She could see Eli Hebbert in the driver’s seat of the truck, bare-chested, his mouth twisted in a snarl that looked out of place on a human. Seeing him again made her feel almost sick with fear.
But not paralyzed with it. She had too much to live for to stand still and let fate just rush at her.
She thrust the gear shift from park to drive and slammed on the gas. Gravel sprayed up around her as she turned the steering wheel as far to the right as she could, swinging the empty passenger side of the car in Eli’s direction.
He hit her with all the force of an earthquake.
She watched with horror as the passenger side of the car crumpled inwards, almost in slow-motion.
The whole car just crunched around her, with the front grill of Eli’s truck her new passenger, close enough for her to reach out and touch it.
Her fingers were stiff as she fumbled with the seatbelt.
Have to get out, have to get out. It could catch fire.
The truck growled at her, its headlights reflecting the sun and shining like eyes.
God, her hands kept slipping on the door.
And then, just like that, some incredible force ripped the door off the side of the car for her.
Colby was standing there, breathing hard, and he reached down and gathered her up in his arms. His dark blue eyes had never looked fiercer, but his hands were as tender with her as ever.
He set her down on her feet.
“Get Susan back in the house.” His voice was almost supernaturally calm. “I know you can protect her. Hurry.”
She wasn’t going to argue. Right now her mind felt like a wobbling cube of Jell-O. And the part of it that was functioning knew that Susan did need to be kept safe—and kept out of the secrets of the shifter world if at all possible.
There was a brutal whine as Eli struggled to reverse the truck out of the snare of her car.
He would give up in another few seconds, Aria knew. She had better be in the house by then.
She took off running and grabbed Susan’s hand on the way, pulling the other woman inside.
“Aria? Why are you here? What’s going on? Who was that man in the truck? What’s happening?”
Aria bolted every lock on the door.
“He’s a federal fugitive.”
She could hear that her voice had taken on some of Colby’s weird calm, and somehow that comforted her, like they were both drawing from the same pool of strength.
“That man’s dangerous, but Colby will take care of him.”
She couldn’t stand not being able to see what was happening outside, but she knew she couldn’t let Susan watch. She remembered the instructions Colby had given her when Eli had burst through her front door.
“Go into the bathroom. Shut the door and lock it. Don’t come out until you hear one of us telling you it’s okay.”
“Why the bathroom?”
Because it doesn’t have any windows.
“Um, It’s more stable if there’s structural damage to the house.”
Actually, for all she knew that was the truth. You were supposed to take shelter in bathrooms during tornadoes, weren’t you?
“Aren’t you going to come with me?” Susan said in a small voice. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. If you’re going to stay out here and fight, I’m going to stay out here and fight.”