Page 138 of Anchor

I held his eyes, and I didn’t blink, didn’t move at all, waiting for him to start chanting. Waiting for him to turn to his magic, so I could turn to mine. Screw the fact that we were out in the openand anybody could see us, record us. I was not going to let Seth Tivoux kill me.

And he knew it well. That’s why he moved back from the car and lowered his head and sighed deeply, eyes squeezed shut. “I’m here to help you,” he finally said. “I’m here to help. I brought you this, too.” He raised his hand to show me Taland’s charm.

Help. He wanted to help.

I couldn’t tell you what came over me, but I suddenly reached out my hand and I pressed the button to unlock the door.

Seth grinned, and within the second, he was in the passenger seat.

“Catch!”

He threw the charm. I instinctively caught it, and I was sure, so sure that he was going to make his move then. He was going to attack me and kill me before my fingers even closed around that charm.

Except he didn’t.

“There you go,” Seth said. “You look nothing like yourself again. I swear, the fucker did a great job in changing your features. I would have neverrecognized you back at the club.”

I wasn’t dead.

A minute had passed with Seth in the passenger seat, the charm was in my hand, and I was still alive. Not only that, but Seth didn’t look like he planned to attack me anytime soon. He just rubbed his hands together before he reached for the seatbelt and put it on.

“You’re not a slow driver, are you? I’d rather get there in a couple hours. Car rides make me nauseous.” He turned to me—I still hadn’t spoken. “It’s why I don’t do missionary often.”

Heat on my cheeks. My brain finally was able to process that this was really happening, and once more, I turned around tolook outside, to the back of the car and the front, the gas station and the convenience store…

“They’re not here—really. I’m alone.”

I turned to Seth. “What the fuck.” It wasn’t a question, just my reaction to this absurd situation.

Seth laughed. “I never would have guessed you sayfuckso often, either. I like it.”

If only I had any fucks left to give…

“Explain to me why you’re here, Seth.” Even my voice sounded strange, full of disbelief.

“Because I want to help you get my little brother out of whatever he got himself into.” He blinked his long lashes at me innocently. And even though he looked so much like Taland, and he grinned a lot just like Taland did, he was still different. It wasn’t just the lack of dimples or the short stubble that wrapped around his jaws like a shadow, but the sparkle in his eyes. The energy coming off him, the way he moved.

“Right after you just tried to kill me a few hours ago,” I said, just to remind him that I hadn’t forgotten. The memory was very much vivid in my mind still.

Seth flinched. “Yeah, but that was different.”

“Different, how?”

“That wasbefore.”

I looked at him. “Before?”

“Yes—before.” And his eyes moved down my wrist lightning fast, though he couldn’t really see my bracelet because the sleeve of my jacket was over it.

He meant before they saw what I had and what I could do with it. Before they saw the colorful magic.

“So, let me guess—Radock sent you here to try to steal this from me,” I said, my hand around the jacket over the bracelet. “Really, does he think I’mthatstupid?” He thought that Sethcould come here and earn my trust with the promise tohelpme, and I’d let him take my bracelet from me just like that?

“Well, I mean, you did come to the Blue House—andthe Diamond Club on your own, so…” Seth shrugged.

My turn to flinch. “That was different.”

Only after I said the words did I realize that he’d said the exact same thing.

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