Where the fuck were we going?
Why the fuck did Jesse lie to me?
When sweat dampened my back and my thighs had started to burn, Jesse finally stopped. He swung his rucksack to the ground and produced two protein bars and a bottle of water.
“I’ll get you something better when we stop,” he said, holding them out.
For a second, I considered telling him to shove his protein bars up his ass. But my stomach rumbled, and I snatched the offerings from his hand and trained my gaze on a tree over his shoulder.
He wanted to say something. Thatwantvibrated around him—then it vibratedthroughme, his need flowing into my chest like a current. I couldn’t have said how I knew it came from him, but it did. Something urgent pushed through the current, then pulled back. He wanted me to look at him and didn’t know how to ask.
I tucked the water bottle under my arm and tore open one of the protein bars. Gaze on the tree, I shoved half the bar into my mouth and chewed.
Abruptly, the current cut off.
And I wasnotdisappointed.
He pulled a slim black phone from the rucksack and dialed.
“Jesse,” a man said after the second ring. “It’s been a while.”
The voice was smooth and British, the tone pleasant and aloof like the villain in a James Bond movie. I could hear him like he stood right next to me, which was probably another perk of lycanthropy.Roguelycanthropy. Couldn’t forget that part.
“Sterling,” Jesse said, his voice businesslike. “I need transport.”
I watched him at the edge of my vision. He didn’t look particularly happy to be chatting with the guy.
“I never expected you to call in a favor,” Sterling replied. He sounded amused, like he was genuinely delighted by the novelty of hearing from Jesse.
“Well, I am,” Jesse said. “Can you help?”
“Someone will be at the strip in thirty minutes.”
Jesse pulled the phone from his ear and peered at the screen. “I might need a little more time. I’ve been moving fast and haven’t stopped to check my location?—”
“No need,” Sterling said. “I know where you are.”
Jesse pressed his lips into a thin line.
“Thirty minutes,” Sterling said.
The call ended.
Jesse shoved the phone away and looked at me. “Almost there.”
I put the protein bar wrapper in my pocket.
He stood there, obviously waiting for me to acknowledge him. When I didn’t, he hefted his pack.
“Let’s go,” he said softly.
I followed again because I didn’t have a choice. Shafts of moonlight pierced the canopy and cast thick beams on the ground. I waited to go furry and howl at it or something. But Ihad no idea if that was real or made-up. Just something else I didn’t know about my new existence. I sure as shit wasn’t asking Jesse about it.
The forest thinned. Moments later, we emerged at the edge of a clearing. An airstrip cut through it, and a sleek white jet waited at one end. No buildings, no tower, not even a windsock. Just the airstrip and a beautiful plane that looked far too expensive to be sitting in a field in the middle of nowhere.
“That’s our ride,” Jesse said.
I kept my mouth shut and waited for him to start moving. With a soft sigh, he started forward.
