“What was important was that I fooled Sasha.”
I crossed my arms, wishing I could get a straight answer from him. “I got the feeling if she hadn’t have backed off you would’ve pulled that trigger.”
“I wouldn’t have allowed Nero to get their hands on you.” He rolled his shoulders back, his eyes scanning the parking lot. “Where is the wolf?”
“Why do you care?”
His eyes met mine. “I thought I made myself clear—”
“I’m not a child, Sebastian. I can take care of myself in broad daylight.”
“So he is not with you.”
I rolled my eyes. God, he was pissing me off. “I don’t have time to play these games, Sebastian. Stay away from me.”
“No.”
I shook my head and turned to get back into the Jeep. He caught my wrist and twisted it up behind my back before I realized what was happening. Sebastian yanked me back and whispered against my ear. “Sasha is even faster than I am and you never saw me coming. How do you think you can avoid her on your own?”
I answered him by kicking my heel right up between his legs. Hard. When his grip on my wrist weakened I hammered my elbow back into his rib cage and took off. In less than a second I was in the Jeep with the tires screaming across the pavement. My eyes kept flicking up to the rearview mirror, watching him straighten up and stare at me. My chest heaved as I pulled into traffic and checked my mirror again. I half expected him to be sitting in the backseat. I knew he couldn’t fly, but it felt like he was everywhere.
I turned a corner and saw the Reno archway, and a familiar face exiting the Circus Circus hotel on the corner. My heart pounded and a chill ran down my spine.
It was Sasha.
I zoomed past her, wishing for the first time that Adam owned a normal car with climate controls. As it was, I was driving past a master tracker with no window or roof between us. My scent was out there in the breeze just waiting for her to catch it. I got to the next light, but she didn’t seem to notice me. I glanced over my shoulder and saw her walk around the corner to the parking lot. While she was out of view, the light changed to green. I drove through the intersection slowly and pulled over to the curb once I was across. A baseball hat was wedged between the front seats, so I grabbed it and put it on. Not like it was a great disguise, but it couldn’t hurt.
I held my breath, watching for her with my foot hovering over the gas pedal. When she finally pulled out of the lot in a black Mercedes, my breath whooshed out of my lungs. She pulled into traffic, and I turned around, following behind. As long as I was behind her, the wind would blow my scent back, or at least that’s what I was counting on.
I stayed a few cars away, trying to remember every single cop show I’d ever seen on television. I had no training for surveillance, but I’d written about personal bodyguards before so I had done some research. When I wrote the article I never dreamed I’d be using the knowledge to follow a woman who was trying to kidnap me.
After a few blocks, she pulled into a gas station. Shit. The best way to not have her sneaking up on me was for me to know where she was. As long as she was in front of me, she couldn’t surprise me from behind. But I couldn’t pull up to the pumps and wait. I drove around the block and stopped behind the station’s minimart to watch for her exit.
I didn’t expect her to come around the back to make a phone call.
With nowhere to run, I slid down in the seat, tugged my hat down slightly, and prayed that the wind would keep blowing my scent away from her.
“I already swept the hotel. She checked out.” She plugged her other ear as she listened.
“Sebastian is here, sir. His scent is all over this town.”
She waited, nodding. “I know. She’s being protected by the wolf pack here. One in particular.” She shook her head. “The twin got away. I did get a shot off, but I don’t believe it was a mortal wound.”
I listened to her talking to her contact inside of Nero, grateful that it kept her distracted.
“Yes, sir. I understand, but is it wise to take out the wolf? Do you want a war with the Pack here, sir?” She paused. “The twin doesn’t like the girl—he was just helping his brother.” Another pause. “No, I’m not defending him, I’m just saying…” She sighed and nodded. “Yes, sir, I understand. I know it’s the full moon. They’ll shift tonight. But I thought you wanted the girl.” She rubbed her forehead with her free hand and shook her head slowly. “Perfectly clear. Her boyfriend dies tonight.”
She closed her phone and walked back around the corner to the gas pumps.
I skootched up in the seat, my stomach clenched. I had to stay calm. As long as I didn’t lose sight of Sasha then I had the upper hand. But how was I going to stop an assassin from killing Adam?
My eyes welled with tears. I rubbed my face and pulled out of the station after her. I needed to think, not cry.
She got on the highway, and I lost sight of her for a second. My pulse raced as I wove in and out of the lanes, searching for the black Mercedes. When I finally saw her ahead I let out a sigh of relief. I still knew where she was. For now.
I pulled out my cell phone and hit Adam’s number.
“Hi, beautiful.”
My skin flushed just hearing his voice. “Hey, Adam, we need to talk, but I can’t right now.”
“Okay.” He sounded confused. “But you just called me.”
“I know. I just needed to know you were all right. Sasha is in town.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, I guess Nero told her this is where Sebastian found me the first time.”
“Have you seen her?” There was no more smile in his voice. He sounded ready to jump through the phone and drag me home. Sadly part of me almost wished he could.
“I’m tailing her with the Jeep right now.”
“What?”
I had to hold the phone away from my ear for a second while he erupted in the speaker. When he quieted I brought the phone back to my ear. “Listen, as long as I know where she is then she can’t sneak up on me.”
He was quiet for a moment, then his voice was a growl. “If she turns around she’ll be on top of you, Lana. Please come back here, okay?”
“If she turns around I’ll call 911 while I’m hauling ass to the cops. I’m pretty sure Nero wouldn’t want her to drag them into the headlines.” My brow furrowed. “Besides, if I go to the barn your Pack won’t be happy either. In fact, there’s a good chance Aren would love to lead the lynch mob.”
“I would never let them hurt you. Please turn around and meet me somewhere. Just tell me where.”
“I can’t, Adam.”
“No one will know,” he said. “Luke’s already working the horses and Aren’s sleeping.”
“It’s not that. I have to know where she is.”
He let out a frustrated sigh. “Why?”
“Because she’s going to try to kill you tonight after you change.” It was very quiet. “Are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I’d like to see her try.”
I pressed the accelerator to pass an eighteen-wheeler, keeping Sasha’s car in my line of vision. “You may be strong when you’re a werewolf, but you told me yourself that you can get killed by a truck or a bullet just like any other wolf, remember?”
“I know, but we’ll rip her throat out before she gets a shot off.”
I sighed. “Only if you see her first. I’ll call you back soon.”
I closed my phone and took a deep breath. Surely Adam didn’t think he could beat a bullet. I knew his senses were heightened when he was a wolf, and maybe he figured they’d catch her scent before she ever saw them. I didn’t know if he could, but I wasn’t going to risk it.
Chapter Thirty-Four