The sirens were close. If they needed to go, they needed to go.
“Home it is,” Jillian said. “I’ve never run from the scene of a crime before.” She kissed him briefly. “Very exciting.”
There were people gathered all along the street, gawking at the house. So much for the quiet, secluded property the real estate office had pushed. She had no idea how they were supposed to get to Theo’s car from here.
Luckily, Theo’s car wasn’t the only one around. She never would have guessed that she’d have to be so grateful for her dad’s midlife crisis sports car shopping spree. The converted stable in back of the house was full of sleek, impractical cars. They’d have to gun it and drive off in plain sight, but that couldn’t be helped. At least no one would be able to see their faces at that point.
She said as much to Theo.
Then he said, “Wait, wait, wait,” and his lips wrinkled up like he was about to sneeze. “Keep one hand on me.”
A kind of shimmering silver veil fell around her.
Jillian only barely held back a hysteria-tinged laugh. “Right. Your stealth capabilities. Is this taking anything out of you?”
“A little.”
She was guessing that meant a lot. His jaw was tight and his skin was even paler than before. There was a sheen of sweat on his brow. She ached to help him in some way more significant than holding him around the waist as he limped towards the stable. It wasn’t until they were in that huge cavern of a space—alone with nothing but the cars and the smells of metal and concrete—that she was able to.
Jillian found a car for them within seconds, picking it solely because of its color. At a sensible dark gray, it would blend in better with the darkness and not stand out much in traffic. She found its keys in the stable lockbox and helped Theo into the passenger seat, carefully unbuttoning his jacket and laying it over him like a blanket. She kissed his cheek, trying not to think about how cool his skin felt beneath her lips.
He gave her one or two instructions for the route she needed to take, but she cut him off after he told her which interstate to stay on for an hour. “For right now, that’s enough. Just rest. –Shit. Text somebody that you’re okay and that you’re headed off to a dragon doc. Then rest. Your friends will be going out of their minds if they get here and see this and you’re nowhere to be found. They’ll make some excuse for us, right?”
“Shifters are good at cover-ups,” Theo said, his eyes half-closed. “If we weren’t, none of us would be alive. I’ll call. Just start driving.”
She did.
Luckily for them both, the Marcus house was big enough and gaudy enough to have not only a converted stable but a service entrance, a separate gate in the back of the property. Jillian drove out that way. Someone might see them connect up with the main road eventually, but they’d be far enough from the house at that point that no one would know where they were coming from.
“This is wonderful,” Theo said. A kind of professional interest shone through the exhaustion in his voice. “You’d be a very skilled fugitive. It would take months for even Colby to track you down.”
He put the call on speakerphone.
“Theo, are you all right? What happened?”
Jillian recognized that as Martin. Even with the situation as serious as it was, she hoped Theo was clearheaded enough to realize that Martin had asked how he was before he had asked anything else.
“I’m fine,” Theo said.
Jillian intercepted that one: “This is Jillian. Theo shifted to shield me from the explosion, but he got hurt—cuts everywhere, but especially on his wings. It doesn’t look good, so I’m driving him to his hometown so he can get himself checked out.”
“I really am fine,” Theo said, his tone faintly apologetic. “But obviously we had to leave in a hurry and I wanted to give you advance notice that someone might have seen us going.”
“We’ll handle that,” Martin said. “Jillian, thank you for the more honest assessment of him. I wish he’d met you years ago.”
She knew it was silly, but she blushed anyway. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Theo’s frankly dopey grin. He was so pleased with himself.
When he spoke up again, though, he was all business. “I don’t know who was responsible for this, but I can’t rule out that it was meant for Jillian. Could you put someone on Tiffani Marcus?”
“Done. Gretchen’s already on her way. I thought a familiar face would be the right approach. I’ll let her know Jillian is safe, too.”
“Thank you,” Jillian said. “Tell her not to worry.”
She would worry, of course—Jillian was already worried about her—but it was worth saying anyway.
Theo paused and then awkwardly said, “Don’t you worry about us, either, sir. Tell everyone I’m fine.”
“Roger that, son.” Martin’s voice was warm. “Take care of him, Jillian.”