Page 2

Chapter

Two

GRACE

T he fact it was still daytime out there and Bones had practically vanished on silent feet left me more than a little shaky.

One of these things was not like the other.

A squeal of a tire on the concrete had me freezing briefly, bottle of water in hand.

I had no idea who put these bottles in the bags, but it was right at the top and I needed to clean my hands and Goblin.

As brief as the screech of that tire was, the fact it repeated and then faded away along with any sound of an engine almost made me weep.

My heart hammered too hard. The ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum echoed loudly in my ears.

Too loud. Like I stood next to one of those huge marching band drums and they kept hitting it.

With trembling hands, I splashed a little too much water over the cotton top I’d pulled out and then I went to work wiping Goblin down. Crouched next to him, I focused on cleaning away as much of the blood as possible.

If he was upset by any of this, it really didn’t show. His tongue lolled out as he panted, though he sat patiently while I wiped him down. I tried to work fast, but efficiently. It wouldn’t do us any good if someone spotted the blood on him or on me.

Wiping him down also let me check him for injuries. He had none. The blood was definitely not his.

Was it AB’s?

My stomach bottomed out. Would Goblin have left him if Alphabet was hurt? One theory after another began to swirl in my head until sweat dotted my forehead and began to trickle down my neck.

Stop .

The order didn’t do much until Goblin slurped my face, I jolted back to myself.

“Right,” I whispered. “I need to change.”

He closed his mouth and canted his head as though assessing me.

“I know,” I admitted in a hurried whisper. “I should have already changed.” Panicking and freezing were just not options right now. Ignoring where we were, I stripped off the bloodied top and bra, then shucked off the shorts. It left me in shoes and panties.

The chill air whispered over my skin and dried the sweat. I ignored the cold water on a fresh bit of cotton t-shirt and used it to wipe myself down. It wasn’t going to be floral and sweet, but I could at least stop smelling so gross.

My nails were in shitty shape. I studied the cracked and jagged edges.

As soon as I found a nail file, I’d smooth those out.

Probably not the thing to hyperfocus on.

Was this what shock felt like? The bag contained at least three changes of clothes, that many pairs of panties, one extra bra, and a bikini.

When did they get me a bikini?

If they had it, why hadn’t they…

Right, I just balled up that whole line of inquiry and tossed it away. Not important. The bikini was a straightforward string type with a pair of triangles for my tits and one for my crotch and maybe half of one for my ass.

Whatever, it would do.

I shimmied out of the panties and into the bikini, halting briefly at least a half-dozen times whenever an unexpected sound echoed through the parking structure. The location and the materials seemed to make everything louder down here. The shadows weren’t helping, even if the chillier air did.

Once I was in the bikini, I pulled on a button down shirt but left it open before I dragged on some shorts. If I paired it with sandals, that would be perfect. I’d rather be able to run, so I stuffed my feet into fashionable sneakers.

I checked the time on my phone and gawked. All of that had taken me less than ten minutes, even if it felt like an eternity. Goblin licked my cheek and I stroked a hand over his head.

“I’m okay,” I promised him. “Let me finish packing this back up, then we can share some water.” There was a plastic laundry bag in the duffel—the kind that hotels used—so I stuffed the bloodied and damp clothes into that, yanked it closed then stuffed that in with the clean stuff and zipped it up.

I spilled some water into my palm and Goblin slurped it up. I went slow, giving him several sips until he relaxed. I downed the last of it. My throat felt almost cracked and raw, worse than I expected.

Checking the time again, I stored the empty bottle in my bag. Other than the splashes on the ground, I didn’t want to leave any sign of us. Giving into the need, I hugged Goblin and he tucked his chin onto my shoulder.

Stroking my hands over him, I petted him thoroughly one more time. I needed to know he hadn’t gotten hurt for real. Though, he could be bruised. Fuck knew, I was. The harness was a little twisted so I leaned back to unclip and reclip it. One of the straps had been turned over.

It didn’t quite lay correctly, so I ran my fingers over it to flatten it out and felt something harder slid into the nylon strap of the harness itself. With care, I pulled the thumb drive out and stared at it.

“I really wish you could tell me what this is,” I told him as I studied it. “Should I put it back? Or put it in my pocket?”

Was it just info on Goblin? Like microchipping only on a thumb drive? That might make sense if he was separated from Alphabet. Or was it something else? Had AB given him that to carry out of the house?

Worry was a permanent burn in my gut. I had so many questions and not enough answers. I finally stuffed the thumb drive into my pocket.

“We’ll ask Boney Boy when he gets back.” He could make the call. Chances were, he’d know exactly what it was. Finally, I pushed up to stand and stretch my legs. At least they weren’t trembling so much.

Goblin moved when I did and he adjusted to sit closer to my legs, positioning himself between me and the opening that led back out into the garage. This narrow little slip behind the stairwell was hardly a fortress, yet being out of direct sight settled me on a really primitive level.

