“She deserved better, Faythe,” he whispered against my cheek in halting syllables separated by wet, gasping breaths.
“I know,” I murmured. “We’ll get them.” My hand moved automatically to stroke his head, like I would comfort a toddler with a skinned knee. Or like I might soothe a scared cat.
The other guys surrounded us in a living cocoon of support, thumping Vic and Anthony on the shoulders in the proper masculine display of sympathy. Parker met my eyes over Vic’s shoulder, and I blinked at him, pleading desperately, wordlessly, for help. He eased me out of Vic’s grip and took my place, whispering private words of condolence as Sara’s brother struggled visibly to compose himself.
We must have been quite a sight: six large, distraught men, and a young woman with a battered face. No wonder people stared.
Marc took charge, herding us all away from the gate. In the main lobby, he nodded toward the Hertz car-rental booth and a line of people chatting and snacking on vending-machine candy. He took my hand, squeezing it as we walked. I glanced at him, but he was watching the people in the rental line. He growled, too low for anyone other than us to hear.
No one said anything or made any overt movements, but suddenly everything felt different. The guys’ feet made no noise on the floor. Their bodies seemed to slink forward with each graceful step. They were moving more like cats than like people, and I followed their example out of habit.The difference was nothing any human would have noticed consciously, but it definitely spooked them. People walked out of their way to avoid us, creating an open path in a fairly crowded lobby. They snuck furtive glances at us, gasping openly when they saw my battered face, yet no one dared approach to offer me assistance or sympathy. Thank goodness.
We stopped at the end of the line, with Marc and Parker in the lead. Several wide sets of eyes peeked back at us in short, nervous glances. Most of them needed only one look at our group to decide they’d rather buy a souvenir or have a drink before renting a car. Their excuses for leaving the line were a defense mechanism allowing them to retain a sliver of self-respect, rather than acknowledge their own fear. Humans were never willing to believe what their instincts had to say about the nature of the beasts they’d just faced. And that was fine with us.
I smiled to myself as a man in a generic black business suit stepped out of line in front of us to shuffle toward the restroom. After less than two minutes, the only customer left was the one currently being served. Behind the counter the harried employee wore a white plastic tag reading Please be patient, I’m in training.
Great. Enforcers out for blood are no good at being patient. Alternately curious and apathetic, yes. But not patient.
Marc tapped Parker on the shoulder. “Get something with dual climate control.”
“And satellite radio.” That was Ethan, who thought life without music wasn’t worth living. He’d left his MP3 player at home for Jace, who was bedridden and apparently bored.
Parker grunted. “I’ll do my best.” From the look on his face, I doubted he even knew what satellite radio was.
When the employee-in-training brought out the third copy of an insurance form, dropping the botched second attempt in the trash, I ground my teeth, barely stifling a request to speak with his manager. Logically, I knew that my problem was nerves, not the nitwit behind the counter. But knowing that didn’t help.
Coffee. I needed coffee. I couldn’t get my thoughts together without a little more caffeine in my system. Luckily, the line at Seattle’s Best moved faster than the one at Hertz, and I was passing out steaming insulated cups from two cardboard trays by the time Parker took possession of a set of car keys.
He’d rented a standard seven-passenger minivan, with leather seats and two sliding doors. It had dual climate control but no satellite radio. Ethan got over his disappointment pretty quickly when Marc threatened to find a creative new storage compartment for his headphones.
I was worried that the van would be too small, but Lucas reminded me that we didn’t plan to bring back Sean or Miguel. At least not enough of them to need an extra seat. So a seven-passenger van should do nicely.
Parker drove, because he was the most reliable driver. Marc was the fastest, but he’d lost his driving privileges on the way to Mississippi. Which was fine with me. Having ridden with him countless times, I’d say my odds of surviving another attack from Miguel were better than my odds of surviving a fifty-mile drive with Marc, especially considering the cloud of nervous energy surrounding him like a cocoon.
We’d been on the road less than fifteen minutes when Marc’s right leg began jumping uncontrollably. I glanced at him and he smiled, but his knee kept bouncing. I put my hand on his thigh, and his smile changed. It, like his eyes, grew deeper, somehow hotter.
