“Whoa, Travis,” Ryland starts, but I silence him with a growl.
“Leave.It.”
“Hey,” Piper hisses from the front seat, turning to me and my packmates. Fire burns in her eyes as she glares at me. “Now isnotthe time to be fighting. Especially not in front of her. You all are safe. That’s what matters.”
I nod, then turn to Rowan, who’s gone as pale as Blair has.
That soured scent is killing me. I long to get her out of here, wrap her in blankets and place her back in her nest where she belongs.
She’s breaking apart in my arms.
When she finally pulls away to meet my eyes, what I see there haunts me.
That guarded expression, the one that she used to wear so proudly around me, is back.
Even her smile is strained. “Sorry about that,” she says evenly.
But her voice is all wrong.
It’s the customer service voice she uses at Scents.
“Hey, baby,” Ryland says cautiously, “are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just got scared there for a second. I’m glad you’re okay,” she says sweetly.
But it’s off.
The tone is wrong.
Every second she’s in the car with us, she’s fading away.
Rowan won’t stop frowning at her. “Baby…I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay, Rowan. Really.”
His face relaxes and he sighs in relief, as if she fooled him.
But I can sense it from all my time spent with her at Scents.
Even her mannerisms are slightly robotic. She looks back to me, still perched on my lap. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispers.
“Hey,” I murmur, pressing my forehead to hers. “We’re not going anywhere, okay? I mean it. You’re stuck with us.”
Her huff of laughter is weak. “I know.”
But in the rearview mirror, Piper is frowning.
She notices Blair’s strange behavior, too.
You’re losing her. She’s pushing away.
“Blair,” I whisper. “You’re the best thing that’s happened to us. This is just a little accident. It means nothing.Nothing.”
“And I saved a squirrel,” Rowan adds. “So, it’s a win-win.”
Ryland snorts.
“Oh, hey, the tow truck is here,” Piper says. “That was quicker than I thought.”
