Page 22 of Thrown into the Mob

I’d memorized all the escape routes, even though I never thought I’d make it out alive.

Ranger got behind the wheel of the SUV with Flint beside him. I went to get in the third row, but Arnie pulled me back, and without a word, he climbed back there, leaving the second row for me and Durand.

Durand avoided looking at me. His posture was so stiff I suspected he was wrestling with our connection. He did up his seat belt, and the loud click reminded me of a full stop.

“Turn left here.” I leaned forward between the two front seats. Both men glared at me as if I’d overstepped. “Then right at the fork. Keep the headlights off until I say.”

Now the pair in front shared a glance. Neither were used to be given instructions by a stranger, especially one whose family had kidnapped their cousin.

The road was narrow and overgrown at the edges, with branches scraping the roof of the SUV. My dragon was searching the sky and reading the air when he grabbed my attention.

“Stop the car now and kill the engine.”

Ranger must have heard something in my voice because he didn't argue. The SUV rolled to a halt, and now there was only silence in the woods.

“Nobody moves or speaks,” I whispered.

A shadow crossed the canopy above us. It was a slow and deliberate sweep of a dragon searching for something. The wingspan blocked out the faint moonlight as it passed overhead, and my dragon recognized the flight style before I did.

Vasik. One of my father's most experienced hunters. He was in the air, so my father had sent his best.

The shadow banked and came back.

Durand's hand gripped my wrist, and his pulse hammered against my skin. My dragon wanted to answer the challenge above us by having us shift and fight, but I held him back.

The trees were dense here which was why I'd chosen this road. From the air, the canopy was unbroken for miles. Vasik couldn't see through it, but if Ranger had had the headlights on, the glow would have endangered us.

The shadow passed a third time.

In the front seat, Flint had his gun out, while Ranger's knuckles were gripping the steering wheel. Behind me, Arnie was completely still.

I counted the seconds as the wingbeats moved east. The shadow shifted across the canopy and kept going, widening the search pattern away from us. I waited until my dragon confirmed the danger had passed.

“Go. No lights for another two miles.”

Ranger started the engine, and Durand released my wrist.

No one spoke, and Ranger craned his neck and peered at the night sky. I didn’t tell him he wouldn’t see the dragons until they swooped down and either crushed the car or smashed the glass and picked him up in their claws.

The trees closed in around us, and I continued to give directions until I got a tap on the shoulder. Arnie offered me a container of food and a napkin. My mouth watered as I thanked him and opened the lid to discover dumplings accompanied by a small container of spicy sauce.

Dragons were known for our love of spice, but I never suspected the wolves of La Luna Noir were partial to chili. They went up in my estimation a little.

“Mmmm. This is so good, Grandpa.” Durand had an identical container to mine, and he dipped a dumpling into the sauce and took a bite.

I gulped because I didn’t want to think about our connection, and I’d refused to consider his good looks. But he licked the sauce from his fingers, one by one, almost in slow motion, and I almost dropped my container. Oh shit, that was hot. Not dragon-fire hot, but so sexy.

I had to look away. This guy didn’t even like me, and he’d only told Flint to bring me along because of that thread that connected us. His head wasn’t telling him I was his one and only.

“You’re not eating. Don’t you like spice?” Arnie patted my arm.

“I love it.” I popped a dumpling in my mouth, and my senses exploded with coriander, lime, chili, ginger, and garlic on my tongue. “Mmmm.”

I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, there were four sets of eyes on me. But it was one pair in particular that were staring at me with the same intensity I’d experienced moments ago when Durand was eating.

Grabbing the napkin, I dabbed around my mouth and turned my head away from the man beside me and studied the countryside. Once we were far enough from the compound, I didn’t have a plan as to where I would go.

But I couldn’t resist sneaking another look at him. His hand was on the seat between us, just as mine was. We were only a few inches apart, and I slid my fingers half an inch closer.