I sucked in a breath and walked down the hall. By the time I reached the stairs, I was running. Everyone stared as I headedfor the door. I still carried the poker as I ran down the sidewalk. I probably looked certifiable, but I didn’t care. I was out of there.
I didn’t stop running until I got a stitch in my side.
Chapter Twelve
Grym
The shadows crept closer. I felt them at my back, closing in on us. I’d get a demerit soon and probably lose Elliot’s contract again. They would find him, and when they did, they’d leave him in Tech Duinn to waste away.
Elliot ran. From me. Not them. He might have been a runner in high school or even college. I couldn’t keep up with him, though I tried. I teleported twice just to get closer. The last thing I wanted was for them to find Elliot before I caught up to him.
We needed to bond. The sooner, the better for Elliot’s safety. But I’d already botched things. Chasing him down the sidewalk didn’t improve our chances. Bonding would tether us together. Whatever the Bureau did to one of us, they’d do to the other, too.
A car pulled up beside me. I recognized Cael’s vehicle, so I knew it was him even before he rolled down the window.
“Get in.” Cael kept pace with me.
I came around to the passenger side and got in the car. “Don’t come up on him. I don’t want to scare him any more than we already have.”
“Seatbelt.” Cael was like a big brother to all of us, which annoyed me. I hadn’t had anyone boss me around since I’d been a stable boy. Not even Morgana.
“I can’t die, Cael.”
“No, but a cop could pull us over, which would make us lose Elliot.” Cael was right. We didn’t need the delay. Any distance between Elliot and me was too much.
I pulled the belt around me and buckled it.
It was hard to stay off Elliot’s radar when he stopped running. When he bent over and clutched his side, I thought about going to him. The urge to soothe was overwhelming.
We stopped in the middle of the road.
Elliot glanced at us, then rolled his eyes and started walking. It took about ten minutes for him to stop holding his side before he finally let his arms relax, but that was only so he could flip us off.
It took another ten minutes of driving at a snail’s pace with our hazard lights on before he came our way.
Cael stopped the car and lowered the window as Elliot drew closer.
Elliot made sure we saw the poker he still carried. “Okay. You can drive me.” He waved the poker in front of the window. “But if you do anything fishy, and I mean anything, this will penetrate one, if not both, of your balls. And I’ll go straight through. I don’t have good aim, so you’d better hope I don’t miss and hit your dick.”
I couldn’t help but smile. I shouldn’t have. After all, Elliot had threatened my life with a poker the entire time he’d been in my care, but his feistiness was cute.
Even Cael seemed amused.
He pressed the button on the car door, and Elliot climbed into the back seat.
“Seatbelt,” Cael said as soon as Elliot was seated.
“I’m in the backseat. If we crash, your big head will keep me from going through the windshield.” Elliot smirked at me as I turned to meet his gaze.
“Seatbelt, Elliot. Or we’re not moving.” That was the wrong way to approach Elliot. He was far too quick-witted for Cael’s bossiness.
“Fine, don’t. I’ll get out and go to that house right there.” Elliot pointed to a two-story craftsman where a woman peeked around a curtain. “She seems very interested in us, don’t you think? I bet I can convince her to call the cops. Who do you think she’ll believe?” He swirled his hand around his own face. “Me. Who looks like the guy who delivered her pizza three nights ago? Or you? Mr. Kidnapper Thug Mafia Hitman.”
I tried to hold back a laugh, and I mostly succeeded.
“I don’t want him going into some stranger’s house, Cael.” I’d go in after him to keep him safe, but he was safer with me in the car than in that house.
Elliot let out a sardonic chuckle. “Please. You don’t exactly give me the warm fuzzies, either, Grymley Reaper.”
