The van’s motor turned over.
It revved once and snapped into gear. Before I could do anything else, I was tossed in between the seats as it sped off down the road, faster than it should’ve been able to go. “What do you want?” I shouted into the air as I maneuvered myself up from between the seats and made my way to the driver’s side. I climbed in and sat down, grabbing the wheel, but it wouldn’t budge. I jammed my foot onto the brake, taking it down to the floor, over and over again, but it was useless.
I glanced into the rearview mirror, and to my surprise my mate, along with the others who had run after the van, pulled up short, stopping, looking around confused as I sped away.
“You’re cloaking the van?” I shouted. “Is that really necessary? Come on!” The vehicle veered wildly as we barreled along the country roads, but it seemed to have a destination in mind.
I knew Rourke would follow no matter what, and once Ray landed and was told what happened, he would scout the air. It would help if I could break a window. Then they could catch my scent. I began to pound on the driver’s side glass as my wolf flooded me with adrenaline. I morphed into my Lycan form, but no matter how hard I pounded on it, it wouldn’t break. Jeez. This was heavy-duty magic. And even though all this was happening, I still didn’t detect any magic.
I was about to turn and use my feet on the windshield when the van careened over an embankment and shot straight into the woods. There was barely enough room between the trees for it to maneuver, but it zigged and zagged fairly effortlessly. I righted myself in my seat, grabbing the wheel to steady myself. The van appeared to be heading down a small logging road, but it was hard to know for sure in the dark. The moon was occluded by clouds at that moment and the van’s headlights were dim.
A few more yards and the vehicle sputtered and died.
But the momentum caused it to bounce over a few more dips in the ground, and then with a final snap it jolted to a stop, just short of crashing into a large tree.
I sat for a few minutes catching my breath and peeling my fingers off the steering wheel. It was a miracle I hadn’t pulled the damn thing off. I was in my human form already and I tried the door, but it was still locked. “What do you want?” I yelled, rattling the door handle in anger. “You have me. I’m here! Now show yourself or let me out!”
There was no response for a few beats, and then the doors all popped as they unlocked. I tentatively pushed the driver’s door all the way open.
As I set my foot on the grass, I asked my wolf, Can you sense anything? She had forced all our magic outward as a shield once we’d been kidnapped, now she growled and huffed. She couldn’t detect anything either. It was unsettling for both of us. I don’t know if this is the other Hag or not, I said. But whoever it is, they didn’t take us very far. Our backup will be here soon. Keep our magic ready to go. Whatever we’re dealing with here is incredibly strong.
I moved around the front of the van cautiously, my senses alert, my power jumping out in front of me. I was relieved the headlights were still on. It was the only illumination for miles.
The thought hadn’t even had time to take seed when the lights snapped off.
The darkness was complete. “Dammit. Figures.” It took my eyes less than four seconds to adjust. Everything snapped into focus and I heard a rustling coming from a group of trees to my right. I stilled.
Then a single male voice called into the air, “I am the ambassador. Come closer. I will not harm you if you do as I say.”
21
“Ambassador of what?” I cautiously moved toward the voice. The supe was cloaked in the trees beyond the van, so I couldn’t see him. “Why should I blindly trust that you won’t hurt me? You just kidnapped me—which was totally unnecessary, by the way. All you had to do was ask for a meet. If you’re really not going to hurt me, my answer would’ve been yes.” I wasn’t sensing a heavy threat from him, but I knew he was powerful if he had just been behind the carjacking, so I had to be cautious.
“My way was necessary,” he said. “You are never alone.” That sounded like a tsk-tsk. “I had to ensure our privacy for this meeting, so I did what I had to do. Getting you here, in this way, was highly inconvenient for me, if you must know. I haven’t traveled this far away from home in centuries. I’d almost forgotten how to get around. Too many human changes in this era for my liking.”
This era?
As I moved closer, I felt more confident that he wasn’t out to kill me. His responses were normal enough and seemed to be nonthreatening, but my magic was coiled tightly around me just in case. “Why do you need me alone? I trust my team with my life.”