Chapter 11
“ W ell, fuck that, he’s not getting to you,” Jacob growled. “This time, I’ll burn anyone he sends to ashes.”
“How can you be sure he’s warning you, Sloane?” Selena asked.
“I just know it.” A pit formed in her chest at Ronan’s final words to the council.
In my clan, we believe loyalty is everything, and we pay in kind.
Ronan’s soulless eyes looking straight out of the screen had bored a hole right through her. He knew the New York clan was hiding her. “And he won’t stop until he succeeds.”
“Fuck, does that means he knows you’re here? Were you followed?” Jacob asked his parents.
“Not unless he has a warlock with teleportation powers on his payroll,” Quinn said. “Your Uncle Daric dropped us off.”
Jacob blew out a relieved breath .
“I can’t stay here.” She’d been here for too long. Sooner or later, Ronan would find her.
“You’re not leaving, Sloane!” Jacob exploded. “Don’t even think?—”
“I have to,” she said. “Sooner or later, Ronan’s going to find me. He’s gonna keep coming, and he doesn’t care w-who gets in his way.” The memory of those Lone Wolves holding down Jacob made her gut twist into knots. And now it wasn’t just Jacob who was in danger. By staying here, she was endangering his entire family too.
“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Quinn said.
“What the fuck, Dad!” Jacob cursed. “You can’t let her?—”
“Calm down, son. I’m not suggesting we toss her out. We have safe houses all over the country, nearly every state, and even abroad. She can stay in one of them until we find more evidence on Ronan.”
Sloane bit her lip. They were never going find anything on Ronan. If Lizzie with her magical skills and Lone Wolf Security with all their resources couldn’t find any evidence linking Ronan to her parents’ murder, no one would. Even if she agreed to go on the run, she would be forever looking over her shoulder. Plus, there was Stella and Devon to think of. They would be targets too. They both deserved a normal life with the families they were starting.
“I’ll take her,” Jacob said. “Anytime, anywhere.”
Jacob.
She couldn’t even bear to look at him. What was he going to do? Watch over her forever? No, she couldn’t let him get hurt again. “Um, I guess that’s okay.” For now, she would let them think she agreed with their plan. Then she would leave the first opportunity she got. She shouldn’t have allowed anyone to persuade her from her original plan in the first place. Because the only way to stop Ronan was to end his life.
And if she got caught and was sent to the Lycan Siberian Prison or worse, it would be worth it, because everyone would be safe.
“I’ll arrange it,” Quinn said. “I’ll get you a vehicle in town for cash, and Lizzie will cover your tracks. You can leave today.”
Sloane numbed her emotions by telling herself that taking off was the best course of action to protect everyone. Because if she allowed herself to think of what she would be leaving behind, she would lose her nerve.
“Good,” Jacob said. “Sloane, you should say goodbye to Stella for now. We won’t reveal too much to protect them. Cliff will understand.”
“Uh … sure.” The numbness protected her, kept that dam holding back her emotions from breaking. “I’ll grab my stuff.”
Their goodbyes to Stella, Cliff, and everyone else at the ranch was short and sweet, for which Sloane was glad. She wanted Stella to feel reassured that this was all temporary and that they would see each other again soon. Her only regret was that she didn’t get a chance to see Devon, but it was too late now. She could not dwell on what she hadn’t done, but she had to focus on what she had to do.
Jacob’s father had found an old pickup truck at the used car lot in town, and soon, they were driving westward to a safe house somewhere in the Kentucky Appalachians. It was a remote cabin and off the grid, a perfect place to disappear.
“How much longer are we driving for?” she asked Jacob. While she knew where they were going, neither Jacob nor his father shared the route there or if they were making stops before they reached their destination. She guessed it was a six-hour drive to Kentucky, and since they had been driving for about an hour or so, she had to figure out her escape sometime in the next five hours.
Jacob’s eyes flicked down to the dash. “We probably won’t need to gas up for another hour. We can stop to grab some food too.”
“Sounds good.”
Her mind switched into planning mode. The next stop would be the perfect opportunity to plan her escape. There would be plenty of cars to steal, and she wouldn’t be too far away from Boston yet. She could make the drive in ten hours or so, with minimal breaks. Once they stopped for gas, she would offer to buy food, then make a run for it.
