Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Zack and Daniel across the room glaring at each other. Were they talking silently? If so, I couldn’t hear anything.
“I think he’s always been like that,” I said. “He’s just not trying to hide it anymore.”
The boys separated and Daniel left the room. Zack reached into his pocket for his cell, dialed and held it to his ear. I couldn’t hear him over the roar of the music and I wished I could read lips.
He shoved the phone back in his pocket and squeezed through the crowd toward me. I don’t know what he’ll do next, but staying here puts everyone else at risk. We need to go.
But by leaving, we would be the ones in danger. What are we going to do?
Do you trust me?
I nodded and he took my hand.
We said our goodbyes to Ashley, Trevor, Maya and a few of the other guests, then headed for the car. Outside, my eyes raked up and down Ashley’s street for any sign of Daniel. I didn’t sense him or any other werewolf. “What if he’s on his way to your house?”
“He’s not. Let’s just go,” Zack said, opening the passenger side for me.
I stopped at my car and faced him. Even as the fear built in me, I knew how important it was to keep my cool and my voice level, for Zack’s sake as much as my own. He had much more to lose than I did. “Daniel threatened to kill your family. How are we going to keep them safe?”
“I told him I was going to call Charles and tell him about our conversation. Which I did. If Daniel does anything, Charles will be all over William, then Daniel will be dead meat.”
“Good thinking.” Still, Daniel was more unstable than ever. He wasn’t used to a girl rejecting him and couldn’t seem to accept it. Especially now that it looked like I preferred Zack to him. “How do we know he’s not going to follow us home?”
“No point in worrying about that, since he already knows where you live.” Zack scanned the vicinity briefly, then motioned me into the car.
“True. But he could be waiting for us when we get there.” I climbed inside, strapped on my seat belt and leaned against the headrest. Dealing with Daniel had sucked the life right out of me.
“There’s nothing we can do about that.” He shot me a glance. “Unless we sleep in a motel tonight.”
I tried not to conjure up images of us in a motel room together. But the pictures snuck in anyway and warmed my cheeks.
“He’ll find a way to get to us, no matter where we go,” Zack said, starting the car. He sounded way too calm.
“So that’s it?” Panic crept into my voice. “We just sit around and wait for him to ambush us?”
“I doubt it’ll be tonight, because he knows we’re expecting him. He’ll want the advantage of surprise.” He pulled away from the curb. “We’ll have to deal with it when it happens. In the meantime, let’s stay alert and not dwell on it.”
My fists unfolded and I released a breath, knowing I needed to chill. Worrying about it wasn’t going to change the outcome. “So when I walked away, did you guys talk?”
Zack’s lips tightened. “Yeah.”
“I couldn’t hear either of you.”
He signaled to turn. “I wonder why.”
As we passed houses and street lights, I reconstructed the last few days in my head. “The first time we saw Charles, I heard him ask you about me. I thought it was just me, losing my mind.”
Thinking back to the exchange at the dealership, I remembered that Zack had been holding my wrist and moved in front of me. At the party, he’d been wrapped around me.
I gasped. “Zack. Each time that happened, you were touching me. When you let go and I was standing with Maya, I couldn’t hear anymore.”
“Fascinating. It might come in handy up the road.” He white-knuckled the steering wheel.
I shook my head, my hopes plummeting. “Except the scouts will already know about any new abilities we discover.”
“Right.” He blew out a noisy breath. “Daniel’s so new, he might not. He’s the problem right now.”
“What did you guys talk about?”
“Nothing important.” Zack lifted a hand off the steering wheel and waved it off. “Just how much he’ll enjoy killing me.”
“No, Zack. Not because of me. You should stay away.” The pitch of my voice had risen and I made a conscious effort to keep from sounding hysterical. “If he gets William to help him, we’re dead meat.”
“As far as William knows, you’re human. He has to obey werewolf law and he knows Charles is keeping an eye on things. I doubt killing me is worth the risk. And I’m Daniel’s vendetta, not William’s. We’ll stay in tonight.”