apart. He’d carried her out of that burning building. He hadn’t watched her die.
Maybe her vision was wrong. Or maybe it just wasn’t time for her to die yet. Either way, she was grateful to still be alive.
“Turn here,” she heard a man say, and forced her eyes open enough to take in her surroundings. She was in the back of some big SUV, and even through the heavily tinted windows, she could see the western sky was a deep orangey pink. Miss Mabel was safe and sound in the front seat and Zach was all but crawling into the driver’s lap, helping him steer the car.