Chapter 20
By the time she reached the driver’s door, her heart was racing. She leaned down and looked under the vehicle to see Zain was by the passenger’s door. Blowing out a breath, she gripped her backpack tight in one hand and turned the fob in her other. They would only have seconds to get in and get moving.
Pushing the unlock button, she grabbed the handle and opened the door. When she slid into the driver’s seat, she saw Zain doing the same on the other side. Jamming the key in the ignition, she turned it as she slammed the door, and shoved it into drive. Hitting the gas, she looked in the mirror and backed down the driveway. She slipped it into drive when she cranked the wheel and slid sideways out onto the street.
Zain pulled her backpack off her lap and pushed it between the seats into the back. He was sitting on the edge of the seat, the gun held up and watching in every direction. “Just drive. We’ll look at a map when we know no one is following us.”
She didn’t nod or speak, just gripped the wheel tight and tried to keep the vehicle going straight on the road. She was overheating, and her heart felt like it was beating in her throat. Jerking the zipper down a few inches on her coat, she blew out a breath. “Anyone following?”
Zain was turned in his seat, looking behind them. “Too hard to tell until we get out on a road that doesn’t have us turning corner after corner.”
“Do you think we overreacted?” she glanced over at him.
“Better safe than sorry.” He said quietly.
She nodded. He was right. If they both had the same instinct that said to get out of there, then they’d done the right thing. She slowed at the stop sign, checked both ways, and then went left. She hoped that would at least be taking them in the right direction. Three seconds later, she second-guessed that. “Am I going the right way? I don’t want to end up circling back around there.”
Zain turned to look at her. “I’ll check in a second.” He looked out the back again. “Now that we’re going straight, I want to see if anyone is behind us.”
“If someone was watching us, maybe we got by them without notice.”
Zain scoffed softly. “We might be that lucky.”
She checked the rearview mirror about every two seconds.
“Hey, thanks, by the way.”
She looked to see the side of his face as he watched out the back. “For what?”
He turned his head just enough he could make eye contact with her. “For listening without question.” He turned to watch again. “I know there’s people looking for you, too, but I’m pretty sure they want you alive. I can’t say the same for the ones looking for me.”
She let that settle for a moment. “Well, I know when to nitpick and when to shut up and move.”
“Yes, you do.” He turned around to face the front. “I don’t see anyone yet, but this is a long straight stretch, so they could just be waiting until we’re further away.” He shifted and undid his jacket so he could get to his run pack. “I’ll find us a route to get us going.”
Oaklyn nodded and checked the mirror again. He had every right to be skittish and not trust anyone. The ones who wanted him were a lot more serious than Horace and his friends. She blew out a breath and glanced to see him using the dash light to see the map. Her wolf stirred. She didn’t like the thought of him being found either. He looked out the side mirror and then back at the map. For a brief moment, a thought popped into her head. What would have happened if the power hadn’t gone out? She had been walking toward him. She jerked her chin and looked out the windshield. So much for the fate stuff. If fate was in charge, and there was no way around the mate’s destiny, the power wouldn’t have gone out. Her wolf made her presence felt. Oaklyn ignored her. If she wanted to pretend, then she was going to go right ahead and do that—as long as she could.