Page 16 of Patrick’s Seduction (Scanguards Vampires #19)

16

F allon watched Lydia disconnect the call and shove her cell phone back into her pants pocket.

“What’s wrong?”

“You need to pack a bag.”

Nervous energy pulsed through Fallon. “Why? What did Patrick say? That was Patrick, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. Let’s get you packed,” Lydia said evasively. “He’ll be here in fifteen minutes. We need to be ready to leave by then.”

Her hackles went up. What was Lydia keeping from her? Whatever Patrick had told her had spooked her. She’d seen it in Lydia’s face. She’d been unable to hide her shock.

“It’s about Cameron, isn’t it? Did Patrick confront him?” she pressed. “I have a right to know!”

“Please, Fallon. Patrick will explain everything to you, but for now, for your own safety, you need to get ready to leave. You can’t stay here. It’s not safe anymore.”

Lydia’s words sent a chill through her bones. Not safe anymore . What did she mean by it? What had happened since Patrick had told her he’d check out where Cameron lived? What had he found?

Realizing that Lydia wouldn’t tell her anything and that she would have to wait until Patrick showed up, she capitulated, “Fine, I’ll pack.”

She marched into her bedroom and pulled a travel bag from underneath her bed.

“For how long do I need to pack?”

From the door, Lydia said, “A few days. Just make sure you have everything with you that you can’t buy readily: any meds you’re on, your computer and other electronics, your phone, credit cards, ID.”

Fallon threw a few items of clothing into the bag, added socks and underwear, then went into her bathroom to collect her essential toiletries.

“Where is Patrick taking me?” she asked while she stuffed toiletries into a plastic bag, before putting them into her travel bag.

“To a safe house.”

A safe house . The words conjured up images of spies and witness protection. Of running for her life. Of constant danger. Of a life that wasn’t hers anymore. None of these images did anything to make her feel better. She shouldn’t need a safe house just because she’d broken up with a man who couldn’t take no for an answer.

She looked at Lydia and noticed how tense she had become since Patrick’s call. Earlier, she’d been friendly and chatty, easy to talk to. But now, something was stressing her out. She appeared more alert, her head turning toward the apartment door, whenever there were sounds coming from the stairwell.

She now recognized the bodyguard in her, the woman who didn’t get distracted from her duty. It was odd to see her change like that in a matter of seconds. She ran her eyes over Lydia, noticing for the first time how well-developed her biceps looked under the tight-fitting long-sleeved T-shirt. Her long legs were encased in form-fitting khakis, and she could easily picture her in hand-to-hand guerilla-style combat. She looked strong and determined, fierce even. Yet from what she could see, Lydia didn’t carry a weapon. She might be a trained bodyguard, but would Lydia be able to protect her from Cameron, who was much taller and stronger than the beautiful blonde?

Fallon looked at her watch. Still a few minutes until Patrick was supposed to be back. She walked back into the living room and collected her computer and her handbag with her phone, making sure she had the chargers for both. Then she let her gaze roam, wondering what else she needed to pack. She couldn’t think of anything. She hated packing last minute. The few times she’d gone on vacation, she’d laid out everything she wanted to bring well in advance so she wouldn’t forget anything. But without even knowing where she was going, she felt panicked.

Did she need to bring towels? Bottled water? Snacks? She walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was nothing in it that qualified as finger food easy to take along on a trip.

“What are you looking for?”

Fallon whirled around and saw Lydia standing in the doorframe. She hadn’t even heard any footsteps. She took a steadying breath.

“Do I need to bring food?”

Lydia shook her blonde locks and approached, putting a calming hand on her forearm. “No matter which safe house he’s taking you to, everything you need will be there. You won’t have to worry about those details. Just make sure you have your personal items with you.”

She nodded quickly, wishing her nervousness would subside with Lydia’s reassuring words, but it didn’t. “I wish I knew what’s going on.”

“Patrick will be here any moment now.”