Yes, it was the perfect plan. However, when the truck took the exit for the gas station, her stomach twisted and a sharp pain stabbed at her chest. Her wolf perked up, sensing that something was wrong.
You stay put , she warned her she-wolf.
The animal protested with a yowl.
Ignoring it, she looked out the window and began to plot her escape. Next to the pumps for cars was a large convenience store and a food court. On the other side was the parking lot, as well as the larger pumping stations for the trucks. It was the perfect setup. She would go into the food court and slip out the back to the parking lot. She could have her pick of cars, or worst-case scenario, stow away on one of the trucks as they pulled out.
“What do you want to eat?” Sloane asked as she opened her door. “Burger?” She was tempted to lean over and kiss him one last time, but she couldn’t act out of the ordinary. Jacob had to believe she was just getting food.
“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged as he alighted from the driver’s seat. “Whatever you’re having.”
Though she should be relieved that Jacob had no inkling of her plan, that pain pierced her chest deeper. Still, she allowed herself one last look at him, memorizing the planes of his face, the way the sunlight lit up the reddish highlights in his hair, that firm mouth that kissed her until she was breathless.
Turning away, she walked toward the food court, calming herself so her heartbeat slowed to a normal pace. As soon as she was out the other side, she rushed toward the rows of cars in the lot. The lot was busy since it was lunchtime, with several cars coming in and out and families dawdling about as they made their way to and from the packed food court.
Too many witnesses .
She was about to make her way to the trucks currently gassing up when she spied a lone car in the distance. It was right next to the bathrooms, the door open, perhaps left there by the driver who made a run for the toilet.
Sloane sent a quick thank-you prayer above as she sprinted toward the car. Her heart pumped as she neared the vehicle, and she was only a few feet away when a bright blast erupted in front of her.
Covering her eyes, she staggered back. The heat told her something must have exploded. Was it the car? Was this a trap? As she put her hands down, she saw that a wall of fire blocked her way. She ran in the opposite direction, but another fire wall shot up from the ground, preventing her from going farther. When she veered right, she was blocked once again by more fire.
“What the hell?” It wasn’t just a wall of fire, but a circle surrounding her. And while it was large enough that the heat did not burn her, she still had no escape.
She was trapped.
“Where do you think you’re going?” said a voice from behind.
She spun around, just in time to see a figure walking through the wall of fire, emerging inside completely unscathed. Her heart leapt into their throat at the sight of Jacob, his face a mask of fiery fury. “What’s the meaning of this? What are you doing?”
“What am I doing?” He tsked as he drew closer to her. “Do you think I don’t know you by now? You agreed to go to the safe house too easily. I only had to look at your face to know you wanted to hightail it outta there.” His eyebrows drew downward, the heat of his anger hotter than the flames surrounding them. “You were going to leave us. You were going to leave me .”
Her heart clenched at that last word. “You know why. Ronan was never going to stop. He was going to come after me and would have killed everyone who got in his way. I’m putting you and your family in danger.”
“We can handle Ronan, you know that. Why couldn’t you trust me?” His green eyes bore right into her. “Tell me why you lied to me. Why you were leaving me.”
His words cut into her like knives. “I had to.”
“Why, Sloane? And don’t you lie to me, or I swear to God?—”
“Because I don’t want you to get killed because of me!”
A range of emotions passed across his face, much too fast for her to figure out what exactly he was feeling right this moment. She swallowed hard. “I can’t … I just …” It was obvious there was no getting out of this, as he literally had her trapped with his powers. “Fine … let’s just go to the safe house, okay?” This was too much; she couldn’t deal with this now. This whole conversation was leaving her raw. “I won’t try to run.” She would just have to figure out another way to get to Ronan.
He snorted. “If you’d been doing something other than planning your escape, you would have noticed that I’m not taking you to a safe house.”
She blinked. “What?”
“You were so hell bent on escaping you didn’t even notice the highway signs we passed were leading to Baltimore.”
“Baltimore? That’s northeast, not west. Where are we going?”
“To Boston.” His eyes burned with fury, as the flames around them shot up higher toward the sky. “I’m going to kill Ronan Forte.”
Sloane’s stomach dropped. “What? Why?”
