Gwyneth’stiresscreechedasI slammed on the breaks. Nathan’s SUV surged into the turn lane and then around us. The rear lights disappeared around the next curve by the time we came to a stop.
Connor shifted in my direction. “What’s wrong?”
I mutely shook my head, my heart pounding with adrenaline as I searched the tree line and the river beyond for the shape I’d seen.
It had been humanoid, right?
It had only been a glimpse, but I thought the figure was tall. Almost skeletal, with scraps of what looked like hair on its skull. Not to mention those eyes. And that voice.
“Aileen, talk to me,” Connor ordered.
Like me, he was on edge. His focus was directed outside the vehicle as he scanned our surroundings.
“We’re being followed.” My fingers clenched the steering wheel before I forced them to relax. “That’s all I know.”
But that was enough.
In my experience, it was never a good thing when you picked up a tail. The last time that had happened I’d wound up kidnapped by Fae then almost murdered by a hunter.
I’d learned to take strange figures in the woods seriously since then.
It was why I found myself putting the car in park and turning off the engine even though this was a horrible place for a pit stop.
This section of the highway was dark except for the faint illumination from the nearby houses. There was a small curve in the road and a dip that limited visibility. Anyone flying through this stretch would be on us before they knew it.
As a vampire, I should survive a head on collision with a car, but I wasn’t in any hurry to test that theory.
Connor took my words seriously, following me out of the car to look around.
Moonlight glimmered off the surface of the river as the trees creaked in the faint breeze. If I concentrated, I could pick out the murmur of humans in the nearby houses.
Nothing sounded out of place. Insects sang to themselves. A bat’s wings flapped overhead to the symphony of slow-moving water. In the distance, an owl hooted.
There was no indication of another’s presence. Not so much as a snap of a twig or the crunch of dead leaves.
“I know what I saw,” I said defensively.
I wasn’t crazy. Something had been out here.
“I believe you,” Connor promised.
Relief filled me as concentration crossed Connor’s face. He listened to our surroundings. A second later, he shook his head in regret. “Whoever it was, I think they’re gone.”
That had been my conclusion too. I no longer sensed the weight of a gaze pressing down on us. Whoever the entity had been, they weren’t there anymore.
“Should we conduct a search anyways?” Connor asked.
It was tempting. I didn’t like the idea of someone following us to our new home. A daytime attack when I was dead to the world was always a concern. It was one of the reasons yearlings were so protected in our society. We were much more vulnerable than our century old counterparts.
“There’s no point,” I said with a shake of my head.
We’d missed our window to catch the entity. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed.
Teachers had lied to us all those years in school. Sometimes ignorance was better than knowing. Safer, anyway.
“Besides, if we stay any longer, Nathan and Anton are going to come looking for us.”
Connor and I shared a look. Neither of us was thrilled with that scenario. As powerful as the enforcers were, they were a representation of Thomas’s authority. Involving them carried risks neither of us wanted to undertake.
