In the mirror, the woman with the broken leg peeled back her lips in a macabre smile. As the hair on my arms lifted, I didn’t look back again.
The alert chimed once.
I glanced down.
A single icon pulsed on the screen—one that I was more than familiar with.
No one was coming from either direction, so I took a chance and pulled over. Flipping the laptop open, I watched the map resolve. The satellite feed stabilized as the system recalibrated.
Taryn was quickly heading toward Ashford, but still had some distance to cover.
She didn’t have her phone since Ben rarely allowed it during punishment tasks.
Which meant the failsafe had tripped.
The necklace was doing its job.
I changed my route to cut down miles whenever possible, anticipating that I would have to navigate through traffic and crowds.
And God knows what else.
I closed the laptop and pulled back onto the road. I’d try for gas in the next town.
I knew Ben trained her to survive, and I had to trust she would. Otherwise, I’d lose my mind.
And right now, it was the best weapon I had.
I was startled as a man stumbled into the road ahead of me, arms raised.
I slowed just long enough to see that blood was smeared across his shirt and that his gait was uneven, his eyes unfocused. His mouth moved, but I didn’t give a single shit about what he was trying to say.
I swerved around him and accelerated.
In the mirror, he dropped to his knees, his hands clawing at the pavement when something emerged from the ditch behind him. I didn’t have time to stick around and see what it was.
Taryn was all I cared about.
My phone chirped with an incoming text.
School compromised. Multiple attacks. I’m barricaded in the lounge with students.
Fuck!I told him to get out.
I sent a quick text back—On the way.
I pushed the car harder.
Now I needed to come up with a plan to save Lucas’s ass.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
TARYN
Beck and I had been walking for a while, using back roads to avoid towns as it started to get dark.
We came upon a roadside bar that had seen better days. It was lit up, the front door slightly ajar, and I could hear loud music and conversation from inside.
Beck put an arm in front of my chest, stopping me in my tracks. He’d gone quiet, and his gaze was narrowed in on the group of bikes parked in front.