Having Goblin right there, ears perked forward and his gaze focused but body relaxed also did wonders for the shakiness in my soul. Tilting my head back, I closed my eyes and focused on calming my breathing.

Deep, slow inhales. Long, easy exhales. One after another until the deep, thunderous rhythm of my pulse finally settled. Goblin let out a low, almost inaudible woof . Eyes snapping open, I gripped the taser and shifted my attention to the opening.

Tires hushed over the concrete, not squealing so much as whistling a little? I strained to catch the sound of the engine, but there was nothing. Maybe a hum? But did engines hum?

The soft thump of a car door closing made me jump. I slapped my free hand over my mouth to stifle the near scream of surprise. Thankfully, it was my freehand and I neither clocked myself in the mouth with the taser nor stunned myself.

That would have been painful and embarrassing. When Goblin’s tail began to wag a few seconds ahead of a very noticeable scuff of shoe, relief spilled through me.

“Don’t shoot,” Bones said in a dry, almost droll tone. “I come in peace.”

An inelegant snort escaped me as he followed his voice around the corner. Like earlier, he’d pushed his sunglasses up and he swept me from head to toe with a look.

“Cleaned up, changed, and ready to go.” Hopefully I sounded more confident than I felt. I was half-torn between thanking him for coming back and complaining that he’d taken forever.

He really hadn’t, but my seesawing emotions were just not prepared to be reasonable at the moment. With that in mind, I clamped my lips together.

“You didn’t doctor that,” he said, gesturing toward my neck. I frowned. When he touched two fingers to my chin, I froze in place and then tilted my head when he nudged my face upward. “It’s still angry.”

“Oh, the cut.” I’d forgotten about it. “It doesn’t really hurt that much. It doesn’t hurt at all at the moment.”

“It’s not bleeding. Did you clean it out?” The heat burning in his fingertips threatened to leave marks on my skin. No sooner did he withdraw them, though, than I almost shivered from the absence.

“I washed up as much as I could. I had water, no soap. But I tried to get rid of any blood. So I think we’re fine for now. When we get wherever, we can look at it again.”

The weight of his gaze said he was assessing me steadily, but he finally nodded. “We can.” Then he reached for the second duffel before he took mine. “Let’s get you two out of here.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice. As soon as he led the way, I was right behind him. The parking garage felt so much bigger, and a little brighter, with his presence. Or maybe the sun had just shifted because there were shafts of light illuminating the gloom.

Probably just the whole rotation of the Earth and its axis and all that.

Bones hadn’t parked right next to our hiding spot. I scanned the area as we crossed to the other side from where he’d dropped us off. The car he returned in was brand new and shiny. The Peugeot e-308 looked glossy as hell and sat, backed into its spot, nose facing out and looking really sharp.

It looked freshly polished and it was a weird color. Almost turquoise on the right side where the sunlight seemed to touch it, but red on the driver’s side where it was tucked into the shadows.

Electric car.

That was why I didn’t hear an engine. They were damn near silent.

“Where did you get this?” I exhaled the question as he dropped the bags into the trunk.

He paused at the backdoor, where he tapped his leg before opening it. Goblin glanced at me and then trotted over to climb into the backseat. “I bought it.”

“You…” I gawked. Genuinely, gawked. My mouth fell open and I stared at him. Then I pulled out my phone to check the time.

Thirty-three minutes.

Thirty-three minutes from when he left me to returning. And he bought a new car.

A dozen questions cascaded through my mind, but only one sputtered out, “How?”

The last time I bought I car, I had to sign away my soul in triplicate times three. The sheer volume of paperwork had been absurd . You didn’t sign that much to buy a damn house.

Then again, a house didn’t go 0 to 150 in 3.5 seconds, but who was counting?

He circled the car and took my arm lightly before walking me to the passenger door. When he opened it, I tried to shake off the shock holding me captive.

“With money,” he said after I was in the seat. Then he pulled the seatbelt over me and strapped me in. He touched my chin again, then scanned my eyes. “Did you hit your head at all during the chase?”

I frowned. “Probably, but it was against the seat. So, padded.”

“Headache?” He still searched my face.

“What are you looking for?”

“A concussion. You’ve taken too many hits to the head. But you’re focusing.”

I was. “Yeah, I’m fine.” I told him. “Sorry, I’m a little scattered.” I thrust a hand through my hair. I’d pulled it down, and it fell in a jumble. I should probably have tried to comb it, but I hadn’t felt like it. “And there’s no bumps that I’m feeling…” I checked.

He nodded, seemingly satisfied, then closed the door before he circled the car and climbed back into the driver’s seat. Without a word, he started the car and it was every bit as silent as I expected. The interior was plush and it smelled like a new car.

I really wanted to know how he pulled this off but… it wasn’t that important and I wanted to know about the guys more. I also wanted to go back for them or at least know when we would be going back.

As he pulled out of the garage, I took the sunglasses he passed me. I slid them on and scanned the town as he took a slow turn. It was like the chase had never happened.

There was surreal and then there was this. He’d told me to trust him, and I was.

Still…

“What do we do now?”