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I decided to up my budget on that, so we’ll see how that goes.
I stop to get some gas, deciding on just how much I should dip into my savings when a rough hand grabs the back of my neck, while something hard presses against my side. “Get in the car, Val.”
What the hell? Everett?
Oh god, this can’t be happening. How did he find me? The sound of Everett’s rough voice so close against my skin makes me physically ill.
I stomp his instep, drive my elbow up into his throat, and push him off me.
Quicker than a viper, he snakes his arm around me. He pushes me against the side of my car, and pins me down with a forearm against my throat. “Dammit, woman! I wasn’t gonna hurt you.” In a few seconds, he wrestles my hands behind my back, adjusting a quick snap zip tie around my wrists.
The benefits of being in law enforcement. He’s got a lot more practice than I do restraining others.
“What do you call this, a spa treatment?”
He glares at me. “I know you’ve been stressed. I tried to get you out as fast as I could, but it’s been hard. Doesn’t help that you’re always working. Always moving. Always hiding. I get it. The world is a dangerous place. You gotta do what you gotta do. After all, I always find you right?”
What the hell is a talking about? Does he think we’re doing this on purpose?
“Those damned beasts kept dogging me left and right. Wasn’t gonna get anywhere near you that way. But, I found a couple of people who found a way to avoid their tech. Enemy of an enemy is my friend. Come on.” He pulls me along toward the back of the car.
Several cars near the gas station. “If you cause any problems, I swear I’ll open fire on a random motorist. Get in the car.”
He shoves me in the back seat, and gets inside the driver’s side. Everett’s eyes dart around as if he expects to see any Otherkin around. Hell, I wish he would. “What the hell do you want anyway?”
“What do you mean, Val?” he says, genuinely confused. “I’m getting you out. Your damn boss sent you to monster town, so obviously, you wanted my help.”
He’s delusional. Truly delusional. “Everett. I don’t know how you got these ideas, but they did not come from me.”
“Of course they did. Remember the time you rolled your eyes up at the dumb customers in line at the coffee shop you used to work at? Or when you pulled your hair back that other time? I know you were trying to tell me you needed help without being able to. And now, this.” He shakes his head.
“Those times aren’t real, Everett. We don’t have a connection. We never did.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mutters.
“I do,” I say, putting as much strength into my voice as I can. “I’m mated to one. A snow beast. Pray he doesn’t get his hands on you because he will tear you apart. Do you hear me? My mate is a snow beast.”
I think whatever I say sinks in a little, because he gets quiet. Really quiet.
Then he starts yelling like a man possessed, punching the steering wheel. His door. If I were in the passenger side, I’m sure I would have been a punching bag as well. “I can't believe you're with a monster. Nope. I can’t believe it.”
“Playing it fast and loose with the word monster.”
He reaches behind the seat, and slaps me across the face. "See what it's doing? Making you act ugly. If you had just let us be together, you would have seen how good it would have been.”
How good? From what I’m seeing, it would have been a living hell. No thanks.
I’m torn between wanting to tell him off and keeping quiet to save my skin. I wish I were one of those criminal profilers in the shows I watch. Sometimes one strategy works better than the other.
Considering I’m still alive, and he hasn’t hit me again, I’m thinking the quiet route is smart.
At least Everett is no longer speeding. He just barely keeps the car on the road what with all the patches of black ice.
How much longer did I have before Everett drove us completely away from Avalon Vale’s borders? Since Torben doesn’t leave his den, Vane often keeps an eye on me whenever I need to travel off property.
They don’t think I see them, but I do.
They’re fast. This is their territory. Surely they already know I’m gone?
