“Look, Mister, ah . . . what’d you say your name was?”
“I didn’t.” Those glimmering Breed eyes seemed to bore right through her. “I’m called Asher.”
Unusual name, and strange way of putting it, too. But then nothing about this night had been normal, least of all this run-in with him.
“Okay, Asher.” She nodded, reminded by the painful slog of her brain inside her skull that even small movements weren’t a good idea right now. His scowl darkened when she wobbled under the wave of another round of nausea. “As I was saying, Asher, I really appreciate what you did for me here. And even if you’re not concerned about that hole in your chest, I’m sorry you got shot trying to save my bacon. Right now, I just want to go home and take a nice hot bath, then sleep for a week. I’m sure you must have things you’d rather be doing tonight as well.”
As she spoke, his gaze traveled her face in measured scrutiny. If the displeasure in his expression was anything to go by, he didn’t seem to like what he saw. “You talk too much.”
And he hardly spoke at all, not that it mattered. She couldn’t read his stony face and unearthly stare any more than she could gauge his clipped, measured words and toneless growls. All she knew was he seemed as eager to be done with her as she was to put this entire evening in her rearview mirror.
“Okay,” she announced, feeling almost cheerful. “So, I guess I’m going to be on my way now. Seeing as how Gordo and his friends won’t be needing their car anymore, I’ll just go find the keys and get on the road.”
She forced a tight smile despite a blooming ache in her jaw, but he didn’t smile back.
“You don’t even look old enough to drive.”
She scoffed. “I’m twenty-six.”
“Like hell you are.” Those blazing eyes roamed over her again, from head to toe this time. It was a short trip, considering she was only five-foot-two. She was also buried in layers of loose clothing that could have fitted three of her inside.
“I’m not a girl,” she murmured, indignation ripe in her voice. “Those goons only thought I was a kid because of how I’m dressed and because I told them I was underage. I thought that would be enough for them to turn me loose, but I thought wrong.”
He hardly seemed pleased to hear it. “You’re not a child?”
“I may be a foot-and-a-half shorter than you and about a hundred pounds soaking wet, but I’m a full-grown woman.”
Probably not the smartest thing to tell a predator like the one now narrowing his gaze and cocking his head to study her more closely, but she blamed the reckless blurt on her mounting concussion. Besides, if this male wanted to assault her, her state of adulthood probably wouldn’t matter and he’d already had ample time and opportunity to do his worst.
At least, that was the rationalization she clung to as she prayed for her only viable escape out of this mess.
Talons of pain closed over her throbbing skull, tightening their grip. She moaned before she could stop the pathetic sound from escaping her.
“You’re hurt. That lump on your head needs medical attention.”
“I know,” she said, as much as it cost her to admit it. God, she hated feeling weak and helpless more than just about anything else in the world. She spent much of her childhood that way and had fought every single day to make sure she never felt that way again.
She heard his deep exhalation—and the curse that rode it. “The nearest hospital is in Henderson. You’re in no shape to drive, let alone make it that far.”
He was probably right. No, he was definitely right. A sudden rush of exhaustion flowed over her and she moaned, wearier than she could remember being in a very long time. Her head was starting to spin, her vision clouding over. Dammit, she was fading fast. Getting behind the wheel now would probably only finish what Leo Slater’s thugs set out to do with her.
Still, what other choice did she have?
“Let’s go,” he stated flatly.
“Go?” She blinked up at him dully, watching that squared chin dip with his curt nod.
“To the hospital. I’ll take you there.”
Oh, shit. Was he serious? Get in a vehicle with him? Trust that he would actually do what he said and not detour somewhere else instead, or maybe decide to collect on her debt with a pint or two of her blood?
“No.” Her reply shot out of her, no easy feat when her tongue was thickening inside the cotton dryness of her mouth. She took a step back from him and her vision swam. “I’ll be fine,” she murmured, her words slurring as she spoke. “I just . . . need a minute . . . to . . . rest and . . . catch my . . .”
She was conscious long enough to feel her knees start to buckle beneath her.
But if she hit the hard sand and bramble of the desert an instant later, she had no idea.
For the second time tonight, her world went suddenly, inescapably, dark.
