Page 30 of Only Human in Strangeville

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t help with Drake.”

We reached my car, and she stopped me before I put my hand on it.

“Hold up, smells funny.”

Nimbus growled.

The old anxiety from dealing with the traffickers came crashing back down on me all at once. My throat closed, and my lungs stopped working. I sucked in air, trying to hold the panic back while Kerin sniffed around the small SUV.

If they were pulling tricks the humans had, I knew how to deal with it, but I’d never wanted to be in this situation again.

Nimbus leaned against my leg.

“Yeah, maybe we better take my truck. I’ll drive.” Kerin tugged on my elbow.

I glanced down at my puppy. His ears twitched as if he were listening to something, but after a moment he followed Kerin to the truck. Though uneasy, I followed. She was one of Davin’s wolves, and he said they’d protect us.

I got into the old-style bench-seat truck and pulled out my phone. I hadn’t checked it all morning and I didn’t have any messages. I shot off a quick text to Davin letting him know about my SUV and the incident with Drake. Then I checked but didn’t have any email.

When I looked up, I frowned, not recognizing the roads or surroundings. We were driving on a two-lane road through some hilly neighborhoods. The houses were set back into the trees on large lots. They looked older, but nicely kept-up large family homes.

“Where are we?”

“I didn’t want to be followed,” Kerin said.

Nimbus rooed, sounding concerned.

My phone chimed. It was a text from Davin.

I’ll come get you.

Too late, I sent back. I went with Kerin.

Where are you?

I don’t know.

“Something wrong?” Kerin glanced over at me.

“No,” I lied.

I pulled up my GPS app and took a screenshot and sent it to Davin.

After I sent another one a few minutes later, Kerin glanced at me, frowning. Before I could react, she snatched my phone away and tossed it out her window.

“What are you doing?” I’d been nervous before, but now I knew something was wrong.

“Just sit still.”

My hand went to my seatbelt. She growled softly and slammed on the brakes, throwing me and Nimbus forward. I was restrained. He shrieked when he hit the dash.

Still disoriented, I undid my seatbelt. Thanks to my past, I’d had some training in dealing with situations like this, and the training took over while my brain tried to catch up. I spun on my butt, slammed my feet into her head, and scrabbled at the door. It was locked, but I wrenched it open. I snagged Nimbus by the fluff and dragged him out of the truck after me. He shrieked again but didn’t struggle.

As soon as my feet hit the pavement, I ran.

I got an image of Nimbus on his own feet, so I paused long enough to let him down. He sprinted ahead of me, and I followed, hoping he had an idea of where to go.

I’d dashed up one of the large house’s driveways and then crashed through their side yard into the wooded area that ran behind the houses. Branches and leaves snapped and cracked under my feet, and the tree branches tugged at my clothing. Nimbus raced along, but just as I wasn’t used to sprinting long distances, he was young, and I sensed his energy flagging.

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