Chapter Nine
Kiel
“These Earth vehicles are pathetic. I can run faster than this.”
Warden Egara ignored me, her eyes on the road, her grip steady on the vehicle’s odd driving wheel. “Yes, but for how long?”
She swerved violently around a large vehicle pulling giant boxes on wheels and I grasped the small handle above the window so I would not tumble into her lap. “Several miles.”
“Umm, hmm.” She straightened out and dashed back into the lane in front of the much larger vehicle. “She could be ten miles away, or a hundred. You wouldn’t last that long.”
Perhaps not, which was why I’d agreed to fold my body into this cramped seat in this small contraption she called a car. I smelled blood, old blood, but the scent was familiar. “There is blood in this vehicle, but it does not belong to my mate.”
She shook her head. “Which way?”
I closed my eyes for a moment and pointed to the bend in the road that took us to the left. She went where I pointed and I drew the scent of the blood deeper into my senses.
“The blood is familiar.” My Hunter senses refused to let the matter pass.
“That was months ago, and I cleaned it with bleach twice.”
“I recommend you clean it again if you wish to erase all traces. The scent remains.”
The warden grinned. “You really are a Hunter, aren’t you?”
“Of course.” We passed a small side road and I pointed again. “Turn. Now.”
She slammed on the brakes and I braced my arms on the small dash as two of the wheels left the ground and the other two squealed. When the car landed safely, she finally answered my question.
“That blood belongs to Jessica. She was injured by a Hive Scout team right before Nial found her.”
“The Prime’s mate?”
“Yes.”
“The Hive Scout team was here? On Earth?”
“Yes.”
“Drive faster. We are close.” I could feel Lindsey now, practically taste her skin, hear her heart beating. The link between us flared back to life and my palm ignited with welcome heat, a raging inferno of pulsing fire that made my entire body sing with need. My mate was close, and upset. Afraid. As I drew nearer, my instincts reached for her, for the mental connection that came in dream sharing.
I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew she was afraid.
Warden Egara came to a stop at a four direction intersection and looked at me. “Which way?”
Lindsey was so close now that her presence drowned out everything but the need to get to her.
I opened the car door and hit the ground running, my speed making me a blur. There was a building ahead with a row of closed doors. Cars were parked in front of each door and I knew my mate was here, somewhere.
I stopped in the center of the parking area and closed my eyes, listening for her heartbeat, her voice.
“Don’t cry, Mommy.”My heart skipped a beat as I heard the voice of my son for the first time.
“Don’t worry. Everything’s all right.” Lindsey, my brave mate. She was scared, I could hear the wobble in her voice, but she was trying to reassure him.
Her next words chilled me to the bone.
“If I were you, I’d put the gun down.”