“It hit my vest. I think the impact cracked a few ribs.” Hal spoke on auto-pilot. He’d say anything to give himself space to protect her, and deal with the consequences later.
“Oh.” Ellie sounded relieved. “Yeah, that hurts a lot. I could tape them for you later.”
“Sure. Thanks.” He checked the rear view mirrors again. “No one’s following us.”
Ellie put her hand on his shoulder. “Hal, you saved my life. I know thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it, but... Thank you.”
It made him feel a little better. No matter what else he lost, he hadn’t lost his mate.
The sky was iron gray, the storm clouds massed and ominous. He got on the freeway, heading out of the city.
“Aren’t you going to Protection, Inc.?” Ellie asked.
“No,” Hal said. He knew he had to explain, but his jaw felt stuck.
The pain in his heart far outweighed the pain in his side. He’d known what had to have happened the instant he’d seen the hit men in the elevator. But saying it aloud made it feel more real.
“Hal, what’s wrong?” Ellie seemed to hear what she’d just said, and added, “I mean, apart from us both getting shot at.”
“I know what you mean.” He unlocked his jaw. He had to tell her. “Someone told those hit men where I live. The only people who know where I live are you and my team.”
Ellie stared at him. “You think someone on your team sold you out?”
“I don’t want to believe that. But I have to consider the possibility.”
“Which one could it be?”
Hal winced. There was something else he didn’t want to think of. Even considering them as traitors made him feel like a traitor to them. “Well... Lucas is new. I don’t know him as well as the others. Nick has a shady background. Fiona has a different sort of shady background. And Shane’s isn’t even shady. It’s more like pitch black.”
“What about Rafa?” Ellie asked. “There’s no way he’d betray you, right? You said he was your best friend!”
“No, Rafa would never—” Hal began, then stopped. “Well... I hate to say this, but I can think of one reason he might. And the same goes for Destiny. They both have family they’re really close to. Including little kids. If Nagle threatened Destiny’s baby brother or Rafa’s nieces...”
Ellie looked as dismayed as Hal felt. “Isn’t there any other way someone could have found out?”
“Oh, sure.” As Hal listed off the possibilities, he prayed that one of them was true. “I missed someone following me there. Or one of my team missed someone. They’re all very competent, but anyone can screw up once. And once Nagle knew where to find me, he could hire a hacker to get his men inside. But... I can’t risk contacting my team yet. Not till I know more. Ellie, I can’t risk you.”
She leaned over and kissed his cheek. The butterfly brush of her lips brought him some comfort.
More than anything else, he wanted to tell her he was hit, and let her tend his wounds and hold him in her arms. He wanted it so badly, it made his heart hurt that he couldn’t have it.
But she was a paramedic. And while he wasn’t sure how badly he was injured, he could feel that he was bleeding a lot. She’d take one look at all that blood, and demand that he go to a hospital. And if he was in a hospital, he couldn’t protect her.
Shifters healed faster and better than humans. Hal was reasonably certain that he didn’t need a hospital. But he couldn’t explain that to Ellie without explaining that he was a shifter.
He bit his lip, wishing he’d already told her. She practically already knew— maybe not literally, but she’d correctly guessed everyone’s shift forms from the photos at Protection, Inc. If he could sit her down in a calm atmosphere and gently explain it, he was pretty sure she’d be surprised but not frightened or horrified.
Evading hit men in a speeding car, while they were both already shaken up and coming off a murder attempt, while he was wounded and bleeding and barely able to get his thoughts together, was the opposite of a calm atmosphere. God knew how she’d take it. She’d probably think he was delirious. And he had to get as far from town as fast as possible. He couldn’t afford to lose time by pulling over and hiking into the forest to demonstrate.
“Where are we going?” Ellie asked.
“A cabin in the woods,” Hal replied, relieved at the easy question. “My family owns it, but no one’s there now. And only my family knows about it, so it’s safe.”
“Oh. Okay.” She peered into his face, looking worried. “Do you want to stop now, and have me tape up your ribs? You look like you’re in a lot of pain. And I’d like to examine you. A blow hard enough to crack ribs could have caused internal injuries.”
Hal was touched at her concern. “You can check me once we get there. I want to get out of here as fast as I can.”
“Let me know if you start feeling dizzy or sick or short of breath, or if the pain gets worse.”