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Oh. I hadn’t thought to smother it when I’d instinctually reached for the syringe. It had just…happened. Panic, I supposed. But that meant people were searching for TKs? What sort of people? I leaned back into the headrest, feeling dizzy.

“Let’s get you out of here before someone else comes looking.” The vamp revved the engine, and the car shot forward and out onto the street.

“Wait,” I said, grabbing for the door handle. “Where are you taking me?”

“Somewhere safe,” he said in that infuriatingly smooth voice that had the hint of an unnamable accent.

“How do I know you’re safe?” I challenged. If Pythia hadn’t said it, I’d have already had a panic attack.

He glanced toward me as he sped onto the freeway. “I mean you no harm. Part of my job is to find and offer safety to supes in danger.”

I glanced at the car that surely cost a fortune. It looked like the Bat Mobile. “Are you some sort of self-proclaimed superhero?” I guessed. Great, a vamp who’s trying to fight his nature. That should end well.

To my surprise, he chuckled. “Hardly. But I do work for SHADE. The name’s Lieutenant Julian Carver.” He held out a hand as he steered the car with the other.

“You work for SHADE?” I shook, finally accepting that I should be at least safe, as Pythia had promised.

“I do indeed,” Julian said, taking the interchange toward the state line.

“Oh wait,” I said, placing a hand on his arm as though I could get him to stop steering. “No. I have to go home. My sister…if people are after me, she’s in danger!”

Julian set his deep indigo gaze on me, and my breath caught. I both wanted him to keep staring and to pay attention to the freaking road.

“She is protected. I have someone stationed outside the apartment, and frankly, her wards are top notch. No one was able to locate you until you left.”

“Then how do you know where she lives?” I challenged, removing my hand and crossing my arms.

“I don’t rely on magic alone to do my detective work. I did some simple research. Eventually, so will the others. Thus, the guard.”

“We have to warn her. And my mother,” I added, picturing Mama on the ranch in Kentucky, completely oblivious as she baked and tended the horses, her two loves aside from Zoe and me.

“I will have them safely transported to the Island, and you can meet them there. It will be faster than us driving to each location. Trust me.”

Trust him? I bit my lip. He was a savagely handsome vampire, which translated to danger in my head, despite Pythia’s assurance. Though I hated to generalize, I hadn’t exactly had good luck with his kind. Of the two traumatic events in my life, vampires had been responsible for both. So, official government agent or not, it wasn’t going to be easy for him to earn said trust.

It would have been faster to go back to Zoe’s and have her transport us to Mom’s, but I didn’t want to give her abilities away to SHADE, especially this particular agent. It was bad enough he knew about me. Well, part of my secret anyway. Damn those eyes…

“Please watch where you’re going,” I said, averting my own gaze.

“If it makes you feel more comfortable.”

Chancing a glance, I confirmed his focus remained on the road. “What’s the Island?”

“It’s the location of the organization’s base of operations. We call it Monster Island, or the Island for short.”

“Isn’t that classified information?”

“It’s on a need-to-know basis. You need to know where you’re going to be living.”

“Whoa! Wait just a damn minute, Lieutenant Carver. I did not agree—”

“Call me Julian,” he said in such a low, panty-soaking voice I nearly forgot what I was protesting.

I cleared my throat. “I did not agree to uproot my entire life, Julian.”

He stole another glance, and the frustration on his face was clear despite his lack of aura. It was the way he pursed his full lips. “Would you prefer I hand deliver you to the people that tried to kidnap you?”

Heat rushed to my face. “There has to be an alternative. I have a life.”