“That’s where you live?”

“Yeah.”

Kar sighed. “I’m getting tired of holding this one. Can we get them on the road? I bet Garson is done with his task and we could use him here. We also have to find the other soldier.”

“I know.” Lavos didn’t look away from Jadee. “Okay. Drive safe and don’t stop until you at least hit a larger town. Don’t talk to strangers.”

She smiled. “Especially pale ones.”

He grinned back. “Yes.”

She licked her lips and he watched her pink little tongue. The urge to kiss her struck, surprising him. He stiffened, every muscle tensing.

It was probably because he’d carried her and her scent had rubbed off on him. It had been a while since he’d been that close to a woman. The hunt always made him a little horny too. He resisted his instinct to reach out and pull her closer. It was a bad idea.

“Thank you.” She glanced at the three still humans. “Too bad I don’t have your power. I wish I could keep them like that for the rest of the trip. They’re going to argue and bitch. Did you leave them their wallets? We have to cross into Canada and then back into the US. The last thing I want is to be held up at the borders. An unplanned road trip with them is going to be bad enough to deal with.”

“Yes.”

“You cleaned out their pockets?”

“I asked them to hand over all evidence. They did.”

“Okay.”

She surprised him when she suddenly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his waist. The hug was unexpected and fast. She released him and backed up before he could react.

“Good luck and be careful. Did you implant them with the suggestion to wait until we were back in the US before they filed any reports?”

“I did. They’re in a sense of shock from your father’s death. The authorities should believe that.”

“All the bases are covered.” She sighed. “Okay. I’m out of here. Thank you.” She turned away, climbing into the front of the truck. “Can you ask Peggy to sit with me in the cab and have the guys climb in the back? I don’t want to hear them rambling on or bitching about how cramped four of us are on a bench seat. Mark annoys the hell out of me.”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Thanks.”

She closed the door and he turned away, walking over to the waiting humans. He told the men to climb into the back, that they wanted to sit there. The woman meekly entered the passenger side of the truck.

Lavos backed up and watched Jadee drive away.

Kar shoved the soldier forward and paused at his side. “I hope that wasn’t a mistake. You know how risky it was to let Jadee live.”

“Where is your compassion?”

“Not in my pants.”

He growled, narrowing his eyes at Kar. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Give me a break. You wanted to jump on Jadee. You kept sniffing her and staring at her ass. When’s the last time you got laid if you were interested in that? I admit she was sexy, but you know better. You were thinking with the head below your belt instead of the one above your shoulders. She couldn’t be wiped, Lavos. That makes her dangerous.”

“She wasn’t a typical human.”

“You hope. She was pretty cool and I was impressed by how she handled herself, but she could turn on us.”

“She won’t.”

“I hope not. Our asses would be in deep shit.”

“Nobody has to know what happened here.”

“I’m sure as hell not going to rat you out. I’d be in trouble too. I let it go down.”

“Thanks.”

“You should have at least nailed her. I would have.”

“Shut up.” Lavos turned away, sniffing. “I have a soldier to track. Jadee said he was here. You interrogate that one and get every detail about his maker that you can. I’m tired of dragging him around.”

“You’re not the one with the cramp in his hand from holding on to him. Next time I’m bringing a leash. What happened to just killing them outright? This one has gone into some kind of catatonic state. It’s disturbing.”

“Show a little blood and that should snap him out of it to get answers. We need to find the one who did this and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“I know. That’s why I haven’t killed Mitch here yet. Go track down the blond soldier and I’ll get the information we need. I’m hungry. Grab me something if you can.”

“Live food?”

“Anything. I missed dinner. I didn’t think this was going to be an all-nighter.”

“I want my handcuffs back.” Lavos handed over the key, then walked the perimeter. “We took out the two that went that way. This one headed back toward town.”

“Go.”

The faint smell of death helped him track the soldier. He followed it toward the town…but then the scent indicated it had changed direction. A bad feeling sank in.

It headed toward the highway.

“Shit.”

Lavos snapped his head up and began to run.

What if the soldier decided to attack any cars on the highway? They seemed stupid, but it was possible one of them wasn’t. He and his pals had cleared out the small town of any life. His only blood options had been locked up where he couldn’t get at them. That meant Jadee might be headed right into a trap.

He took a shortcut toward the highway.

One soldier could easily attack and kill four humans. They were fast enough to catch a vehicle if it was traveling slower over old roads before it hit the highway. The fact that she was driving a truck made it worse. The soldier could jump into the back and then go through the glass to take out the driver.

It was tempting to shift but he wanted to keep his clothes on. He came across the winding dirt road and entered the woods again to take a direct path to the highway. He didn’t see or hear any signs of the soldier or the truck—

He heard a crash. It was a loud, echoing crack, as if something had hit a tree hard enough to split a trunk.

A horn sounded next.

Jadee!

He ran faster, tearing at his shirt to get it out of the way. He didn’t care if she saw what he really was, as long as she was alive by the time he reached her. He’d tear the soldier apart if he hurt her.

He opened his mouth, sending out a war cry. It might scare the soldier. Garson and Kar might also hear him and come to his aid, but he doubted it. Garson was too far away and Kar had his hands full with Mitch.