—and because I looked nothing like a great legal mind who also happened to be royalty. Ah well, there would be time enough later to share more of myself.
First, though, we needed to get out of this hellish building.
The elevator started to slow, so I looked through the hole I’d rendered to see the mechanics of the elevator above us. As we slowed, I reached over and flipped the switch to stop us where we were and keep the doors closed. An alarm sounded—the first I’d heard since our escape—and I hauled myself up onto the outside of the car.
The space was cramped before I filled it, but there was a ladder leading up to a panel that might lead to the roof. I could reach it if I tore cables and whatnot out of my way. Clearly, I needed Wiley up and out before I did that.
“Come.” I reached down for him and was very pleased when he held up his arms. I grasped both of his wrists in one hand and pulled him up. It took some maneuvering, but when I had him standing beside me, I pointed to the panel. “Climb up there. Tell me if you can open that.”
I watched him go, glad he didn’t question whether he should. From this angle and with him naked, I had a delightful view of his pert ass, wet red hole, and the lean muscles of his legs. Before I’d scented who he truly was, I’d only known that his blood had been sweeter than any I’d tasted before. When my bite had aroused him, I’d realized he must be my mate, for only they reacted with desire. The way I’d responded to his scent had confirmed what we were to each other. Again, that I’d found him here was a horrible miracle.
“It’s locked.” He pushed up on the panel, and it barely moved. “Like from the outside.”
I started tearing things free and dropping them, bending them, to make room for myself to reach Wiley. I kept checking on him, making sure I didn’t jeopardize his perch, and almostchuckled at the comically alarmed expression on his face. His allowing me to mate him had awoken a strength in me that was unparalleled. At least he wasn’t screaming in fright.
Tiring of this piece-by-piece removal, I held onto something that looked structural and tore the elevator gear box down. It hit my back, and I shrugged it off to fall with the car down the entire shaft.
“God. Damn,” Wiley said.
I shook smaller debris from myself and looked up to see that I’d torn a hole in the roof. It was larger than the panel, so I went through and then reached back in to grasp Wiley’s arm and pull him up and out as well. He hollered a bit but seemed unharmed when I set him on his feet.
“This is so insane,” he whispered as he covered his groin and hunched his shoulders as he looked around.
He didn’t know the half of it.
I could hear footsteps on the pavement below to the right. Using echolocation again, I could see for miles that we were on the edge of a city with a forest not far away. I called louder and got more details that let me see a house abandoned amongst the trees. We could hide there until my transformation faded and we could walk out as men.
I went to Wiley. “Put your arms around my neck and hold tight.”
“Oh, god, you’re going to fly, aren’t you?” He gulped but didn’t hesitate to reach up. “Oh, god.”
“It’s pronounced Hamilton.”
He chuckled a bit hysterically but also held onto me tightly. For just a moment, I let myself appreciate the length of his lithe body pressed to mine.
Then I ran across the roof to the left and soared out over the parking lot.
A few shots barked in the quiet night, but no bullet hit either of us as I caught the wind and banked higher into the dark sky. I never flew near populated areas—had, in fact, sworn to The Coalition to never reveal myself as a monster to the humans of the world who still outnumbered us. And now had federally funded organizations studying us, it seemed. In addition to saving myself and my mate, delivering to The Coalition what I knew of where I’d been and what they’d done was paramount.
“This is fucking horrible and amazing! Oh, my god!”
I chuckled and held Wiley tighter against me, gliding on the late-night air toward that darkened home. I called out and saw that no one was within, though lights blazed inside and out. Were the owners on vacation or just out for the night? Hopefully, they might be gone long enough to afford us a quiet place to rest and regroup. I didn’t know what city this was, but maybe Wiley would know—that would help me to know what we might do next. That neither of us had a stitch of clothing or phone between us was a problem as well. At some point, one of us would need to procure both just to gain assistance. I had people but no way to reach them.
“Where are we going?”
“I saw an empty house in this forest. We can rest there.”
“You saw? How? Do you know where we are? It didn’t feel like we drove far, so I think we’re still in Irmaville.”
“Irmaville? What’s the nearest city?”
“Itisa city.”
“Think bigger.”
“Oh, well, then probably Parnell. They’ve got the university and that fancy new hospital. It’s like…forty-five minutes north of here?”
I knew Parnell. It wasn’t far from Saint Jude, the state capital, where they’d captured me. Should I change my plans and go there now? No, not while I was like this. I couldn’t riskexposure with people already looking for us. I was far too easy to spot and couldn’t blend.