Marc had misunderstood the purpose of my touch, but hey, it worked. His leg stopped bouncing; he’d found a new outlet for his energy. His nostrils flared as he breathed in my scent, and the yellow specks in his eyes seemed to sparkle. It was a look I hadn’t seen in a while, and it was so intense it almost scared me.
He leaned into me, and his mouth found mine before I’d fully realized what he had in mind. I couldn’t have resisted even if I’d wanted to. But I didn’t want to. No matter what else was going on or how mad I was at him, it was always the same. Once he got that look in his eyes, resistance wasn’t an option. It wasn’t even a concept. Which was why I’d stayed so far away from him for so long. If I hadn’t, it would have been impossible for me to sustain our breakup. My body responded to him without bothering to consult my brain.
“Would you two please cut that out?” Ethan snapped, elbowing me in the ribs. He sat on my right, with his fingers in his ears.
Marc pulled away from me long enough to growl at Ethan, but then his tongue was in my mouth before I could chime in with my own two cents. He’d finally figured out how to shut me up. I’d have to congratulate him—as soon as I regained the ability to speak.
“Seriously, guys,” Parker said. If it had been anyone else, Marc would have snarled again, but he took Parker seriously. Marc let me go, and I glanced at the rearview mirror to find Parker staring back at me.
My face flushed and I laughed. But my smile froze in place as the first muffled notes of the Nokia ring tone met my ears. From my pocket. Eric’s phone was ringing in my pocket, and I had no idea whether or not to answer it.
I dug the phone out and stared at it as if it would tell me what to do. But it didn’t. Phones aren’t very helpful in that respect. The number on the display was unfamiliar. “Does anyone know Ryan’s cell phone number?” I asked.
Ethan stared at me as if I’d just spoken in tongues. “Okay,” he said, glancing around the van. “Raise your hand if you knew Ryan had a cell-phone before this morning.” No hands went up.
“Okay, point taken. No one knows. You could have just said that,” I snapped. “Someone call Daddy.” No one moved. “Now!”
Six hands dug in pockets for cell phones. Marc won. He had Daddy programmed in under “boss.” I should have guessed. “Greg, it’s Marc.” He paused, listening, and Eric’s phone stopped ringing. Damn. “Do you have Ryan’s cell-phone number? Someone just called Eric’s phone, and we don’t know who it was.” Another pause. “Oh. Already?”
I couldn’t hear Daddy over the highway noise, and not knowing was driving me crazy. See? No patience.
“Okay, here she is.” Marc handed me the phone, his hand over the mouthpiece. “It was Ryan. He’s at the ranch. Your dad wants to talk to you.”
I took the phone. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Ryan just got a call from Miguel.” His tone was all business.
“What did he say?”“He was just checking in. They’re about two hours from Oak Hill, but coming from the opposite direction, so you shouldn’t run into them on the highway.”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Good. We’ll beat them there by over an hour. Have you spoken to the Taylors yet?”
“Yes. Everything’s set. Carissa and her mother left with four of their enforcers this afternoon. Brian will be there to let you in. He’s happy for the opportunity to stay and help.” Brian was one of Carissa’s brothers. Her father was at the ranch with the other Alphas.
“Okay. That sounds good.”
“Faythe?”
“Yes, Daddy?”
“Be careful.”
My heart beat a little harder, and I swallowed. “I will. I promise.”
“Good. Put Marc on the phone so I can threaten to flay him alive if anything happens to you.”
I laughed. “I’m in charge, Daddy, remember? You should be threatening me.”
“I’ve already done enough of that to last a lifetime. Just be careful.”
“You already said that.”
“I know.” He sighed, and I pictured the lines on his face deepening as he frowned down at his desk. “It warrants saying twice.”
I smiled, feeling strangely warm and fuzzy, considering my destination. “Don’t worry.”
“You always were one to ask for the impossible.”
“Yeah, and to make it happen too. So stop worrying.”
“I’ll do my best.” He paused. “Listen, Ryan says Miguel gave him a message for you. Do you want to hear it?”