When she was done and fell silent, he said, "You should have told me this—"
"Really?" she cut him off before he could finish. "You would have believed me? You would have thought I was on drugs or that I was insane."
He was silent long enough that she knew he conceded the point.
A flicker of unease unfurled inside her, and she spun to look through the back window. In the distance was the gleam of headlights coming in fast.
Kai eased up on the accelerator, letting their speed drop.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "We need to outrun them."
"Where's the challenge in that?"
"Challenge? You think this is a game?"
"Everything in life is a game, Amber. It's all about how much enjoyment you take from the play."
She was silent for an instant. The Kai she'd loved wouldn't have felt that way. He'd been as solid as granite. What did it say about her that she found this new facet of his personality appealing?
"You've left me without a weapon," she said. "What am I supposed to do? Rely on you to keep me safe?"
He laughed, the sound easy and unfettered, reaching deep inside her and twisting her in knots.
"It's been forever since I kept anyone safe. This should be fun." He glanced at her, his dark eyes gleaming. Then he took pity on her and dipped his chin toward the glove box. "There's a knife in there if it'll make you feel better."
She popped the compartment open and snagged the knife. It was old, with an elaborately engraved handle and a curved blade. But at least it was a weapon. "Yes, it makes me feel better, but I'd have preferred my gun." She frowned. "Speaking of which, I shot you."
He rubbed his chest. "Yeah, you did."
"It didn't even slow you down." She cut a glance at the side mirror and saw that the headlights were closer still. Her heartbeat accelerated and her breathing ramped up.
"Think of me as the improved version," Kai said. "It'd take more than a bullet to stop me."
She stared at the approaching headlights. "What would it take?" She hoped the answer was something more than Asmodeus's lackeys.
Her heart pounded as the Hummer came roaring up behind them, inches from the rear bumper. There were no other cars in sight and all around them were fields. Endless fields.
"If they scratch my bumper, I'll kill them," Kai muttered, speeding up just enough to stay ahead of them.
Amber swallowed. Her blood rushed loud in her ears. "Don't you plan to kill them anyway?"
Kai slanted her a glance through his lashes but said nothing.
Yanking the wheel, Kai jerked the car to one side. Amber's shoulder hit the door. The lights from the Hummer disappeared for a second then cut through the darkness once more as the driver aligned his course to Kai's.
The Hummer bumped them hard enough to make Amber's head rock.
"You think holding that's such a good idea?" Kai asked, gesturing at the knife. "At the rate we're going, you could stab yourself."
He spun the wheel and they veered sharply to the right, sending Amber sliding in the opposite direction along the seat. Again, the Hummer bumped them, harder this time.
Deciding he had a point, she popped the glove box, threw the knife back inside and slammed it shut just as the Hummer slammed them hard. There was a dull thud from under her feet and she looked down to see that the heart had rolled free of the leather pouch.
"Fuck," Kai snarled. "Can you pick that up for me?"
"What?"
The Hummer rammed them again. Amber grabbed the seat to balance herself against the blows. The heart rolled under her seat.
"Pick it up. Please," Kai said, his words painfully polite. "I can't bring the darksoul without the heart."
The next time the Hummer hit them, metal linked with metal and when Kai veered to the side, he didn't pull free.
"We're caught on their bumper," she cried.
"No shit. The repairs on this are going to cost a fucking fortune. If I didn't plan to kill them already, this would seal the deal."
He hit the brakes. Tires squealed. Amber smelled something burning. She thought it might be the brakes.
Then the Hummer lifted and rolled forward, crushing the back of the Corvette, stopping inches short of crushing her and Kai.
"You okay?"
He waited for her to nod before he threw open his door and leaped out of the car. Only after he was gone did she wonder at the concern she'd read in his eyes.
She retrieved the knife, the heart from under her seat, and as an afterthought reached for the bright band that tethered the darksoul, dragging it behind her as she left the car.
Kai was talking to the hunters, hands spread, palms up, unarmed, though all of them had guns pointed at him. He was talking, talking, and she heard her name, then, "Toronto," and finally, "Asmodeus" and "non-negotiable."
Slowly, she began to back away. What the hell had she been thinking, trusting Kai? He could be selling her out right now, making a deal to hand her over to the hunters.
Terror surged, leaving her breathless.