Through the anger, the logical side of him—his FBI training—said what she’d done was the best division of labor. Whatever task she was after wasn’t dangerous; at least, that’s what he told himself. Trusting her was one of the hardest things he did, mostly because he knew how quickly she found trouble, whether she wanted it or not.
The faster he tracked down where the guns were coming from, the faster he could go after Rylee. If he had to. But no matter what, he couldn’t tell her what Giselle told him. Hell, he needed to make something up. Twenty-four hours was enough time to come up with a plausible reason he’d held back. Right?
“Let’s get this done and get back here.” He turned and headed for the side door.
“I’m coming with you,” Milly said, stopping him in his tracks.
Pamela cleared her throat softly, only loud enough that Liam heard. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Milly. It’s not like you can actually help now that you have no magic, and besides, Liam wants to kill you.”
Ah, for the simple honesty of a teenager.
He looked over his shoulder. “Pamela’s right.”
Milly lifted an eyebrow, then dropped her gaze. “I can still teach her as we go, and I don’t want to be left alone. I am totally vulnerable without my magic. At least if I am with you and Pamela I have a chance.”
Teeth clenched, he tried to see how he could deny her. Hell, he could have Pamela tie her up and leave her in the hallway closet until they got back.
His wolf paced inside him, snarling at the very thought of sharing close quarters with Milly. Then again, she had no magic, so he could kill her if he had to. With ease, actually. She might even give him just cause to break her tiny little neck. His wolf settled with that thought.
He gave a sharp nod. “Fine, you can come. Teach the kid, stay out of the way, and don’t touch me.”
The two women grabbed coats and followed him out. Rylee’s Jeep was parked in the same place she’d left it last night. His eyes dropped to the ground, looking for tracks, but the falling snow had covered them firmly. Her scent pulled him forward a few steps, drawing him down the path she’d gone.
“Liam.” Pamela’s voice drew him back. “How are we going to use the Jeep?”
His eyes flicked over the compact vehicle, and he wondered the same thing. Whatever he was, he packed far more of a ‘supernatural’ wallop than the others. “We’ll have to try, see if it will start with all three of us.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Well, that should be obvious, but he said it anyway. “Milly stays behind, regardless of how vulnerable she is.”
Milly lifted her chin, and he saw the fear in her eyes. Orion wasn’t just coming for Rylee and her pack; he was coming for Milly and her child too.
Shit, he was not going soft on her.
He wasn’t.
Before we left Giselle’s, I took a wrapped torch, lighter fluid, matches and a long coil of rope from my Jeep. Looping the rope around Alex and tying it firmly, he was able to carry it easily. Everything else was light enough for me. At least I’d thought ahead enough to take the majority of my gear from the root cellar. Alex and I ran for two hours, until the light stained the snow around us a faint pink. With the snow falling steadily, I wasn’t worried about leaving tracks, though I knew Liam would be able to scent us. I had to believe he would do as I asked and wouldn’t follow me. That, and I was pretty sure he would get the subtle jab that trust had to go both ways, or it didn’t work at all. The run with Alex helped with the anger and the hurt.
Going to New Mexico on my own wasn’t a big deal, there was no danger waiting for me. But Doran loved to poke at Liam, loved to drive his wolf into a rage. Which was one more reason to send Liam in a different direction. I could handle Doran on my own.
It wouldn’t be long before we hit the highway, and from there we would snatch a ride to the badlands exit with one of the big rigs, they were always headed along that route—
A blood red, meticulously clean pickup truck rolled to a stop beside us, the windows tinted pitch black. The passenger window rolled slowly down to reveal Faris sitting in the driver’s side, a grin on his face, fangs fully showing. “Fancy meeting you here, Rylee. Get in, I’m losing heat.”
The shock didn’t last long, a mere split second before my rage spilled all the way to my fingertips. The only thing that kept me from launching myself at him was knowing Charlie was alive.
Seven days, he’d promised me seven days before I had to help him. I wrenched open the door. “How am I not surprised—you fucking liar—that you didn’t keep your word to me?”
