Page 21 of Racing the Storm

I squeezed my hands on the steering wheel. “I know it’s not just Wolves. I know that humans were snatched off the streets. Hell, even that bastard Kasher used his own son in his fucking labs. But he’s trying to eradicate us.”

“I know,” Eduardo said. He looked away again, at the passing countryside as we headed out of Brest and to the south where Danyal was supposed to be. “There are things I could have done—that people like me could have done—but we chose to keep our silence. So, we have to take our part in the blame.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I kept quiet until we hit a little village, and I realized we’d have to stop for food and a piss. “Do you speak French?” I asked him as I pulled behind a building and hunkered down. “I could really go for some real food, especially if we’re gonna be stuck on MREs for a while.”

He snorted a laugh. “Not a word of it, but I think I can get by. I’ll get us enough to finish the journey. It’ll be better if we stop tonight and sleep though. If we drive straight through…”

“I know,” I told him from behind a sigh. I was already wrecked, and pushing myself would only make it worse. Getting to Danyal could wait—because it meant I might be able to form some sort of plan to get him the hell out.

Right now, I was flying blind.

I handed off the Euro to Eduardo, then I began to arrange all the supplies so we could get to them easier. I loaded the guns, then tucked them under the dash, and hoped if it came down to it, he knew how to use one. I didn’t have the time or patience to teach this human how to defend himself.

When everything was settled, I eased back against the seat and closed my eyes. My body was begging for proper rest, but I knew I wasn’t going to get any. Not until I had Danyal in my sights. It was quiet moments like these that I could remember him—the scent of him, the taste of him. I remembered how he heated up under my touch, his body bowing against mine.

He was beautifully responsive, desperate and begging, and I couldn’t keep my hands off him. When I sank into him, when my knot locked us together, it felt destined. It was a feeling I couldn’t shake for years, and just when I thought I was free of him, he was there again—unobtrusive, working his brilliant mind to help save us all.

And I had let him down.

There was no way I would deserve him, but if he let me, I’d spend the rest of my life trying.

I jolted back to reality when the passenger door slammed, and I realized I’d dozed off through Eduardo’s return with the food. He’d shoved it all into the back, and he was looking at me with a wry smile.

“Tired?”

“Exhausted,” I admitted. Not too beat down to keep going, but once I got Danyal to safety, it would be a struggle to do more than sleep for the next several weeks. “Any trouble?”

“More news programs about the US election,” Eduardo said with a shrug. “I couldn’t understand most of it since it was in French, but I think it was more bullshit about Kasher’s bid for the presidency.”

I shuddered, then started the car and pulled out onto the main road. Eduardo dug into the bags as I picked up speed, and I let out a sigh when he pulled a sandwich out of a bag. It smelled rich and hot—fresh, which made his stomach rumble and his mouth water.

“Where did you get that?”

He grinned at me and carefully unwrapped half—meat dripping with melted cheese—and handed it over. “There was a little restaurant full of young people, so I had a feeling the food would be good. And it smelled fresh—like right off the farm.”

He wasn’t lying, and I was impressed with his senses as a human. I dug my teeth in and tried not to moan, but the noise I made was so pornographic, he threw his head back and laughed. “Shut up,” I hissed through my thick bite, “I haven’t had anything this good in weeks.”

He waved me off and dug into his own meal, and we enjoyed the silence for the next hour. It was harder to drive now that I was full and sated, but eventually, the anxiety crept back up my spine, and I glanced over at him. Eduardo wasn’t looking at me, but I could tell he was aware—almost like he was waiting for me to speak.

“I want you to know that if you need to bail at any point during this journey, I’ll find you somewhere to go. When I eventually get Danyal, we’ll have to split up.”

“I know,” he said. “I wasn’t going to finish the journey with you. But it’s going to take more than you to get him out, and there may be others I can help get back to safety. I still have my plane.”

I jolted with surprise, but I realized it was a brilliant tactic. It was likely Kasher only had enough men as a personal guard, and if Eduardo could make off with a few captives, it meant Kasher would have to decide between them and me—and if I had Danyal, the choice was obvious.

“Is there anyone in particular you’re looking for?” I asked him.

His silence spoke volumes. Yes. The answer was yes, but he wasn’t going to tell me, and I was willing to let him have his secrets.

“Nadya made sure we were fully packing,” I told him after a beat. “There’s enough ammo to take down a small army. I’d like to avoid hitting any of the Wolves, no matter how feral they are, but if you need to…”

“I know,” he said very quietly. “A single shot to the back of the head. I don’t know if there’s any creature on the planet that could survive it.”

I didn’t pretend to know everything that lurked out there, but he wasn’t wrong. It was difficult to kill a Wolf…unless you knew exactly where to strike. It wasn’t sure how I felt about how well trained he was in killing us, but if Nadya trusted him, I’d lay my life in his hands. If it meant getting to Danyal faster, I was willing to risk everything.

We switched places not long after that, Eduardo insisting that I sleep. I felt like that’s all I had been doing, but he seemed to sense it in me that I needed the extra rest, and it was likely he was right. The stress was taking a toll, and every time I hit REM, I was bombarded with nightmares of having Danyal in my sights, but never being able to reach him.

Sometimes, I’d be back in the past. He’d be under my hands, his body hot and needy. And then claws would be tearing at him, pulling us apart. I’d wake up with a scream lodged in my throat, my heart racing with panic, Eduardo’s knowing eyes on me. Was this what it was like to lose a mate? One with the ability to bond to your soul in ways no other Wolf could?

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