“Yes. It will take you right through the center of town then hang a left on Two Rivers Road. A couple of blocks down you’ll find a strip mall on your right and a ball field on your left. Pull into the strip mall. We should be waiting for you. We’re closer to Basalt than you are.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate this.”
“I’ll add it to your tab.”
Kyle ended the call but left the phone out in case they needed Jake again. Kyle had a perfectly good GPS. Unfortunately, it was on the dashboard of his truck.
“He’s going to meet us in Basalt?” Ava’s eyes were wide and she kept pressing her teeth into her lower lip. Though the expression was charming, her anxiety disturbed him. Even with hunger tearing him apart, he felt compelled to comfort her.
“Less than an hour and we’re home free.” He paused, breathing through a spasm. “Jake’s going to bring a couple of his guys with him and they’ll take care of the Jeep.”
“Did he explain where we are?” She manufactured a smile, but her eyes were filled with worry.
He was doing his best to conceal his pain, but she was obviously not convinced. “He said he’d beat us to the rendezvous, so we must not be too far from Aspen.”
“That’s where Jake lives?”
“Yeah. He runs a bar there with his sister.” Gnawing pain rolled over him again and a strangled groan slipped past his lips. Despite his determination to resist the urgent hunger, he was about to lose control.
“Will they be able to help you?”
All he could do was nod. The pain grew worse with each passing moment. His cat stretched and struggled against his human cage. He should have handed the phone to her, had Jake give her directions.
He gasped then forced the words out in a harsh, strained rush. “Keep going until you reach Basalt. Left on Two Rivers Road.”
“Can’t you navigate as we go? I’m not sensitive about backseat drivers.”
“Strip mall…on right.”
“Oh God, Kyle, should I pull over?”
“No!” He clutched his belly, shaking helplessly. “You promised not to run! Now tell me…directions.”
She started to repeat what he’d just said but the roaring in his ears overtook the sound. Damn it. He wasn’t going to make it to Basalt. He ripped his shirt off and unfastened his pants then dove toward the backseat, shifting in midair.
Oh my God. The words repeated through Ava’s mind as she dragged her gaze back to the road. She had to be asleep at the wheel. People didn’t turn into animals. Not in reality. Yet Kyle’s long, lean body had rippled and…flowed right out of his pants and onto the backseat. Human one minute and— No, that wasn’t right. According to Kyle, he wasn’t human.
And neither was she.
She glanced over her shoulder, needing to assure herself that a large, limp cougar was now sprawled across the backseat of the Jeep. A Jeep they’d stolen from mercenaries after teleporting to the middle of nowhere. She’d thought being hunted by her abusive father was harrowing enough. Suddenly her life had gone from Law and Order to the Twilight Zone.
And he’d been right to make her promise. Part of her wanted to pull over, get out of the Jeep and run like hell.
As if sensing her thoughts, the cougar growled, but he lacked the strength to raise his head. “Straight to Basalt then left on Two Rivers Road, strip mall will be on the right. I was listening, Kyle. Really, I was. Just relax we’ll be there soon.” She felt like an idiot talking to a cat, but this was no ordinary cat. She’d only seen his transformation out of the corner of her eye and still the image was imprinted on her brain. Effortless, fluid and utterly surreal.
Kyle was a shapeshifter, an honest-to-God shapeshifter. Did that mean— No, she wasn’t ready to continue that line of reasoning. She had to accept one revelation at a time.
Grasping the wheel with both hands, she focused on the road. It wouldn’t do either of them any good if she put the Jeep in a ditch. Kyle’s labored breathing assured her he was alive. Hopefully, he’d stay that way until they reached Jake.
She was part of the Therian nation. The realization echoed through her mind like the ominous toll of a distant gong. Her father was hunting her so he could control what sort of shapeshifter she would become. The explanation rang true, yet it seemed insufficient. Kyle had said Carissa’s definition was special, unique. There was more to the story than Kyle had explained, details he hadn’t reached before they were interrupted by the mercenaries. But each time she tried to fill in the blanks, she was overwhelmed by the possibilities.
Her mind was still whirling with speculation and confusion when she reached Basalt. Like so many other tiny mountain towns Basalt’s main street was lined with narrow shops and restaurants, each pressed against the other in block-long rows. Ava paid more attention to the street signs than the storefronts and easily found Two Rivers Road. She turned left and then focused on the right until she located the strip mall.