His grin didn’t falter. “I thought you would be grateful for the ride, seeing as you mistakenly left your Jeep behind.”
He still thought I thought he’d killed Charlie, threatened my family, forced me into oaths that bound me to help him, and he wanted me to be fucking grateful?
Then again, it was morning, and the sun was shining, if dimly. “Actually, I am grateful.” I smiled at him and opened the door fully, yanking it backward until the hinges squealed. Oh, what a joy it would be to see him fry to a crisp in the early morning sunlight.
His eyes narrowed and the grin settled into a snarl. But that wasn’t what pissed me off the most, no. That fucking asshat jumped the veil. Just sitting there, he jumped the veil.
My temper cooled and I realized it was probably for the best anyhow. After all, I needed him. Sure, I wasn’t happy about it, but without Faris I wouldn’t be able to unify the vampires—or worse yet, Berget would gain true control. Add to that I was really hoping to find a way around killing my little sister.
I slapped my hand on the door. “Get in, Alex. We have a ride now.”
As I slid into the driver’s seat, I wondered if somehow Faris had done this on purpose, if I was already falling into a trap he’d carefully laid out. I gripped the steering wheel reflexively. No, I couldn’t worry about it now; I had a way to get to the mineshaft and that was all that mattered.
Still, knowing he’d suckered me into my oaths while not actually hurting anyone only compounded my belief he was far smarter, and far more devious, than any of us gave him credit for.
The truck spun out as I gave it gas, the back end fishtailing before the tires found traction in the wet snow. Probably had four-wheel drive, but it wasn’t that nasty out. I’d save that for going through the badlands, which would be rutted and snotty at best.
Alex all but vibrated beside me, claws tapping on the dashboard. “Alex hungry.”
“You can eat when we get to Dox’s.”
He slumped in his seat, bottom lip sticking out. “Bugger.”
I ignored him and peered through the darkened windows, the tinting making it look like midnight than morning. The passenger door had closed better than I thought after I wrenched the shit out of it and the interior heated up nicely. In the center console, a cell phone beeped. I grabbed it and held it up. The color still stayed on, the cell phone still worked. A tingle of apprehension slipped along the surface of my body. I flicked the phone open and it continued to give me the high definition color screen. The connection was simple; Faris had something to do with the guns being used. Yes, I had an old cell phone, but it was ancient and as simple as they came, and even it chose not to work sometimes. This phone was shiny and new and hurt my eyes the screen was so damn bright.
I flicked the “answer call” button.
“Who is this?”
Faris laughed softly. “Be careful, Rylee. I need you in one piece, and there are new enemies coming your way. Not that you should be surprised, Tracker.”
“Why the fuck would I believe you?”
I could almost hear the smile in his voice. “Because I believe they were following me, and now they are following you. Since you stole my truck, that is.”
“Fucking idiot!”
I hit the end button and quickly dialed in a number, holding the phone gingerly to my ear. It rang three times before picked up.
“This better be goo
d,” he grumbled, sleep heavy in his words, the sound of static belying the fact he was a supernatural using a phone.
I snorted. “Doran, I need ride.”
The phone was so damn sensitive I heard the slide of sheets over his body as he moved around. Unreal.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that?” Doran all but purred into the phone, all trace of sleepiness gone.
“From the cave, to Dox’s. Then maybe to Louisa’s. I’m not sure yet.” Always best to ignore his less than subtle innuendos. His rocker punk boy style wasn’t really to my taste, even if I hadn’t been with Liam. Not to mention, being a Daywalker did nothing for his stock with me.
“When?” Good, he was back to business.
I checked the clock. “Half hour to the mine shaft, half hour to the doorway. Hour at most.”
“Shit, it’ll be close. Wait for me, I’ll be there.” He hung up and so did I.
Everything was coming together better than I could have hoped when I’d left Giselle’s in the dead of night.
