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I pick them up, and they are photos of my father, a whole bunch of them. I don’t recognize the places, but it is definitely him.

“What is this?” I ask him, and he glances at me before adjusting the rearview mirror.

“Proof. I knew you wouldn’t believe me. They were watching your father before they caught up to him.”

“What are you talking about, Sam?”

“Cyrus and Eli killed your dad when he was going to expose them,” he says.

My stomach drops somewhere deep within me at his words.

“They killed my dad?” I whisper, my blood running cold.

“Yes, they killed him when your father figured out you were their mate. They have been watching you for years. Your father found out and confronted them, so they killed him.”

“No! I don’t believe you,” I tell him.

“It’s all there, Addie. Why else would they have files on your father?” he says, and I think back to the photo I found in the basement.

Sam turns off the highway before speeding down a back road. My throat suddenly feels dry; I just can’t fathom how I haven’t figured it out.

It still doesn’t make sense, but what reason would Sam have to lie to me?

* * *

The drive is silent. We drive for hours, and I know they would have figured out that I was gone by now. I can feel different flickers of emotions coming from them through the bond: worry, fear, and anger.

Yet where did Sam think he could take me that they wouldn’t find me?

The further away I get from them, the more my mark burns and itches, and despite what he tells me, I just can’t believe it. Something isn’t right about the entire situation, but I have also known Sam for years and trusted him.

A cold feeling settles over me when I see how close I am to going home when Sam suddenly pulls off the highway and onto a dirt road around forty minutes from the city limits. I am actually excited to see my family. My thoughts instantly go to Maya, my mother, and Taylor, and I remember that Sam has never told me he knew my sister. I will have to remember to ask him about it.

“So, you aren’t taking me home?” I ask him when I realize we are driving away from the highway.

“That would be the first place they look, but don’t worry about it. I have a place out here,” he says as we continue to drive for what feels like hours down this dirt track. The cold feeling gets worse as we suddenly pull over, and Sam gets out of the car, my instincts telling me something is off. Sam seems unusually calm despite everything that is going on, while my head is questioning every little detail of my life.

I follow, wondering what he is doing. We are literally in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by thick, dense forest on both sides of the road.

“What are we doing?”

Sam doesn’t answer. Instead, he walks over to the tree line, where there is a heap of shrubs and debris from the trees. He starts pulling them aside, and I realize there is a hidden path, just big enough for a car to get through. I don’t know how he can see what he is doing when I can barely see anything in the darkness.

“Wait there,” he says before hopping back in the car.

He drives the car through the narrow gap before he gets back out, going to the trunk and opening it. He pulls out what looks like a camouflage net. He throws it over the car while I stand barefoot on the dirt road, wondering what the hell he is doing. I watch as he then arranges the shrubs and debris, obscuring the car from view to anyone driving down the road, not that I can see anyone driving this far out.

Once he is satisfied that the car is completely concealed, he then walks over to me and grabs my hand, tugging me toward the other side of the road.

“What are you doing?” I ask him when he suddenly pulls me through the trees, walking into the forest.

Sticks and sharp rocks cut my bare feet as we trek through the forest. We walk for around forty minutes. I have a stitch, my feet are killing me, and I am freezing and sore all over.

“Sam, will you answer me? My feet are killing me,” I tell him, and he stops, looking down at my feet.

“Shit, Ada, I forgot. Can I carry you? It’s not much further,” he offers, looking down at my feet.

I shake my head. “Where are we going?”