“Because if that’s what it’s going to take to keep you safe, then that’s what I’m going to do. I promised you, didn’t I? That if we couldn’t find evidence on Forte, you would get justice for your parents.”
Her throat turned dry. “You don’t have to do this. They’ll send you to Siberia.”
“You were going to do it, why can’t I?”
“Because this isn’t your fight, Jacob.” Dread filled her chest at the thought of him going away forever. “I won’t let you do this.”
“Too late for that.”
“If you kill him, then … then … I’ll confess to the human authorities and the Lycan High Council,” she said defiantly. “I have a motive after all.”
“Don’t even think about it. Lizzie will make sure there’s no evidence of you there, and one of my warlock relatives can whisk you away to Timbuktu if they have to. Besides, when they find him burned to a crisp, they’ll know it was me.”
She let out a frustrated cry. “Why would you do this? This doesn’t make sense.”
“Doesn’t it?” He closed the distance between them, his gaze never leaving hers. “Don’t you know why?” He reached out and cupped her cheek with his fingers. “Why I would do anything for you? Why I would burn the entire world for you?”
A maelstrom of emotions rushed through her, and all the air squeezed out of her lungs. His gaze was intense, with his jaw set in determination and those green eyes smoldering with an emotion that couldn’t be contained. It was so honest, yet, fear crept inside her and if it weren’t for the flames around them, her first instinct would have been to run away. Away from the emotions, away from him.
“Jacob, we can’t?—”
“Shh.” He gently placed a finger on her lips. “We don’t have to do this now. You don’t have to say anything, and I won’t rush you. Besides, we still have a few hours drive until Boston.”
Her anger returned. “I told you, I’m not going to let you kill Ronan.”
“And how are you going to stop me? I don’t even have to let you come with me. I could leave you trapped here and go to Boston myself. The only reason I’m bringing you is so you can see him burn to death yourself.”
“Goddammit!” She pushed him away with an indignant cry. “I don’t want you to kill him. You’re making this impossible.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “That’s the point. Unless you can think of an alternative.”
“I’m not going to sit in a safe house for the next few years, I’ll tell you that much.”
“Okay then. How about this: Lizzie said it’s almost impossible to find any electronic proof of his involvement with your parents’ murder, so that got me thinking. If Boston is as powerful as you said, then there was to be some kind of record somewhere. Not electronically, but on paper? Even the old school Mafia had ledgers to keep track of their activities. Do you think he’d write them down somewhere? A book or a diary or?—”
His words sparked something in her memory.
The black book.
The one he was always scribbling in. He was never without it, and she recalled that time she was hiding in his office and saw him place an old notebook into his safe and replace it with a new one.
“I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but there may be one place he kept records.” She told him about the black books. “He must have piles of them in that safe. But surely, he wouldn’t straight up write ‘I ordered the murder of this person’ in a diary?”
“No, but …” He thought for a moment. “It’s a starting point. See, whenever we begin an investigation, it’s sometimes almost harder when you have too much information because you don’t know how it can prove your case. But when you have a starting point, then you can follow the trail. We had this case where our suspect wrote down dates and times of his appointments. Seems innocuous right? But, we were able to track those dates and times to the crimes he committed, using his location, security cameras, even a stop at a nearby fast-food drive was able to tie him to a crime. But see, we wouldn’t have known where to begin without those written records.”
“I … I suppose it’s worth a try.” There was always the belladonna she still had in her backpack. If the black books turned out to be a dud, she could still go after Ronan.
“Can you get into the safe?”
She searched her memories, trying to recall the make and model of the safe. “I think so. It might take me a while, but with enough time, I can break it.”
“All right. But if we do this, you have to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“That you won’t run from me again, not without talking to me first.”
“I—” That look on his face returned, one that made her heart soar and her feet itch to run at the same time.
“If you do, I’ll get to Ronan first.”
“That’s blackmail,” she accused.
He grinned at her. “Yep.”
“Arghh!” He was impossible. “All right, fine.”
“Good.” Before she could protest, he snaked an arm around her, and pulled her close, giving her another of his breath-stealing kisses. “Now”—he snapped his fingers and the flames around them disappeared—“we should get on the road so we can be in Boston by nightfall.”