“You have something to say?” I asked.
Caroline’s expression was blank. “You’re getting good at that.”
“Practice.”
It really did make perfect.
“It’s just that not too long ago, you never would have considered compelling a human.”
“People change.”
I’d come to understand that compulsion was a tool. One I desperately needed in my arsenal. I couldn’t continue to rely on the vampires around me on the rare occasion I needed it. They might not always be there to make humans forget when my world spilled into theirs. I had to be able to handle things on my own. Otherwise, people—innocent people who, like our driver, were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time—would get hurt.
Caroline broke our stare off to nod at the highway we were heading North on. “We’re getting close to the outer belt. Do you have a plan?”
I let her change the subject.
Up ahead, the motorcycle moved into the far, right hand lane in preparation of taking the on-ramp to 270.
“Too bad you didn’t give me a heads up about him beforehand,” Caroline drawled. “I could have done some flirting. Maybe found out where he was going. If nothing else, I could have tagged his bike with a tracker.”
“For so many reasons—no. Just no.”
Like I was going to let my best friend turn herself into bait for a hunter.
“So, he’s dangerous. Good to know.”
Damn it. Caroline always was too smart for my own good.
“Am I still following?” the driver asked in a quavering voice.
“Yes.”
Caroline snorted at my answer, slouching further in her seat. I noticed she hadn’t bothered with a seat belt. Another change in my formerly cautious friend. Prior to growing hair all over her body and howling at the moon, Caroline never would have sat in a moving vehicle without buckling up. She hadn’t even liked to ride in the shuttles at the airport because of the lack of seat belts.
“Slow down a little,” I ordered as the car sped up slightly.
“I’m going to lose him,” the human protested, gesturing at the road ahead where the motorcyclist had pulled far enough away to be a tiny dot on the horizon.
Seconds later, we lost sight of him momentarily as the on-ramp curved, obstructing our line of sight.
“You’re not going to lose him.” Caroline leaned forward as we followed the curve around, the motorcyclist coming into view far up ahead. Just barely visible. “He’s not getting on 270. Looks like he’s taking the exit for 23.”
With a satisfied look more suited to a feline than a wolf, Caroline crossed her legs, sitting back and making herself comfortable.
The driver sent her a startled glance. “You can see him from this far away?”
Caroline arched an arrogant eyebrow at him “You can’t?”
A range of emotions played out on the driver’s face as his gaze darted to meet mine in the rearview mirror before he looked away just as quickly. Uncertainty. Disbelief. Apprehension. Followed by a growing realization that Caroline wasn’t pulling his leg. Every word she spoke was the truth.
His throat worked as he swallowed hard, his hands tightening on the wheel.
Caroline’s nostrils flared. Probably picking up on the subtle changes in scent as adrenaline and stress flooded his system.
My sense of smell wasn’t nearly as developed as hers—one of the differences between a werewolf and vampire—but I could hear his heart rate speeding up. The changes in his breathing as it grew rapid and shallow, the knowledge that the two individuals in his back seat may not be entirely human sinking in.
Was it strange that a small part of me enjoyed his fear? It made me feel powerful. A dark queen basking in her place at the top of the food chain.
