Evan stands taller. “Sorry, but what does that matter to you?”
The alpha tilts his head a fraction at Evan’s tone.
I place a timid hand on Evan’s back to calm him down. We need to earn the shifters’ trust, or they won’t let us leave. “I’m sorry we parked here, but we really mean you no trouble. We can be out of your hair in a minute.”
The man doesn’t seem convinced, clenching his teeth and fisting his hand. He narrows his eyes at Evan, fixated on him for some weird reason. “I asked where you’re traveling to.”
“And I said how is that your business? We don’t have a destination, we’re just traveling.”
The man’s eyes narrow, darting to me before returning to Evan. “How do we know you aren’t being… persuaded?”
Evan scoffs. “Jericho’s been my friend for ages. He picked me up and we decided to take a trip together. That’s it.”
“I’m not compelling him,” I say. “He’s here on his own free will.”Mostly, anyway.He didn’t have a choice.
The wolf that bit me walks back a few steps before shifting to his human form. He’s younger than I expected, with dark hair and ambereyes. Yet despite his age, he looks like he’s seen far too much in his life. Wolves like that are dangerous.
Anyone like that is dangerous. One wrong thing can make anyone snap.
“Vamps have been taking humans against their will around here,” he says, his tone as cold as his eyes.
“Yeah, well, like I said, we’re not from around here,” I say. “I don’t even know exactly wherehereis, if I’m honest. Evan drove through the night while I slept.”
The two men look at each other before the older one says, “You’re about fifty miles from Prodigy.”
My back stiffens.
Evan whips his head in my direction, eyes wide. “Shit. I didn’t know, Jericho. Truly.”
He doesn’t need to convince me. After all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours, I’d be surprised if hehadn’tzoned out while driving. I do it all the time. Plus, we were already heading west, and Prodigy is only six short hours from Comstead, nestled right on the corner of Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. It’s an easy coincidence, but a bad one all the same.
I touch his back and nod in understanding. "We need to get going soon.” Very soon. The closer I am to Prodigy, the more likely it is Foxx or his lackeys will find me.
“I take it you know where that is?” the older man says.
“Yes, we’re familiar with it,” I say, wincing again at the bite in my arm. Every movement makes it sting. “It’s where I was turned. So, if you don’t mind, we need to get going.”
This piques his interest. “Turned bywho?”
I hesitate. People don’t usually ask who a vampire’s sire is, just like they don’t ask a shifter what kind of animal they are. It’s personal. “I don’t see how that’s your business.”
He straightens his shoulders. “It is when a local coven has been killing shifters in our area.”
“Jericho doesn’t belong to a coven,” Evan says.
The two men seem surprised. “You don’t?”
I don’t hide the disgust that creeps onto my face. “No. The vamp who turned me did so against my will.”
The two men look at each other again, recognition passing between them. The younger man clenches his fists before turning back to us. “His name wouldn’t be Alexander Foxx, would it?”
“Wait—”
“How do you know Foxx?” Evan asks, finishing my thoughts.
The older man lowers his head, while the last remaining wolf bares its teeth. “Steady, Ivy,” he says. “Heisyour maker, then?”
Evan takes a step closer to me, ready to throw himself between me and the wolves. “Answer the question. How do you know Foxx?”