Lydia walked to the window and peered outside. Fallon followed her to see what she was looking at. Even though it was night—with the streetlights and the headlights of passing cars illuminating the night—it was brighter than usual. She looked up. The moon was almost full and appeared to hang lower in the sky than normal. It seemed bigger and closer, so close that she felt she could reach for it and touch it.

“He’s here,” Lydia finally announced and pointed to an SUV that was double-parked in front of the apartment building’s entrance door. “Let’s go.”

Lydia ushered her outside. Fallon locked the door before walking downstairs. By the time she reached the entrance door to the building, Patrick had already gotten out of the car and was waiting at the door. She opened it and walked outside, Lydia on her heels.

Fallon was glad to see Patrick, but he too, looked more worried than earlier in the day.

“Patrick, what’s going on?” she asked, while he reached for her travel bag.

“I’ll explain everything in a minute, but right now we have to get off the street and get you to safety.” He looked past her at Lydia. “Follow and make sure nobody is tailing us.”

Patrick opened the trunk of the SUV and lifted her bag inside, then closed it.

“No problem,” Lydia said, and headed to a dark blue BMW.

“You think Cameron is going to follow us?” Fallon glanced around nervously.

“I don’t think so. At least not if we leave right away.”

A few seconds later, they were sitting in Patrick’s SUV, and drove off.

Fallon fidgeted. “Did you see him?”

Patrick nodded, turning his face to her for just a second. “Yes.”

The monosyllabic answer didn’t sit well with her. What was he not telling her? “Did you confront him?”

“No. Don’t worry, he never saw me.”

“So why a safe house? Something must have happened.”

“I discovered more things about him. Had I known earlier, I would have brought you to a safe house yesterday.”

His words made her shiver. “What did you find?”

Patrick hated lying to Fallon, but he had no choice. He couldn’t very well tell her that her ex was a werewolf, one of the most dangerous, most uncivilized of supernatural creatures.

“He comes from a crime family, and from what I could find out, he’s in his family’s employ. When they don’t get what they want, they’ll just take it, no matter the law. They don’t care about collateral damage.”

“Cameron’s in the Mafia?”

He looked at her from the side, placing one hand on hers, and noticed that she trembled. He wished he could be entirely truthful with her, but it was better that she thought they were a crime family rather than having to reveal that the Gallaghers were werewolves. She wouldn’t believe him anyway, think he was crazy, and stop cooperating. He couldn’t risk that.

“In a way, though they don’t call themselves Mafiosos. But don’t underestimate them: they will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Including killing someone who’s in their way.”

Tears shot to her eyes, and he felt the urge to wipe them away, but he held back.

“Oh my God. Why did I date him? I should have never dated him. If I’d known that… if only I’d had a clue.” She sniffled. “He really did beat up Hank, didn’t he? Just because he was jealous.”

Even though he hadn’t been able to confirm this independently, he replied, “It’s very likely. That’s their modus operandi: intimidating and coercing others.”

“And you think he’ll come after me because I rejected him?”

“I believe so.”

He knew it for a fact. The few things he knew about werewolves made it very likely. When werewolves found the person they wanted to mate with, they didn’t stop at anything until they got what they wanted, even if that person resisted them. In fact, by breaking up with Cameron and refusing to even speak to him, Fallon had activated Cameron’s hunting instinct. Now more than ever, he would pursue her.

“What am I gonna do? I can’t just hide from him forever.”

“I’ll figure something out, but right now, the most important thing is that he doesn’t know where you are.”

Patrick cast her a sideways glance and noticed how tightly she clenched her jaw as if trying to steel herself for whatever bad things were going to happen. But she didn’t know the half of what she was facing: a werewolf who wanted her and would never give up. It would be easier to deal with a member of the Mafia. But a werewolf was another level of danger, and an entire pack spelled disaster. This wasn’t something he could handle on his own. He needed the full force of Scanguards behind him. And that would throw up all kinds of complications. Confronting a pack of werewolves meant outright war between their two species. And there was no guarantee that Scanguards would emerge as the winner.