I nodded my head, then shook it, my helmet sliding around as I did so. My stomach was roiling and my body was shaking from the last half hour’s near-death experiences. All twelve of them. I’d counted.
After narrowly escaping getting hit by an oncoming car, Andre had continued to weave in and out of traffic and blow through lights, regardless of their color. I discovered tonight that a vampire’s reflexes were fast enough to avoid what should’ve been unavoidable collisions. Fifteen minutes ago we’d managed to ditch all our stage-five clingers. Not that it stopped Andre from driving like a crazy person.
Frowning at me, said vampire pulled my helmet off. “Are you sur—?”
I took a couple staggering steps away from him and vomited up the bloody dinner I’d just eaten. Pasta: one; Gabrielle: zero.
“Soulmate.” Andre knelt next to me and placed a hand on my back.
I took in a couple deep breaths and inhaled. “I’m okay.”
“You are not okay.” The back of Andre’s hand went to my forehead.
I brushed it away. “I’m not ill, just carsick.”
“You should eat something.”
My stomach cramped up at the thought. “No!”
Andre glanced at me sharply.
I cleared my throat. “I mean, no,” I said, this time a bit more calmly. I stared across the field. “What are we doing here?”
Andre followed my gaze. “I wanted to check in with you before we continued.”
I took in several deep breaths. “Does that mean I have to get back on that thing again?” I asked, nodding to the bike.
Andre didn’t say anything. Instead he brushed my hair from my face, a small crease forming between his brows.
How gentle he was when it came to me. This same man who hadn’t flinched when we’d been shot at earlier. This man who was willing to cut down every one of my enemies.
He headed for the small storage compartment at the back of the bike. From it he pulled out a bottle of water and sauntered back over to hand it to me.
“Thanks,” I said, taking the bottle from him. I took several long, deep swallows, which went a long ways towards calming my stomach. Food might not agree with me at the moment, but water still did.
“We need to find shelter,” he said.
Meaning we would, in fact, have to get back on the bike. Oh joy.
I cast a hateful glance at our ride. “How long will I have to be on it?”
His lips thinned.
“That long?”
“I’m sorry, soulmate; I don’t know where we’ll end up or how many miles lay between here and there.”
Ah. Right, I’d almost forgot about the seers we had to dodge. I could already tell it was a tricky business, getting somewhere you needed to go without really knowing how you’re going to get there.
His face became grimmer. “That was the Politia earlier.”
I breathed in and out through my nose. “I figured.” Nothing more needed to be said. My four months spent working with them had all been for nothing.
“Caleb …” I couldn’t finish the thought.
Don’t trust anyone. Not even me.
“He has his duty and we have ours.”
I nodded, pressing my mouth into a tight line. I had to face the facts: my former partner and friend—the guy I’d solved a case with only last week—was likely hunting me as well.
An equally terrible thought hit me. “Do you think Oliver and Leanne hate me?” I asked.
“Soulmate, how anyone could hate you is beyond me,” Andre said.
That was laughable, considering our situation.
Seeing that I needed a bit more reassurance, Andre stepped in close, and his fingers lightly touched my cheek. “No, I do not believe they hate you. They already knew your secrets. If their friendship is true, as I suspect it is, nothing between you will have changed.”
It seemed so simple, so obvious when he put it that way. Too bad I still had my doubts.
“Now,” he said, his thumb brushing my lower lip, “are you ready to continue?”
I sucked in a breath and nodded. I could beast this thing. I picked up my discarded helmet and followed Andre back over to the bike. Around us, the shadows rippled as wind tore through the fields. It lifted my hair, as if trying to tug me away with it.
On its own, the world was a strange place, with its own beguiling magic. And it had me bewitched completely.
It took us another hour to find shelter, but this time I actually enjoyed the trip. Andre had stopped driving like a maniac, and if anything, he was being too careful. Someone was feeling guilty.
The fields eventually gave way to woods. These were the lands that birthed many of the fairytales I knew. I eyed them warily as we passed them, waiting for something to happen. I kept envisioning monster roots shooting out and wrapping themselves around me before dragging me away.
Paranoia had obviously taken over my life.
Suddenly, Andre veered off the road.
“Whoa, what are we doing?” I asked.
If he heard me, he chose not to respond.
He wove the motorcycle between trees, some low-hanging branches snapping as they got caught on the bike.
Oh God, this was going to awaken all sorts of buried claustrophobia. I pressed my eyelids closed as we passed between them, my earlier nausea stirring once more.
We didn’t drive for too much longer. As soon as we came upon a rocky outcropping, the bike slowed to a stop. Andre killed the engine, standing to flick the kickstand out.
“Why have we stopped?” I asked, still holding onto his torso.
“Because, little mate, we need to rest.” Andre hopped off the bike, his feet crunching into the brittle leaves that covered the ground.
Reluctantly I slid off the bike and removed my helmet, shaking out my hair with a hand while Andre opened the trunk.
I cast a glance at our surroundings. Another bloody freaking forest. I was beginning to hate nature. Even now we could be in the same woods where Hansel and Grettle almost got eaten by the evil witch. Bet that fairytale was true.
I bet siren tasted good, too.
Andre took out our bag, and from it, he pulled out …
“Is that a tent?”
“It is,” he said.
“What are you doing with it?”