Chapter 21
Chapter
Twenty-One
CALEB
Jesse led me to the forest behind his house. Once we entered, he set a pace that made conversation impossible.
Which was perfect because I would rather have chewed my arm off than spoken to him.
The trees were denser than the woods behind the college. Branches scraped my arms, and undergrowth tangled around my ankles. Within five minutes, I’d lost my bearings entirely.
Jesse, on the other hand, moved through the trees as if he’d done it a thousand times. Which he probably had. I followed, my gaze burning a hole in the center of his back.
The coat he’d loaned me smelled like him. Every step sent bursts of forest and high-end body wash up my nose. As soon as possible, I was going to buy my own fucking jacket.
But shopping was going to be difficult. For one thing, I had no idea where we were going. For another, I wasn’t exactly rolling in cash. I had a little under ten grand from Nana at the bottom of my duffel, but that wouldn’t go far.
Most pressing, however, was the apparent bounty on my head.
According to Jesse, I’d been a walking dead man since the jogging trail.
For months, I’d gone to class and endured my parents’ personality defects blissfully unaware that some council of werewolves would love nothing more than to kill me on sight.
And for the past week, Jesse had fed me apple slices and pounded me into his mattress without saying a goddamn thing.
Anger burned like acid in my stomach. Fear simmered alongside it. A third emotion slopped around in there, too, but I wasn’t going to think about it.
So I kept walking.
The sun slid behind the trees. Then it dipped out of sight.
An hour passed. Maybe two. After that, I stopped counting.
The temperature dropped, and the stars came out.
My breath formed little clouds in front of my face.
I plodded after Jesse, the strap of my duffel cutting into my shoulder.
Dozens of questions buzzed in my head, but two stood out.
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. That want vibrated around him—then it vibrated through me, 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 was not disappointed.
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. Rogue lycanthropy. 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 I had 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.
A man waited for us at the bottom of the steps.
He had that steely-eyed, straight-spined look of someone who’d served in the military.
Competence rolled off him, which seemed like a good quality in a pilot.
He nodded at our approach, expression neutral as if two guys emerging from the forest in the middle of the night was the most normal thing in the world.
“I’m Travis,” he told Jesse. “Sterling sent me.”
Jesse shook his hand. “How long until wheels up?”
“Five minutes. We’re fueled and ready to go. Flight time is a little over eight hours. The weather looks good, so it should be an uneventful trip.”
“Thank you,” Jesse said.
Travis stepped aside and gestured to the stairs. “After you.”
The plane’s inside made the outside look understated. Soft lighting cast a warm glow on cream leather seats, polished wood accents, and plush carpet. A sofa took up one side, and a kitchenette gleamed in the back.
“Sit anywhere,” Travis said. “There’s plenty of food in the galley if you’re hungry.” He disappeared into the cockpit and closed the door.
I sank into the nearest chair, which was like sitting on a cloud. Jesse took the seat across from me and tucked his rucksack under his feet.
Moments later, we were moving, and then we were climbing, the darkened field below dropping away. The cabin lights dimmed, and Jesse studied me.
I stared out the window, my face reflected in the oval.
“We’re going to France,” Jesse said. “I have a house there. It’s safe.”
I watched condensation roll across the window at an angle. France. Where he’d fought in the war. Where he’d met Philippe. Had he lied about that, too? Memories of that first night in his house rose in my mind. He’d said he could teach me how to sniff out lies.
“Once you’ve practiced, it’ll be very difficult for people to lie to you.”
Yeah, well, I should have practiced harder.
Outside, more shadowy clouds drifted past.
Jesse cleared his throat. “This plane belongs to a witch named Sterling Moray. You heard me on the phone with him.”
I’d always pictured witches as elderly women in pointy hats, not English dudes who owned swanky private jets. But what did I know about the supernatural world? Only what Jesse had told me, and I couldn’t trust any of it.
“Sterling is powerful,” Jesse said. “His sister as well. Years ago, I tracked down a werewolf who had harmed them. Sterling gave me something in return.” He paused.
I kept my stare on the window.
“That’s where my telekinesis comes from,” he said more quietly. “It was a gift from Sterling. A payment.”
A pretty generous payment. What kind of service had he performed to get free airplane rides? Was this trip a one-time thing, or did he have some kind of punch card like a free haircut at a salon? Maybe he kept it in his rucksack along with his protein bars and goddamn burner phones.
I watched another long, thin line of condensation drift across the window.
“I’m sorry, Caleb,” he said. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be.”
Good to know I had his permission to be angry. I stood, grabbed my duffel, and moved to the pair of seats at the rear of the plane. As I fastened my seatbelt, I waited for him to order me back. I tensed, my jaw tight, ready to hate him for it.
But he stayed in his seat, all that dominant werewolf energy stuffed wherever he kept it when he wasn’t using it. For one hot, perverse moment, I wanted to call him on it. Do something so vile and inappropriate that he had no choice but to put me in my place.
No gift.
No control.
I wedged myself into the soft leather and closed my eyes. Eight hours.
I waited for exhaustion to put me out of my misery. I’d spent my life desperate to escape home. Now I was doing it, my future tied to a man who’d decided he would rather fuck me than kill me.
Outside, the sky spread like a void, enormous and indifferent to everything.