Which should have made me feel good, but the rolling in my gut made me question whether I was wrong about this whole trip. No, I needed that book, needed help. And if there was nothing else I’d learned in the last few months, it was I couldn’t do it alone. I needed those around me to help with the nastiness in the world.
Then again, the tingle of fear and subtle twist of premonition in my heart could be due to the fact I was driving a truck that had belonged to Faris and he’d been followed—oh yeah, he had a phone in it that worked around supernaturals.
I stared at the phone and then picked it up, flipping it open. The call log was easy to access and I re-dialed Faris.
He answered right away. “Technology is a beautiful thing when it works, isn’t it?”
“Where the fuck did you get this phone?”
“It was a gift. From a lovely lady with mocha skin and delicious lips, amongst her other delicious bits … would you like the details of how we met, and how she showed me her gun, so I showed her mine?”
I hung up on him with a snarl and threw the phone onto the dash. Pig. The phone may have been a gift, but no doubt strings were attached. Could Faris be working with those who had the deadly accurate guns? A shiver rippled down my spine at the thought. For now, there was nothing I could do, nothing to change this.
Half an hour later we were on the highway, cruising toward the mineshaft with no issues. Red and blue lights flickered behind us, and I checked the speedometer. Nope, all good there.
No doubt Faris had reported the missing truck and set them on me. Fuck a duck, Faris was an asshat. For a brief moment, I thought about making a run for it, knowing I could outrun the cop once we hit the badlands. No, I had time to deal with a cop. I took my foot off the gas pedal and let the truck slow, steering it to the side.
“Fucking hell,” I muttered and Alex nodded.
“Bad guys.”
I shook my head. “No, not bad guys. Just pain in the ass cops doing their job.”
When the first shot ricocheted off the back of the truck, I thought I was hearing things. The second and third shot, I knew we were in shit. Again.
“Motherfuckers!” I yelped when a bullet slammed through the back window and out the front. “Faris, I hate you, you bastard!”
I put the pedal to the floor, taking us back onto the highway. Horns blared around us as I did a half-assed merge into traffic. At that moment, I didn’t care if Faris was using me, I was grateful he had the foresight to steal a truck and not some pansy-assed girly car.
The shots kept coming and again, I wondered how the fuck they were doing this, and with what technology—how they were able to overcome the vibrations supernaturals gave off. Our exit came up fast and I waited until the last second to yank the truck to the right and skidded sideways the off-ramp. Teeth gritted, I fought the wheel to stay in control, the slush and ice pulling at the tires.
“Weeeee!” Alex bounced in his seat, not understanding the severity of the situation. If it had been magic or monsters chasing us, he might have got it. But he didn’t understand guns; they had never been a factor in our lives.
“Alex, sit still.”
He slammed his butt onto the seat and gripped the dash, claws digging into the plastic. “Fun, Alex likes rides with Ryleeeeeee!”
He bounced into me, and the wheel slipped through my hands, spinning the truck in a 180-degree circle so a brief second we were staring back at our pursuers. A black sedan was alongside the police car, like the last one. Just like all the cars the FBI drove. What the fuck was going on, had Agent Valley decided we were a liability—and if so, was Liam in trouble? But that didn’t make sense. The thoughts ran through my head faster than ever, slipping through before I could do anything about them.
The truck continued to spin until we faced the right way, though looking at the wrong side of traffic. Cars peeled off around us, fishtailing and sliding in fresh snow. A mess of metal and rubber collided around us.
“Son of a bitch.” I slammed the truck into four wheel drive, the extra grip giving me the power I needed to get our asses back on the right side of the road and avoid the collision of cars that sprung up around us.
I glanced in the rearview mirror to see the sedan stuck behind the pile up of cars, unable to cut through the snow and grass median as we had. A figure stepped out, tall and slender, feminine with a distinct mocha hue to her skin highlighting her jet black hair. At this distance, I couldn’t tell anything else. She lifted a hand and saluted us as we sped away.
I rolled down the window, stuck my hand out and saluted her back. Though not with the respect she’d shown us. How the fuck had they found me? Had Faris actually called in the stolen truck? No, that wasn’t his style.
