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The fucking Galleria…I’m an idiot.
But hopefully, I’ll be a live idiot in the next five minutes.
“Move your ass!” I’m yelling at her, and from behind me, I hear her scrambling, hear her calling for me tocome on.
One last shot, and I’m in the car, shoving her head down in the seat and shoving the key into the ignition. A line of bullets hit the door but never reach the glass. I press my foot to the accelerator. We peel out of the parking lot, the metallic ping of metal on metal following us all the way out onto the main road.
The SUV is in motion behind us and still too far back for me to make out the license plate. My heart lodges in my chest and thuds madly as though my awareness of it makes it beat faster.
Sweat drips down my spine, the product of adrenaline, even when I know how to handle myself in a shootout. It never gets any easier, especially not with the burning line of pain from the graze on the upper side of my right bicep.
Hazard of the trade, yet it doesn’t keep my chest from nearly exploding. And it doesn’t stop me from sweating like I’ve just finished running a 5k.
Aria is oddly silent as well, with her hands clutched between her breasts and her back curved forward.
“You can scream now if you want.” My voice comes out shaky.
She doesn’t lift her head from between her legs. “Is screaming going to do us any good?” she asks.
Her voice is muffled, garbled.
“Not one damn bit.”
“Then there's no sense in screaming. I’ve been around violence before.”
I risk a glance over at her. “You’re not hit, are you?”
She slowly lifts herself up and shoves heavy red hair out of her face. “No. I-I don’t think so.”
“Good.” I nod and tighten my grip on the steering wheel. “That’s good.”
“How about you?”
“Don’t worry about me,”
Where can we go? A glance in the rearview mirror shows a row of unfamiliar cars behind us. The SUV is no longer in sight, probably trailing behind at a respectable distance, just waiting for us to move.
Going back to the city isn’t safe right now. Clearly, despite our best efforts, someone found out about our meeting today. Someone with revenge on the mind and more bullets than I thought to pack with me. Thank god no one else had been around to get hit in the melee.
“Keep driving, Devan.” Aria buckles herself into the seat but grips the fabric, white-knuckled. “I don’t care where you go, but keep driving because I sure don’t want to go through anything like this again.”
“It’s entirely possible.” My brain is already working, the wheels turning.
The Empire Bay PD keeps several safe houses within the city limits, but all of them are in use right now. At least, I’m pretty sure they’re all in use, and I can’t risk calling Naomi to let her know the situation. Not until we get to a secure location.
Even then, what will happen to her if she knows where I am?
Is it better to have her worry?
No way I’m taking Aria into custody right now, either. I remember too well what happened with Clint. And since I didn’t tell anyone but Naomi where I was coming today—what if it was someone onmyteam that sent the shooter?
All of the houses belonging to the PD are logged and monitored except for one. It’s the one I’d suggested to Layla before she went off half-cocked to pursue a demon from the underworld. Not literally, of course, but he might as well be. Ashcroft doesn’t even know about this place, the location given to me during the investigation into the death of the senator’s son.
It might work.
It’sgotto work. We’re out of options.
“Do you trust me?” I ask Aria.
