It was a total lie, of course. She always had an emergency stash in her purse. She also despised using her condition to manipulate people. When she’d been diagnosed years ago, she told herself she wouldn’t let it rule her life. Wouldn’t let it change how she acted around others. But desperate times needed desperate measures or whatever that sayingwas. She simply had to get home. Had to get a moment of privacy to leave herself a note just in case this Marquin refused her request.
Saiden mentioned that triggers could undo compulsion, so she just needed to leave a shitload of triggers for herself. Maybe she could go full Memento and slap up some sticky notes in her bedroom or scrawl reminders all over her inner thigh. Somewhere Saiden would never see.
His eyes flicked back and forth between hers, and Cora could practically see his internal debate. He hadn’t said anything about mind reading, so he couldn’t know for sure that she was lying, could he?
Whatever he saw in her must have passed his inspection, because he finally shook his head and grumbled, “Fine. Get in the damn car. I’ll take you home first.”
The tiny apartment Cora shared with Jinx was only twenty minutes away from the warehouse, but at the rate the speed demon was piloting the sports car they would make the drive in less than ten.
“You’re going to get a ticket,” she pointed out as the speedometer passed 85 mph.
“Unlikely,” he replied, thankfully keeping his eyes on the road. “But if I did, let’s just say I know how to handle those.”
Right, compulsion, she thought.Damn, no wonder he gets away with murder on a regular basis.
As the glowing speedometer inched closer to 90 mph, she gripped the leather armrest tighter. “Not all of us are immortal, you know. Ifyou crash this thing, you might walk away, but I won’t.”
“Thatwouldsolve my problem,” he muttered, downshifting and taking a tight corner on two wheels.
“Please tell me you’re not serious,” she squeaked through clenched teeth as beads of sweat rolled down her neck.
He must have heard the fearful quiver in her voice, because he turned to look at her. “I don’t crash,” he snapped, locking his dark eyes on hers.
“Watch the road!” she screamed when he left his focus on her face and not the oncoming traffic.
He smirked for a second longer, then faced forward just in time to avoid a head-on collision with a semi-truck.
“Are you insane?” she demanded, suddenly very afraid that she might be locked in a car with a deranged vampire harboring a death wish.
“Depends who you ask,” was his only response.
She didn’t say anything the rest of the trip, hoping her silence would keep his attention on the road. By some miracle, they made it to her apartment in Silverlake in one piece.
She yelped when he slammed his foot on the brakes and cranked the wheel, spinning the car 360 degrees to slide perfectly inside the lines of the visitor space.
She gaped at him for a long moment. “Who even are you?” she asked incredulously.
“I believe we have covered that already, but for the purposes of your question, let’s just say you get really good at a lot of things when you have unlimited time to practice.”
He’s not wrong about that, she thought, peeling herself out of the leather seat and crawling from the low riding car. She wasn’t sure she would survive a ten-hour trip if he drove up I-5 like it was the Indy 500.Her chances of dying from a heart attack were already higher than the statistical average, and she really didn’t need to push it.
Saiden’s hand settled on her low back as he stepped up behind her, and she jumped at the unexpected contact. “I’ll be right back,” she stated, hurrying toward the door of her crappy two-bedroom apartment. The last thing she wanted to see was his judgmental face if he took in how she and Jinx lived. “You should probably stay here anyway. A car like that in this neighborhood will be gone in minutes.”
“I’m not worried,” he replied, following close behind her. “I’ll hear if anyone approaches.”
“From inside my apartment?”
When he didn’t even bother with a response, she wondered just how good his hearing was.
Fiddling with the key in the lock, she struggled to think of an excuse to get some time away from him. She’d been planning on Jinx acting as a distraction until she noticed her friend’s car missing from the parking lot.
Shit!
Jinx was still waiting at Tiny’s for her to show up. Cora mentally berated herself for forgetting about drinks with her bestie. It wasn’t the first time she’d screwed up plans, nor did she think it would it be the last. She knew Jinx might be annoyed, but would ultimately understand. Still… the more frequent memory lapses were becoming increasingly frustrating.
Pushing the door open, Cora stepped inside and pulled her cellphone out of her purse. She’d put it on mute for the auditions, and sure enough she had a string of worried text messages from Jinx.
“I forgot that I was supposed to meet my friend at a bar, so I need to message her,” she said to Saiden. “I’m just going to pop into the bathroom real quick, okay?”
