“So,” she began. “In the beginning, it really was about feeling safe. I was in that basement with those awful men. They did things and said things that I don’t want to think about anymore. I was starting to feel like I’d never get out. I’d almost come to terms with the fact that I was going to die there. Then, all of a sudden, this guy bursts in, cuts the ropes and carries me to safety. That was Luis. I guess that means that, yeah, I do feel safe around him.”
“I feel like there’s a ‘but’ coming,” I said.
“Yes.But,I guess I do get a little thrill when Sebastian sees me with Luis, and I can tell it bothers him.”
Exasperation flooded my mind, but I did my best to keep my face calm and emotionless. “For God’s sake, why?” I asked.
“I was mad, okay?” She closed her eyes tight, almost like she was wincing, then opened them. The words tumbled out of her. “The night I was kidnapped, Sebastian was supposed to be watching me. He did for a few hours, but then he headed out to run errands or something. He said I’d be fine for the rest of the night. I got nervous because I thought I heard people moving around outside my house, so I called him. No answer. I called three more times, and when the phone finally got answered, it was a woman. I asked her where Sebastian was, and she said he was in the shower. When I asked why no one answered, she… she said they’d been busy. She said it in a pretty pissy kind of way too. So, I hung up. Five minutes later, the royals busted in my door and took me.”
I closed my eyes, cringing. Jesus, Sebastian. Way to go. Couldn’t have timed it better. “Abi, I’m sorry.”
She waved me off. “I know we weren’t, like, dating or anything. We hooked up one time. That was it. But yeah, it hurt that he dismissed me like that to go fuck another girl on the night I was taken. It pissed me off. For the first two or three nights they had me, I didn’t even hate them. All I did was stew over Sebastian and what an asshole he’d been.”
I put my hand on her leg. “Abi, you have every right to be mad. Your feelings are valid. Was that shitty of him? Yes. Should he have known better? Yes. Does Luis deserve to be a weapon you wield against Sebastian? No.”
“I know,” she hissed and put her hands on her cheeks, squeezing her face like a child having a tantrum. “I know, I know, I know. Ugh, I’m being such a bitch. I’m going to stop. I promise. He doesn’t deserve that at all. Neither of them does.”
Wanting to change the subject, I patted her back. “You know we’re leaving early tomorrow morning. Are you going to be okay when Nico and I are gone?”
“I’ll be all right as long as you come home safe and sound. No promises if you don’t. Things are crazy right now. The whole damned world has gone crazy. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re… hell… you’re the closest thing I have to a sister. I don’t know if I’d ever be okay again if I lost you.”
I leaned over and hugged her, wrapping my arms tight around her. I put my lips against her ear and said, “I promise I’ll be okay. I promise.”
We sat like that for a long time. All I could think of was that I had to keep that promise. I couldn’t let her down. We were coming home. Every one of us.
85
NICO
Sleep didn’t come easily. My irritation at what was going on between Abi, Sebastian, and Luis had me tossing and turning for over an hour. Once I finally did fall asleep, my dreams were feverish and filled with awful visions—my friends dead, Maddy bleeding out and the husk of her body turning into some type of weapon, a wave of fire washing over my entire pack and every shifter on the planet. By the time my alarm went off at three in the morning, I’d barely gotten two hours of sleep.
A quick shake at Maddy’s shoulder had her rolling over, eyes bright and awake. It proved that I hadn’t been the only one who’d found it difficult to sleep. We got up and dressed before I sent a text to the rest of the team. Javi was on his way with the decoy van. We were going to do things exactly how we’d done them before. Hopefully, anyone following wouldn’t know which van to go after and either follow the wrong one or hesitate and wait too long, letting us get away.
Sebastian, Tiago, and Felipe were waiting in the driveway when we came out with our small carry-on bags. Sebastian still looked pissed and didn’t say a word to any of us as we allexchanged greetings. Moments later, Javi pulled up into the cul-de-sac.
Javi got out of the van and walked over to shake my hand. “We have a tail.”
“Already?” It didn’t surprise me, but I’d thought they’d only be on us sometime after we left.
He nodded. “Big black sedan sitting in a driveway about three miles up the road. As soon as I turned onto your road, they followed. I think they pulled into a pull-off a hundred or so yards from the gate.”
“Well, that’s not what we planned, but maybe it’ll work out better. You said you only saw one car?” I asked.
“Yup.”
I looked at the others. “Okay, let’s go. If we leave now, they won’t have a chance to call for a second pursuit vehicle. Move.”
The next several seconds were spent in a frenzy. Bags were shoved in the matching white van. It was the work van we used at my shop, and it looked almost exactly the same as the one Javi had brought. I slid in behind the wheel, then leaned out the window and called out to Javi. “Stay safe and keep those fuckers off our tail.”
Javi gave a thumbs up, got into his own van, and started down the drive. I followed and waved to the guard at the gate. It only took a few seconds for me to see the car Javi had been talking about. It sat high up in an old driveway of a house that had long since been torn down. Weeds and bamboo grew rampant in the ancient lot.
“There the fuckers are,” Felipe whispered as we passed.
I glanced in the rearview and watched as they pulled out and began to follow us. They didn’t bother turning on their headlights until we were a few hundred yards up the road. I leaned over to Maddy. “Text Javi with my phone. Tell him they’re following us. Stick to the plan.”
“Okay,” Maddy said and pulled my phone out of the cupholder to start typing.
Javi confirmed. Once we were on the interstate, he hit the gas, pushing his van up past eighty. We did the same. Since it was so early, there were almost no cars on the road. Most of the vehicles were semis cruising through at over ninety miles an hour. The two headlights following us never multiplied, which was a good sign that they hadn’t called in backup. Javi and I did a dance with the vans. Exactly like last time, I sped up and passed him, then he passed me a few moments later. We drove side by side before I dropped back behind him. We did that at least a dozen times, making sure whoever was following had no idea which van was which.
