Page 20 of Crimson Storm

“Yes. We need them. Now move it. Get us out of here and I’ll let you go. Refuse to help us and I promise you’ll be sorry.”

Apparently falling for my bluff—he had no idea what I was, or wasn’t, capable of—Shane began moving, walking over to his uncle and retrieving the keys he’d dropped.

“The necklace too,” I said, reluctant to go any closer to the bleeding man.

Shane obeyed then looked to me for further orders.

“Unlock the handcuffs first. Then pick up the blankets,” I instructed. “Get them and put them around us.”

There was no way I could restrain Kelly and Heather from fully draining Glenn while also draping the three of us to protect us from the light of day outside.

We wouldn’t burst into flame immediately between the garage and the truck, but we’d be badly burned, and it would require even more blood to heal.

That would be dangerous for Shane as the only human within reach. We’d be in close quarters in the truck’s cab, but there was no choice now. We couldn’t wait around here—we had to leave, and hehadto drive us.

He obeyed without a word, grabbing the blankets from the garage floor and draping them around us.

“Now open the rear door of the truck and come back. You’re going to close the garage door behind us then get in the driver’s seat.”

“Where are we going?” he asked in a dead-sounding voice.

“I’ll tell you when we get on the road.”

Wherever we went, it needed to be close. The blankets could only do so much. We needed to find shelter.

Once we were covered, I moved toward the truck just outside the garage, pulling my unwilling friends along with me. Neither of them was very large, but they’d just fed, so the short journey was a struggle.

The truck’s driver’s side door slammed behind Shane, and I had a moment of panic. He had the key fob. If he chose to, he could simply hit the lock button and drive away, leaving us behind to be arrested when the police arrived.

But he didn’t. He started the engine and waited for me to get my friends into the backseat before pulling out of the driveway. I tented a blanket over my face and peeked from the opening to look through the windshield.

Shane drove out of the driveway and to the end of the neighborhood street. “Where do you want to go?”

“Take us into the city,” I said. “You can drop us off there and come back home.”

He nodded and took a left, following signs toward a highway onramp.

“You think he’ll turn?” he asked in a small voice, glancing back over his shoulder.

“Your uncle?”Oh no.“Why? Has he been bitten before? By whom? How many times?”

“I don’t know. At least a few. At work. Hazard of the job, you know?”

So that was how Shane had known a single bite wouldn’t turn him. I certainly hoped Glenn didnotturn. If he did, he’d more than likely come after us. But that was another problem for another day.

“Give me the key ring and the necklace,” I said, still trying to maintain an intimidating tone.

It felt wrong to keep frightening Shane and ordering him around, especially after he’d released us from the basement prison and given us his own blood to drink.

But if I didn’t keep him scared, he might drive to a police station—or maybe even pull over to the shoulder of the road, get out, and just leave us there.

I had to keep him under my control at least until the sun set.

Unfortunately, his uncle had been wrong—we didn’t possess mind control powers. If we did, we’d have left the Safety Center long ago.

Shane followed my instructions, handing the items to me then pulling the truck onto the highway. It was packed because of rush hour, and he stayed quiet as he navigated traffic.

I set to work mending my necklace. Thankfully the link that had stretched open when Glenn yanked it from my neck hadn’t snapped—it was only bent out of shape. I reattached it to its neighboring link and pressed the silver back into shape to lock them together.

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