Page 40 of Only Human in Strangeville

“Yes, of course. I’m allowed to sleep, right?” I couldn’t help the edge of irritation that colored my tone. It might even make the discussion sound more realistic.

“Are you alone?”

“Uh, no, my dog I just got is with me. Why?”

“Just making sure. So, something came up and we need to move you. Same as before, we’ll replace everything. We can have a car there in a few hours. I’m really sorry about this, Hannah. We’ll get you to D.C. and get you a new identity.”

Even to me, he sounded a bit strained.

I glanced around at the men in the room. They all had small frowns, as if concentrating hard. Perhaps listening to things my merely human ears couldn’t hear?

Nimbus whined softly and laid his chin on my knee. Wait, since when was he tall enough to do that? Little guy was growing fast. That revelation distracted me from the fear twisting my gut, which might have been his point.

“Yeah, okay, Max. I’ll see you all in a few hours.”

“Great, Hannah. Stay inside until we get there.”

“Will do.” I hung up and dropped the phone on the table. “Okay, even I thought that was weird.”

“He was not alone,” Katsuro said. “The being with him was not breathing, but I could hear the faint rustle of cloth, and it was not from this Max person.”

“Well, I’m fucked. I have to leave. Now.” I stood abruptly and hurried toward the door.

“Hannah—” Davin said.

“No, I have to go. The only thing I can do is run.” I was out the door before the men could stop me. Oliver, for his part, didn’t try, which I thought wise.

“Call Bridger,” Oliver said as the door shut. “She needs a vehicle.”

“Bridger?” Katsuro replied flatly. Then I was out of earshot as I ran toward the exit.

Jaz followed me, and I hoped they were right that we could trust her. We didn’t speak. I just ran toward my apartment complex, Nimbus and Jaz keeping pace.

She waited at the entrance while I went inside and sprinted up the stairs, fighting tears. I’d just found a place where I might belong, and now I had to leave again. And this time, I couldn’t even rely on the government and whatever protection they might have been able to give me.

Nimbus stayed glued to my side while I threw a bag of essentials together and hurried back down the stairs.

I hadn’t intended to go with Bridger, but then I remembered that the bad guys knew my vehicle now. They might know Bridger’s, but somehow I thought that might still be safer. He stood there twirling his keys in his hand and staring at Jaz when I came back down. Jaz bared fangs at Bridger before vanishing from view.

“Where the fuck did she go?” I glanced around.

“Vampire.” Bridger shrugged. “I told you. They’re quick. I hear you need a ride?”

He sounded way too calm about this. Especially since they’d clearly just let him in on the truth about Beechworth.

“Yeah.”

“Great! Let’s go!”

He headed for his car and, feeling miserable and swallowing around the lump in my throat, I followed.

“So, where are we going?” Bridger asked after driving west, away from Mayday Hills, for about an hour.

I’d spent the time with my face buried in Nimbus’s fluff and fighting tears. Not only because I was in danger from something I thought I’d left behind, but because I’d grown to love my new life. Not to mention the men I was leaving behind. Of course, I barely knew Katsuro, but Davin and Oliver were very nice, and I hadn’t been opposed to getting to know Katsuro better. About the only good thing about fleeing was that I didn’t have to untangle that knot of attraction. Hell, I needed to figure out what to tell my boss.

That thought brought more tears to wet down Nimbus’s fluff.

“I don’t know,” I said, voice thick. “What did they tell you?”

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