But how else … my eyes landed on the phone. If it was null to the supernatural, they could easily put a tracking device in it.
“FUCK!” I grabbed the phone from the dash and tossed it out the window.
Whoever had the guns, also had a desire to deal with vampires. Not good, not good at all. I hoped Liam would be able to handle this shit for a few hours until I was back.
The road twisted to the right, the wreck disappearing behind us, and then it curved to the left. With the speed we were going, and the kickback from the last curve, I was pretty sure we were about to eat it. “Hang on, Alex!”
Sweat slid down the back of my neck as I did my best to keep the truck on the road. As the tires slid off the pavement and onto the gravel, the truck finally gained traction and I was able to give it some actual direction.
One more fishtail as the truck settled onto the road, and we were good. I glanced in the rearview mirror, expecting the black sedan to be on our asses. But the road was blessedly empty.
Less than a half hour later, we were bouncing and sliding across the badlands, and I was doing my best not to get us stuck. Even with the four-wheel drive, I knew there were holes and slush that would suck us down with ease. Ahead, I could see the edge of the mineshaft peeking out of the fresh blanket of snow. Almost a foot in fewer than twenty-four hours. It didn’t seem that long since we’d crawled out the mineshaft with the ogres in tow.
I put the truck in park, and Alex and I jumped out. I sank to my knees in the snow and had to slog my way through to the top of the mineshaft. I had a sudden vision of coming back through the mineshaft, the tall FBI woman with mocha skin at the top with a gun waiting for us.
Shit, that would not be good. There was a chance the phone wasn’t a tracking device, and it was not a chance I was willing to take. Not with my life, or Alex’s.
I swallowed hard and sent out a silent call to Blaz, knowing even though he was at the barn, he could hear me being this close.
Tracker, where are you?
I licked my lips and concentrated on forming the words clearly in my mind, finally gave up and just looked at the mineshaft.
There was a pause before he answered. Yes, I see it. But what is that in your mind about
Faris?
Oh, fuck a duck, that was the last thing I needed, Blaz on a rampage after the vampire for being, well, Faris. I blocked everything to do with Faris and concentrated on the mineshaft and a desire for Blaz to keep an eye on the place while I was on the other side to keep it clear of anything nasty.
I waited, hoping he didn’t pursue the Faris thread. The downside of Blaz was he could be inside my brain and there wasn’t much I could do about it. All part of the bonding between him and me.
Yes, I will check. But I’d rather not leave the farm unless I’m needed.
“What the hell?” I grumbled and apparently that went through loud and clear.
We can discuss it later; it is not urgent. But I am … somewhat in hiding.
My eyebrows shot up and I leaned my hands on the mineshaft edge. Hiding? What the hell could a dragon be hiding from?
An image of a large, red dragon flashed inside my head, then was gone before I could be certain of what I saw.
“Fine. Hide. We can ‘discuss’ this when I get back.”
Eve is not back yet; that is another reason to stay where I am. There was a slight overlay of worry in his thoughts, amusing since he ate Harpies on a regular basis.
I Tracked her and felt her not too far from us actually, out with the Tamoskin Crush. The unicorn group wouldn’t hurt her, of that I was certain. Not after their future leader Calypso had brought the Harpy back to life. Eve’s emotions were smooth, and while not necessarily happy, she was at least calm and not afraid.
I let him see her, feel her emotions and that she was not far. Through me, he could in a sense “Track” as well. This was so damn frustrating, not being able to speak like he did. Seemed some things didn’t go both ways. As it was, I did my best to soothe him.
“Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fine,” I said out loud.
I almost felt him snort. I wasn’t worried about the Harpy. I knew you would worry about her.
“Whatever,” I muttered, then called Alex to my side. There were still ropes leading down into the shaft from the last time. Probably not the safest practice, but hell, not many people wandered the badlands this time of year.
Tracker: A Rylee Adamson Novel (Book 6) Page 5