“Won’t restart,” Tiara murmured, eyes starting to sharpen.
“I’ll just have to keep it running.” Lowering the Shine operative to the ground, she took Tiara’s cell phone from her pocket. “I used the lowest possible setting—you’ll be up and moving in less than five minutes. I’ll make sure the boy’s shields are solid until then.”
Tiara smiled. “Dev is so going to kick your ass.”
Taken aback by that smile, Katya hesitated. “The stunners don’t have any strange effects on Forgotten physiology, do they?”
“Hell, no.” Tiara’s speech was beginning to clear. “I’ve just decided to find this amusing.”
Shaking her head at the telepath’s strange sense of humor, Katya got in the vehicle and backed it carefully out and onto the drive. She went a hundred meters down, then pulled over into the night-shadow of a large tree. No one would be able to see her if they came down the road. And if she was right about the silent alarm, they were already on the way.
She continued to hold the shield on the boy until she felt Tiara’s energy replace hers, snapping back into her mind before the other woman could attack her on that level. In the nick of time. Two vehicles raced down the private road, heading for the house. Katya waited until they turned the corner, then she threw the cell phone—and its GPS chip—out the window and drove like a bat out of hell.
The car’s navigation system got her out of the isolated area and onto a major road still heavy with traffic. She drove for twenty minutes before pulling over into the parking lot of a diner packed with monster rigs. The hover-trucks had their own special automatic navigation lanes on the highways, often traveling at speeds three to four times that of cars.
Parking beside one of the rigs, she took a deep breath and turned off the engine. She was now effectively stranded. But if she knew Dev, this car had some kind of a tracking device embedded in it. She left the stunner under the seat, having no desire to cause any more harm.
Conversation stopped the instant she walked into the diner, but she didn’t—couldn’t—back out. Tiara was probably already putting the trace in motion. Girding herself, she looked around. Most of the people at the counter were men.
Sweat broke out along her spine. Getting into a vehicle with a stranger was hardly the smartest of moves, but it was the only choice she had. And she was a telepath. No one was ever again going to make her a victim. Giving a small smile, she moved to the counter.
“Buy you a coffee?” The offer came from a twenty-something man to her right.
“I’d prefer an orange juice,” she said, judging him “safe.” If all she had left were her instincts, then she had to trust them.
He smiled, his eyes wrinkling at the corners. “Juice it is. Hope you don’t mind me saying, but you could do with some meat on your bones.”
Her mind cascaded with images of Dev making her smoothies, sliding granola bars into her pockets. “I’m working on that. Thanks.” She took the orange juice and began to sip. “I don’t suppose you’re going north?”
The trucker gave her a disappointed look. “Aw, damn. South. Jessie!”
A woman with a long blonde ponytail looked up from the shadowy end of the counter. Her face was all freckles and glowing skin. “What?”
“You going north?”
“Maybe.” The woman looked at Katya. “You need a ride?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.”
Jessie shrugged and got up. “I’m heading out now. You can keep me company.”
Thanking the man for the juice, Katya followed Jessie out of the bar. The female trucker didn’t say anything until they were in the cab of a sleek silver truck with a dash that looked more like something you might find in the cockpit of a small jet.
“Not smart what you’re doing,” Jessie said as they hit the highway. “Most of the boys, they’re okay. But there’s a few that think giving a ride means getting something in return.”
“I know,” Katya said, deciding for honesty. Something about Jessie said that for all her fresh-faced looks, she’d spot a lie a mile off. “But I didn’t want to be caught on surveillance at the travel depots.”
Jessie switched to automatic navigation after smoothing the truck into its specified lane. The steering wheel slid away as the truck’s computronic software took over, accelerating the rig to a speed no human would ever be able to control. “You running from someone?” A concerned glance. “Someone been mistreating you, honey?”
Arms holding her close. A kiss to wish her sweet dreams. “No. But I have something I need to do.” A demon she needed to face.
“Fair enough.” Jessie kicked back, putting her feet on the dash. “So, you like jazz?”
“I’m going to—” Dev bit off the words, staring at a grinning Tiara. “You just let her walk out?”