But I try anyway, turning to face the window, curling into myself beneath the blanket. If I can just make it to Grey Ridge before it hits me full force, and I climb this man like a tree. If Ican just get home, I can lock myself away until this passes. Deal with it alone, like I’ve dealt with everything else in my life.
Leila has drugs to help with the symptoms. She’ll make it better.
The miles pass in tense silence. Outside, the first raindrops fall, fat and heavy against the windscreen, quickly coming so fast, the wipers can barely keep up. The temperature drops as the storm closes in, but I barely notice, lost in the heat of my own personal hell.
CHAPTER 6
CARLA
“Roads are getting too bad,” Beau announces after what feels like hours, with an apologetic look in the mirror at me. “I thought we might be okay, but we’ll definitely have to stop. Sorry.”
I blink, disoriented, realizing I must have dozed off despite everything.
The landscape has changed. We’re on a smaller road now, winding through dense forest. Night is beginning to fall, and rain continues in jagged lines against the headlights. Wind buffers the side of the vehicle, and Beau white knuckles the steering wheel to keep us on course.
“Where are we?” I ask, my voice rough from sleep.
“About halfway to Grey Ridge,” Beau answers. “The Pine Haven Motel should be just ahead.”
Sure enough, a flickering neon sign appears through the snowfall. PINE HAVEN MOTEL, it proclaims in faded blue letters. VACANCY.
Not exactly the Ritz, but hopefully between the weather and the lacklustre accommodations, this place will be empty. The fewer people around, the better.
Beau pulls into the nearly empty parking lot, steering into a dark corner out of sight from the road, and cuts the engine. “I’ll check for rooms,” he says, already opening his door to the howling wind.
Billy turns to me, his expression unreadable in the dim light. “Are you okay? How do you feel?”
Like my skin is two sizes too small. Like I might die if you don’t touch me. Like fate has a particularly sick sense of humor, making you my mate.
Beau returns before I have to answer.
“There’s a room for you,” Beau holds up a key card. “Under the name Miller.”
“Miller?” Billy questions.
“Precaution,” Beau explains. “It’s paid for in cash. No trail back to us or Grey Ridge.”
Smart. Leon will be hunting for us by now, and we can’t be too careful. He’s got a lot of friends.
“I need to get back,” Beau continues, expression grave. “I’ll fill you in once you get some sleep. That okay, Carla?”
I nod. The conference. It has to be about the conference and whatever stunt Leon was planning.
If he has to go, he has to go.
And it’s one less man near me anyway when my heat goes into overdrive.
“You’re leaving us here?” Billy sounds surprised, and I don’t blame him. I’m not thrilled about being stranded at a seedy motel in the middle of nowhere, either, but I’m too exhausted to object. Plus, there are more important things going on than my heat. Lives could be at stake.
“You’ve got this covered,” Beau says, with a pointed look at Billy that I don’t understand. “Besides, you two need... space.”
Beau knows exactly what’s happening to me. My stomach drops at the obvious hint he throws out there, but it seems to sail straight over Billy’s head.
“I’ll check out the room,” Billy says, taking the key card from Beau. “Make sure it’s safe.”
As he disappears into the driving rain, Beau turns to me with knowing eyes, unbothered by the soaking he’s getting, or the wind lashing his face.
“Your heat,” he says quietly. It’s not a question. “It’s not far off.”
