“Come on!” Dominic hisses, yanking his trench coat back over his slim form before I get a closer look at the shapes protruding from his back. He pushes Jacob toward the lane, spurring the other guy into motion.
I stagger after them, and Zian catches me up like he did at the facility. His face has morphed back to normal now other than a hint of fangs curling over his lower lips; the fur has vanished. As he heaves me over his shoulder, I spot Andreas wavering in and out of sight, each time a few steps closer to the sidewalk.
Without another word to each other, we dive into the SUV. Zian looks at Jacob and then jumps into the driver’s seat. He starts the ignition with a roar of the engine.
We tear off into the cover of the night.
Seventeen
Riva
The guys mentioned before they were getting Zian and Dominic up to speed on the basics of driving so the responsibility didn’t all fall on Jacob’s and Andreas’s shoulders. Zian must have caught on quickly, because he steers the SUV out of the campus without running us into any lampposts or trash bins, although a few times it’s a near miss.
The vehicle sways with another sharp turn, and the engine roars as he presses on the gas again. I bump against Andreas’s shoulder where he’s thrown himself into the back seat with me and realize that shoulder doesn’t look totally… right.
I blink, doing my best to focus through the muddle in my head, and my stomach lurches. He’s technically visible now, but I can make out the seams in the seat and the edge of the window through his translucent body.
His hands have clenched on his lap. When a shudder runs through his lanky frame, my gaze shoots to his face.
His eyes are wide, gleaming with fear.
“Drey?” I say, my throat tightening with the same emotion.
His voice comes out in a strained rasp. “I’m trying. I can’t quite…”
His body wavers, becoming closer to opaque and then more translucent again.
I don’t know how to help him—I don’t even understand what exactly is happening—but I can’t just sit here and watch him struggle. My hands shoot out to grasp one of his, squeezing it tight between my fingers as if I can hold him fully in this world.
“You’re here,” I say, more babbling than with any clear strategy. “You’re here with me. I can see you. You’re going to stay right here with us.”
Andreas stares down at my hands clamped around his. His breath evens out a little.
I give him another squeeze. “Don’t you dare go anywhere. This is where you belong.”
A shaky laugh spills out of him, and then he inhales deeply. With a couple more heaves of his chest, he’s fully solid again.
His gaze lifts to meet mine, so fraught I don’t know what to say but can’t tear my eyes away either. “Thanks,” he says roughly.
I swallow and force myself to loosen my grip on his hand, my fingers sliding away from his. “What was that? Are you okay?”
“Seems like it, now.” He sags back against the seat with a humorless chuckle. “Every new talent has to come with its fun side effects, huh?”
His body was acting up like that because he was turning himself invisible earlier? I haven’t seen him do that before—but then, I guess I wouldn’t necessarily know about all his abilities.
He couldn’t do that back when I was in the facility with him, though. How often has he practiced using the skill? It sounds like he didn’t realize it could mess him up that badly.
Zian’s panicked voice draws my attention to the rest of the vehicle. “Uh, where exactly am I going from here? What’s the plan, Jake?”
It’s Dominic who answers, from the middle seat where he’s kneeling next to Jacob. “Get on a highway. The first one you find. We want to get away from this city fast. The rest we can figure out later.”
He’s clutching Jacob’s shoulder. As I look at them, he gives the other guy a shake.
Jacob barely moves, sitting so rigid he might as well be a mannequin.
My pulse stutters. Something’s gone wrong with him too.
I scramble past Andreas to the middle seat, falling back against the door when Zian swerves again. My head knocks into the edge of the window, and a hiss of pain escapes me with the spinning of my thoughts.