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Mars was a powerful man, always surrounded by some form of security. And somehow, the person threatening her had still found his way to Mars.
The thought of Mars's life in danger made Rhiannon sick to her stomach. Their trip destination was a cabin a hundred miles from the city. James would drive them in a bulletproof van.
Mars said the threat would be taken care of. She didn’t realize how until Mars told her the entire plan.
“We found a shifter who looks almost exactly like you,” Mars said, shoving clothes into a duffel bag.
He pulled out a backpack next and put his laptop inside.
“She will act like a decoy to lure the stalker out into the open. Once the threat is identified, we take him out.”
Rhiannon shivered as she replayed Mars's words.
He spoke so casually.Once the threat is identified. We take him out.
The past few weeks with Mars had shown her how widely different their worlds were. The differences were more starkly highlighted as the threat grew nearer. Mars lived in a world where humans turned into animals. Where one’s enemy didn’t go to jail. They were killed.
She knew that Mars had killed people. Other shifters. Never innocents and only in self-defense.
How do you feel about that?The voice in her head was matter of fact. Emotionless. She was asking herself a genuine question to which she had no answer.
Maybe the trip away with Mars would provide some clarity. Because right then, she wasn’t sure how she felt.
Rhiannon was packing more slowly than Mars. She hadn’t been away on vacation in almost five years. She had always been so busy with both her legal and her charity work that she had never had the time. The thought of being away from work made her anxious, but she had negotiated with Mars.
Rhiannon could take her laptop and phone with her. She’d be able to respond to the most important emails while on their little getaway, and then she could safely go back to work.
“Once the threat is identified. We. Take. Him. Out.”
She shuddered again.
* * *
“Are you cold?”
Rhiannon sat bolt upright, realizing that she had fallen asleep against Mars's shoulder in the van. They had been driving for an hour now and were close to the cabin. Mars's cabin stood at the base of the Wichita Mountains.
The sky had darkened throughout their drive, and the temperature had dropped. That must be why she had shivered in her sleep.
“Are you cold?” Mars asked again.
Why does his voice sound so far away?she thought dazedly as she nodded. He pulled a small blanket from beneath his seat. Rhiannon took it gratefully and draped it over herself.
Once the threat is identified. We take him out.
She shivered again as the words flashed, unbidden, through her mind.
“We’ll be there in about half an hour. Why don’t you go back to sleep?” Mars's voice was gentle. Rhiannon nodded and settled against his shoulder.
Her dreams were vivid and terrifying. But once she fell asleep, once she fell into her dreams, waking up felt very far away.
Rhiannon stood in a dark featureless room. She knew she was dreaming. In fact, when she looked up, she could see the waking world swimming above her. She blinked when the room seemed to glitch gray and then back to normality again.
It glitched again and again, and then suddenly, she wasn’t alone in the room anymore. Instead, a man in a suit sat bound to a silver chair in front of her. She backed away quickly as a dark animalistic figure leapt between them.
Rhiannon closed her eyes, wincing at the sounds of snapping snarls ripping through the room. The man tied to the chair made no sound.
When Rhiannon woke up again, the van was slowing. They were driving along a wide, circular driveway. Her mouth was dry, and her heart pounded in her chest. All she could hear was her blood throbbing unsteadily in her ears.
