“Aye,” the werewolf repeated.
“You have her, then? She’s unconscious?”
A creak of leather sounded, and Thea swore she could feel the heat of the wolf’s eyes on her face. “Aye.” The creak sounded again. “You didnae tell me the drug would hurt the lass.”
The wolf sounded pissed.
Interesting.
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking she’s just a girl, Conall,” Ashforth said, his anger evident. He was angry? What the hell did he have to be angry about? “She can handle a little pain.”
The vile, acrid taste of loathing filled her mouth. Ashforth was a murderous megalomaniac. One she should have put down years ago. Unfortunately, the bastard had the ability to reduce her to a terrified, traumatized teenager.
“It seemed more than a little,” the wolf called Conall replied. “How’s Callie?”
“Comfortable. Happy. James is with her. Where are you now?”
“Still in Poland. We’re not far from the border.”
“How many days will it take you?”
“I calculate we’ll be back in Scotland in three days.”
Scotland.
Ashforth was in Scotland?
Thea visualized the map of Europe, familiar with it after six years of traveling across it. If Conall was taking her to Scotland, then he was driving to Calais. They’d drive through Germany and France, take the boat from Calais to Dover, and then presumably drive up to Scotland.
No planes.
Ashforth must have warned the wolf that planes were a terrible idea around Thea.
“You’ve succeeded where others have not. You certainly live up to your reputation.” How smug and pleased Ashforth sounded. One day she’d kill him. But Thea would have to delay the inevitable a little longer.
“I’ll call you when we reach Calais, and I expect to talk to Caledonia.”
“Done.”
The conversation ended abruptly, and Thea sensed a thick tension from Conall. A feeling of resentment or anger—some negative feeling that had heightened the longer he spoke with Ashforth.
It pricked her curiosity but not enough to convince her she could trust Conall the werewolf. Ashforth was right. Conall had gotten the better of her. She’d been unbeatable for six years. Until the Scot.
Consternated and irritated by his defeat of her, Thea scowled.
Not defeat.
Defeat meant the battle was over.
This battle was definitely not over.* * *Not too long later (thankfully, because the guy drove in total mind-numbing silence), Thea sensed the car slow, turning off what she assumed was a freeway heading toward Germany.
Her pulse raced as she readied herself to put an escape into motion. Anticipation thrummed in her blood, but she had to stay relaxed, lolling in the back like a drugged-out woman.
Finally, the car came to a complete halt and the gentle vibration of the engine stopped.
The familiar burning sensation on her cheek followed a creak of leather; she knew he was looking at her.
After what felt like an interminably long time, Thea heard the driver’s door open. The car rose beneath her with relief from the wolf’s impressive weight, and then the door shut. She held her breath, waiting as she heard his footsteps move around the car. Something rattled, hissed, and then glugged.
They were at a gas station, she realized.
Pulse increasing by the second, it took everything within Thea to hold still, not to just push open the door and run. But she still wasn’t at full strength and he’d catch her.
So she waited. Heard the glugging stop, the hissing and the gentle rattle of the gas cap closing.
Then the sweet sound she’d been waiting for.
Conall’s heavy footsteps moving farther and farther away.
Without a second to lose, Thea sat up, head low, and spied the tall, imposing figure of the Scot striding toward the gas station to pay. She gently opened the car door facing toward the freeway, and slipped out, keeping her body hidden behind the car.
Thea looked around, taking in the fast-moving traffic beyond, her eyes searching the signs. She couldn’t figure out from here where she was, and she had no time. To the left of the gas station was a shopping center. Beyond that, IKEA. Behind the gas station was a KFC and a furniture store and on the other side of the freeway, another shopping center.
All of that told Thea she was near a town. Possibly one large enough to hide in.
Decision made, Thea took off. She wasn’t as fast as she would be at full strength, but she was still faster than a human. Fast enough to run across a freeway without getting hit.
If a human-shaped blur streaking across the road astonished the humans, Thea couldn’t give a shit. Her priority was to get out of sight. Pronto.
Safely across, she jumped off the freeway, running across a field of grass toward the huge parking lot of the shopping arcade. Her limbs burned with exhaustion, her body still weak from fighting off the drug, but she persevered forward. Diving behind the first car she saw, Thea peered over the hood. The gas station was no longer visible and there was no sign of the werewolf.