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Her mom nodded, now quiet. But her fist was still in the air. I think it was up more on principle against the situation. Who’d want to be thrown over a bony shoulder and bounced around as they ran for their lives?
Pialto rolled his eyes, returning to my side.
Jess shut the door and went to the back. “Can you open?”
Nea looked at me but didn’t say anything, hitting a button. The back lifted. Jess motioned for Pialto and me. “Come on. You guys hide back here.”
I didn’t move at first, looking back at Nea.
She seemed flustered, but I said quickly, “Thank you.”
“Yeah.” She blinked a few times. “Sure. Yeah.”
“Molly,” Pialto hissed.
I followed him. We both got in, sitting with our backs to the sides and our feet toward each other. Jess shut the door, her entire face just kick-ass and in charge. She went and got in somewhere up front. “Okay, Nea. Drive out the south lot. They weren’t looking for us back there.”
Nea listened, driving off.
Pialto was studying me. “You should look terrified.”
I wasn’t. That was the thing.
I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t even going to try with him, but something clicked with me. I hadn’t reacted this time. I’d known the consequences. I’d been told not to go, but I had to go.
I’d chosen it this time, and somehow, I felt calm inside.
Or calmer.
I accepted something inside of me, something I’d been fighting, and it was there. It was a part of me. And because I was accepting it, I didn’t feel the switch in me. It was . . . I couldn’t say it was gone, but I didn’t feel it.
Huh.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
MOLLY
Nea drove for a while. She and Jess were talking, but we couldn’t hear much in the back. My phone was buzzing, and I answered, already knowing it was Ashton.
“We’re in the back of a vehicle.”
“I’m aware.”
Oh, boy. His voice was already grim. He was not happy.
“I’ll call when we’ve stopped—”
“We’ve been following you for the last three blocks. Tell Nea to pull over in the nearest parking lot.”
“What?” I looked up, peering through the window, and there he was. Ashton was glaring at me from the front seat, right next to Elijah, whose mouth was twitching. “How’d you find us?”
“I put a tracker on your phone, remember? Tell her to turn off.”
“Oh, okay.” I twisted back around. “Nea! We have a ride. Pull over.”
“What?” Both she and Jess said that at the same time.
I motioned behind us. “The cavalry found us.”
“What?”
Jess cursed. “There’s a parking lot. Go there.”
She hit the turn signal, moving over, and once she had stopped, vehicles swarmed us. Literally. One went in front. Two went on both sides. Ashton’s car pulled up behind us. The definition of circling the wagons happened in real time, and it was awesome.
Elijah went over to where Jess’s mom was trying to get out of the vehicle.
Nea and Jess were both out when the back door swept up. I didn’t get the option of climbing down. Ashton swooped in, his arms winding around me, and he lifted me clear out of the SUV. I gave in. My time of following my gut was over. Ashton was here. I was in his arms, and I was relinquishing control. My arms and legs wrapped around him, and he walked away, returning to his own SUV.
“Ash—” That was Nea, trying to speak to him.
He ignored her.
The back door opened, and he got in, with me in his arms. It was shut behind us, and as soon as we were in, Elijah was back behind the wheel. “Go!” Ashton barked.
“Jess—”
“She won’t leave her mother, and I’m not waiting.”
Elijah hit the accelerator, and off we went, but as we left, I looked up.
Nea was standing in front of her opened door, an odd look in her eyes. Hurt, but anger glimmered there as she pressed her mouth tight. I looked past her, getting a glimpse of her bag and some other items on her front seat. Then we were past, zooming out of there.
“Jess.” I moved my head back, angling to see Ashton. “Pialto.”
“They’ll be in the next vehicle.” He pulled me back to him, his head burrowing into my neck. A shudder rippled through him, and oh man, oh man. I tightened my hold on him, burying my head into his neck, and he just held me, rocking me back and forth.
His words came out against my neck, mumbled. “They would’ve taken you.”
“No.”
“They had seven men in place. They killed four of Trace’s men.”
“Only two.”
“What?”
“The one guard outside the clinic was gone. I went inside, and that guard tried to lead them into a trap. He forgot about me. That’s what tipped me off, but he was in on it.”
Ashton was studying me, then cursed and pulled me back to him. “Jesus.”
