Page 12 of Contested Crown

“Cool.” He gave Rick a thumbs-up and headed back out into the shop.

“This guy.” Rick blew out a frustrated breath. “Give me ten, Miles, and I’ll have you a car. I wish I could put you up for longer than that.”

“No, no.” I waved him off. “You’ve done more than enough.”

Rick nodded. “And don’t forget it when you’re up on the throne. Also, don’t forget about JD.”

I snorted. “Yeah.”

Rick sauntered out into the shop, still muttering under his breath.

“The throne,” Cade said, his voice chilly.

Something shivered up my spine at the way he said it, and I felt a strange relief to finally hear him again after so long with the person he’d become after losing everything.

“I think he’s joking,” I said. “He doesn’t believe I could sit in Declan’s place.”

“He doesn’t?” Cade arched an eyebrow, making it clear that no matter what I said, Rick’s words had struck something in him.

“No.” I looked at Cade’s face, his cheekbones and his eyes. They were sharper today, more awake than they’d been in weeks. They were the eyes I had fallen…

No. We didn’t have time for that.

“Either way, your hunch paid off.” Cade gestured to the Nissan sedan Rick was pulling out of the back of the shop.

It was nothing to speak of, but the paint gleamed fresh, and it worked. Rick had said the VINs were clean, and if the plates were good, then it was unlikely we would be pulled over by the cops. More importantly, this wasn’t a vehicle House Morrison or the werewolves I’d fought with earlier had seen.

“You ready?” I asked.

Cade nodded. We headed out, and I grabbed our duffels from the back of our old car before tossing them in the trunk of the Nissan. Rick rubbed at a spot on the hood with a rag.

“She’s not pretty, but she’ll get you where you need to go.” He offered over his hand. “Good doing business with you, Miles.”

I gripped his hand, shaking it. “Thanks, Rick. If I survive this, I owe you one.”

“If you survive this, I’ll call it in.” Rick laughed, bringing me close and clapping me on the shoulder.

Cade was already in the passenger seat, and I got in the driver’s, starting the car as Rick opened the gate.

When I drove out, Cade’s head listed against the window. By the time I pulled onto the freeway, his eyes were closed, his breathing even. He was asleep.

If he was asleep, then he couldn’t ask where we were going. That was good because the only place I could think of was one that might get us killed.

ChapterFive

As far as I could tell, we were alone. Parked down the block, I had been watching the warehouse for two hours. No one came or left. The dust on the door indicated no one had even been there for months.

“Where are we?” Cade asked groggily. He straightened, blinking and rubbing at his eyes with his fingertips.

“An old safe house. I set it up when I was with Declan, and there’s a chance he knows about it.”

“So we don’t use it,” Cade said immediately.

“There’s food and money inside,” I said.

“If Declan knows about it…” Cade raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes sharpening.

“I said there’s achancehe knows about it.” I leaned back in my seat, watching. “No one’s come in or out.”