Page 29 of Boxed In

“Not much. A maneuver I learned in my training.”

“Your hands are deadly,” Olivia breathed

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you kill the . . . guys you call the Poisoned Ones?”

“I was . . . getting used to Luke’s body.”

Olivia made a strangled sound, then gave him a direct look. “Where are we going?”

“I’m thinking.” Luke was the one who answered, wracking his brain as he tried to come up with a hiding place.

oOo

Luke drove down the alley, then turned right and onto one of the narrow streets. He took several turns, aware that Olivia was watching him.

“You don’t know where you’re going?” she accused.

“I’m looking for something,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Different license plates for this car.”

“Huh?”

“We’re in a stolen vehicle, in case you don’t remember that scene a little while ago. If that guy turns in a description of the car to the cops, I want different plates.”

“More stealing?”

“Sorry.”

He pulled to a stop beside another junker car and waited for several minutes, watching the houses on either side of the alley, trying to see if anyone was looking out the window or standing on a porch.

Finally, he reached for the handle, then turned back to Olivia.

“Can I trust you to stay in the car this time? And warn me if you see anyone coming?”

“Yes.”

He gave her a long look, then watched her slump down in her seat so that her eyes were at the bottom of the windshield.

Mercifully, Zabastian had been silent for several minutes. But as Luke climbed out of the car, the warrior sent him a thought.

She’s cooperating for the moment. But you must learn to control her better.

Annoyance shot through Luke. I’m not the boss of her.

A woman must listen when a man speaks

Not in this world. In the twenty-first century, women are the equal of men.

You must be making a joke!

Stick around, and you’ll find out.

Luke squatted beside the car, keeping one eye peeled for trouble and hoping he wasn’t going to get shot when he started working on the license plates.

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