Page 52 of Stealing Sloane

“Doesn’t matter.” He shrugged as he alighted from the driver’s seat. “Whatever you’re having.”

Though she should be relieved that Jacob had no inkling of her plan, that pain pierced her chest deeper. Still, she allowed herself one last look at him, memorizing the planes of his face,the way the sunlight lit up the reddish highlights in his hair, that firm mouth that kissed her until she was breathless.

Turning away, she walked toward the food court, calming herself so her heartbeat slowed to a normal pace. As soon as she was out the other side, she rushed toward the rows of cars in the lot. The lot was busy since it was lunchtime, with several cars coming in and out and families dawdling about as they made their way to and from the packed food court.

Too many witnesses.

She was about to make her way to the trucks currently gassing up when she spied a lone car in the distance. It was right next to the bathrooms, the door open, perhaps left there by the driver who made a run for the toilet.

Sloane sent a quick thank-you prayer above as she sprinted toward the car. Her heart pumped as she neared the vehicle, and she was only a few feet away when a bright blast erupted in front of her.

Covering her eyes, she staggered back. The heat told her something must have exploded. Was it the car? Was this a trap? As she put her hands down, she saw that a wall of fire blocked her way. She ran in the opposite direction, but another fire wall shot up from the ground, preventing her from going farther. When she veered right, she was blocked once again by more fire.

“What the hell?” It wasn’t just a wall of fire, but a circle surrounding her. And while it was large enough that the heat did not burn her, she still had no escape.

She was trapped.

“Where do you think you’re going?” said a voice from behind.

She spun around, just in time to see a figure walking through the wall of fire, emerging inside completely unscathed. Her heart leapt into their throat at the sight of Jacob, his face a mask of fiery fury. “What’s the meaning of this? What are you doing?”

“What amIdoing?” He tsked as he drew closer to her. “Do you think I don’t know you by now? You agreed to go to the safe house too easily. I only had to look at your face to know you wanted to hightail it outta there.” His eyebrows drew downward, the heat of his anger hotter than the flames surrounding them. “You were going to leave us. You were going to leaveme.”

Her heart clenched at that last word. “You know why. Ronan was never going to stop. He was going to come after me and would have killed everyone who got in his way. I’m putting you and your family in danger.”

“We can handle Ronan, you know that. Why couldn’t you trust me?” His green eyes bore right into her. “Tell me why you lied to me. Why you were leaving me.”

His words cut into her like knives. “I had to.”

“Why, Sloane? And don’t you lie to me, or I swear to God?—”

“Because I don’t want you to get killed because of me!”

A range of emotions passed across his face, much too fast for her to figure out what exactly he was feeling right this moment. She swallowed hard. “I can’t … I just …” It was obvious there was no getting out of this, as he literally had her trapped with his powers. “Fine … let’s just go to the safe house, okay?” This was too much; she couldn’t deal with this now. This whole conversation was leaving her raw. “I won’t try to run.” She would just have to figure out another way to get to Ronan.

He snorted. “If you’d been doing something other than planning your escape, you would have noticed that I’m not taking you to a safe house.”

She blinked. “What?”

“You were so hell bent on escaping you didn’t even notice the highway signs we passed were leading to Baltimore.”

“Baltimore? That’s northeast, not west. Where are we going?”

“To Boston.” His eyes burned with fury, as the flames around them shot up higher toward the sky. “I’m going to kill Ronan Forte.”

Sloane’s stomach dropped. “What? Why?”

“Because if that’s what it’s going to take to keep you safe, then that’s what I’m going to do. I promised you, didn’t I? That if we couldn’t find evidence on Forte, you would get justice for your parents.”

Her throat turned dry. “You don’t have to do this. They’ll send you to Siberia.”

“You were going to do it, why can’t I?”

“Because this isn’t your fight, Jacob.” Dread filled her chest at the thought of him going away forever. “I won’t let you do this.”

“Too late for that.”

“If you kill him, then … then … I’ll confess to the human authorities and the Lycan High Council,” she said defiantly. “I have a motive after all.”

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