Page 14 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

Three seconds passed. They felt more like three hours.

“It’ll be okay,” I said.

Nora’s gaze darted from her phone to me. Her expression changed. Her fear, which she so rarely showed, disappeared. She leaped to her feet and ran.

“Nora!” I called.

She didn’t slow.

“Wait!” I yelled, sprinting after her. Melissa jumped out of my way. Christian cursed, turned off the stove, and chased me into the hallway.

Nora had already reached the narrow stairs at the end of the hall. I pushed myself faster. “Let’s think about this!”

“Kennedy…” I didn’t hear the rest of Christian’s words. I ignored the sharp, stabbing pain that reminded me I was still healing and took the steps down two at a time.

When I reached the lobby, I called out Nora’s name again. She was almost to the front door. Sullens and Thad stood close to her path. “Don’t let her leave!”

Not one damn person moved to intercept. Fortunately, The Rain’s heavy wooden doors slowed Nora a fraction of a second. I followed her outside, would have caught her on the porch steps if she hadn’t doubled her speed the instant she left the Null—

The Null.

I stopped so suddenly I nearly fell. My heart slammed against my chest. I looked over my shoulder, horror oozing over me head to toe when I realized I left the Null.

If Canyon…

I cursed. Too late now. If Canyon sensed my memory had returned, I’d deal with it later. Right now, I had to stop Nora from getting herself killed.

I shot forward again.

Nora yanked open her Corvette’s door. I reached the passenger side as she started the engine and threw myself inside.

Her tires squealed, spinning just long enough to give Christian the second he needed to open the back door. He didn’t get inside before the car fishtailed and shot forward. His shoes skidded across the gravel. He was going to get pulled under…

Somehow he muscled himself inside.

I turned toward him, eyes wide, heart jackhammering in my chest. He met my gaze, chest rising and falling fast, then let out a short, breathless huff that was half laugh, half disbelief, like he was just as surprised as I was that he’d made it.

I gave him a look that said not funny then turned my attention to Nora. “You’ll distract him more than you’ll help him.”

Nora didn’t respond. She just white-knuckled the wheel as she shot out of The Rain’s lot.

“She’s right,” Christian said. “And you’re putting Kennedy at risk now. You have a responsibility to protect the last Rain.”

My eyes went wide for a different reason now, a silent shut up. All I needed was for Nora to shove me out of the car. But Nora still didn’t react. Her eyes were full gold and she kept speeding, barely even slowing to take corners. There was no reasoning with her.

I fidgeted with the bracelet on my wrist, the rough macramé knotted around six small marbles set in netted cages.

I hadn’t taken it off since Christian gave it to me before Beltane.

He called the marbles chaos grenades. The three that were pale gray created an extreme strobe effect when broken, something that severely disoriented most vampires.

The other three were darker and packed with scent, sound, and distraction.

They were meant to give me time to escape from a paranorm.

Using them offensively was a risk, one I’d take if necessary.

I needed to make it not necessary.

“Do you have your phone?” I asked Christian. I hadn’t grabbed mine when we’d dashed out of the residence.

“Yeah.” He pulled it from a pocket and handed it over.

I dialed Blake’s number by memory. It rang three times before he answered.

“What?” Blake snapped into the phone.

“It’s Kennedy.”

“What’s wrong?” His tone did a 360.

“A vampire named Satine is in town,” I said. “She—”

“We know.”

“You… You know?” I gripped the oh-shit handle above the door when the Corvette nearly skidded off the road. “And you’re just letting her go wherever she wants?”

“We don’t interfere in vampire politics unless they interfere in ours.

” His voice had relaxed, taking on a tone that was half bored, half entertained.

I wanted to strangle him. It was one thing to not interfere in vampire politics and another not to warn Nora that an Heir with a grievance might decide to pay a visit to her husband.

Or to me. But Blake didn’t know I’d made my way onto Satine’s shit list.

“She’s at the compound,” I said. “We’re on the way, and Nora’s—”

“Pull over,” Blake ordered. Finally he grasped the situation.

“I’d love to, but she’s driving and she’s not listening to us. Her eyes are full gold.”

Blake cursed and then growled, “Put me on speaker.”

Hoping she’d listen to him, I tapped the icon. “You’re on.”

“Stop the fucking car, Nora.”

At least he was direct. Unfortunately, we were on a straightaway and Nora floored the pedal.

“Nora.” His growl raised chill bumps on my skin. His magic couldn’t reach out through the speaker and strangle her, but it wasn’t nothing either.

“Give me the phone,” Nora said.

I started to hand it over.

She started rolling down her window.

I pulled back, but she caught my arm. Before she could yank the phone away, I flicked my wrist, tossing the phone to Christian in the back seat.

“Nora,” Blake rumbled.

“Her wolf has control,” Christian said. “She’s protecting her mate.”

Several loud, heavy beats of silence passed. When Blake finally spoke again, his words were as hard and commanding as any pack alpha. “Do not let her enter the compound.”