“We’ll come back to visit as soon as we can.”
They both knew that wouldn’t be any time soon, but Elena wouldn’t change her mind. She was going to miss her mother and everyone at the compound; she’d worry about them every day, but she had to look to her future, and that future was with Logan.
Three hours later, she boarded a plane for the first time and tried not to tear the arms off her seat when it took off. Once they were in the air for a little while, she relaxed enough to lean over Asher and peek out the window. When she saw the clouds floating beneath them, she ducked back and flattened herself against the seat.
“I take it you don’t like flying,” Logan said.
“I’ve never done it before.”
“Would you like a drink?”
“I’d love one.”
He called the flight attendant over and ordered them a couple of drinks. When the drinks arrived, he set them both before her.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” she asked.
“We both know it would take a hunter a lot more than two drinks to get drunk. Enjoy.”
She drank them too fast, but afterward, she relaxed a little. She relaxed further when another hour passed and they didn’t fall from the sky in a fiery plume of smoke and death. By the time the trip was halfway over, she was asleep.
Elena jolted awake when the wheels hit the ground. Logan rested his hand over hers.
“It’s okay; we landed, and we’re safe,” he assured her.
She blinked at the building coming into view as the airplane pulled into its parking space with a lot more grace than she would have imagined from something so big.
They disembarked from the plane, gathered their luggage, and made their way toward the sliding glass doors. On the other side of the glass, Declan and Nathan waited for them by the back of a black SUV. Despite his exhaustion from these past few weeks and the trip, seeing his friends brought a smile to his face.
They were almost to the doors when a woman slid out of the crowd and grasped Asher’s arm. Unaware of what was happening, Logan and Elena continued for a few more steps before he realized Asher wasn’t with them anymore.
He turned back as the brunette woman leaned closer to his friend. The desperation on her pretty face astonished him. He had no idea why she was so frantic when he’d never seen her before. And if the look of confusion on Asher’s face was any indication, neither had his friend.
She was a vampire; Logan could tell that by looking at her.
The woman clung to Asher like she knew him, and though Logan couldn’t make out her words, her mouth moved so fast the words must be tumbling from her in a rush. When she released his arm, Asher grabbed for her, but she disappeared into the crowd more quickly than she’d emerged. Logan started toward him to find out what was happening, but before he could get to his friend, Asher dropped his suitcase and ran into the crowd.
Logan almost chased after him, but he couldn’t abandon Elena here when other vampires were in the building. He glanced over his shoulder at Declan and Nathan, who watched the scene with a curiosity leaning toward concern. He waved his hand at their luggage, and when Declan and Nathan started toward them, he seized Elena’s wrist.
“Come with me,” Logan said.
She jogged next to him as they ran into the crowd, searching for Asher. Peering over the mass of people, he stood on his toes as he spun in a circle. Then he spotted him halfway across the front of the building, near an escalator. Asher had caught the woman and was gripping her arm as she shook her head and tried to pull away from him.
A couple of men in the crowd stopped to watch the exchange as the two of them spoke frantically with each other. When the woman tried to pull free of Asher again, he refused to release her, and one of the men stepped forward.
“Shit,” Logan muttered.
He kept hold of Elena’s hand as he pushed his way through the crowd. He said “excuse me” but didn’t apologize to those he elbowed and shoved out of his way. He didn’t have the time.
He was almost to the escalator when one of the men who’d been watching said, “Let her go.”
Logan pushed his way to the front of the growing circle of people. Asher hadn’t noticed the man or the crowd closing in on him and the woman.
“He said to let her go!” another man interjected and shoved Asher in the side.
Asher looked up and blinked in surprise as he finally registered the crowd.
“Stay here,” Logan said to Elena and released her hand.
