“Nothing about what you have going on is good. Let me at least try to help with the search. If we come up empty, I’ll take you to the village elders. Muraco wasn’t lying there. Wolves and witches have mixed a lot over the years, and some of ours are so old they have a unique magic all their own.” He reached over and squeezed my hand. A shiver ran through my body at the contact. His fingers were rough and calloused, and the feel of them against my skin heated me through. “Don’t give up before we’ve even started. We’ll find something.” The road started getting a bit treacherous, and he let go to hold onto the wheel with both hands.
An hour later and I had a death grip on the “oh shit” bar in the van. My jaw was clenched so tightly that my face was starting to hurt. Relaxing would be good, but that was impossible. The “road” we were on—and I used that term loosely because this was so not a road—dropped off on my side. Straight down. The ground had to be a million miles below us. Half the tire wasn’t even on the path as we bounced over potholes so deep someone could practically live there.
“You okay over there, princess?” Lucas’s gravely voice drew my attention away from the steep edge.
“No. We’re going to die.” I let go of the bar for a second and we hit another bump. I reached right back up and held on for dear life.
Lucas chuckled. “We’re not going to die.”
He was nuts. This path clearly wasn’t meant for cars. Not that he had much to worry about regardless of the drop-off. “You might survive the fall. You’re a wolf. You heal fast. But I won’t. I’m essentially human. I’ll be worm food.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve done this drive a million times. I’m not going over the edge.”
I glanced down again, against my better judgment. “Looks like you already are from here,” I said softly, but he heard me anyhow.
“I promise. You’re not going to die. I won’t let you. Not today. Not for a long while. So you can loosen your death grip on that handle.”
I tore my gaze away from the edge, and took him in as he concentrated on the road ahead. “I don’t like heights.”
“I can tell. But don’t worry. I’ve lived in this part of the country off and on most of my life.” Lucas paused as he went over another hole in the ground and the van bottomed out. “Believe it or not, the road used to be much worse.”
“Worse than this?” Not possible. Not in a million years.
“Yup.” He nodded with certainty.
I couldn’t imagine worse conditions. “It’s a miracle you’re still alive, then.”
“Eh. Back then we walked.”
“What? You didn’t have cars?”
“There were no cars.”
That made me pause. Man. I was so dense sometimes.
The wolves all looked much younger than they were. He probably wasn’t anywhere near as young as I thought he was. I’d figured he was a few years older than me, but not thirty yet. “How old are you?”
“How old do you think I am?” He asked with a wink.
Was that flirting?
No. Impossible. No way would he be flirting with me. He was far too good looking, and a wolf to boot. “I don’t know. I thought you were maybe twenty-seven, but I have a feeling I’m way off if you were around before cars made it to Peru.” He was grinning big time. It felt like the joke was on me. “Yeah. I’m definitely wrong. You’re way older than that. So how off am I?”
He laughed.
“Seriously. How old are you?”
“Old enough, princess. Old enough.”
I sighed. “I wish you’d stop calling me that.”
“What? Princess?”
“Yeah. It’s demeaning.” I turned away from him, taking in the horizon. “I’ve had enough of that in my life.”
“Hey,” he said as he gripped my hand for a second.
That one touch and I felt his aura, warming me to the core. It was so clear and bright. So strong. I could see a supernatural’s aura all the time, but feeling it, that was something infinitely more personal and unique. It didn’t happen that often. Only when the person was being very open with me and letting me in.