Page 172 of The Reluctant Hero

The door of the vehicle behind him opens, and Gabriel appears, looking furious. He sees Jake, and his mouth opens, then his eyes flit to me, and it snaps shut. Emotions cross hisface so quickly that I can’t identify them before he settles on the cold mask.

“Get her in the car, Jake.”

No. I can’t let that happen.

Jake sees the panic flooding my face and tightens his arms around my waist to heft me up and carry me to the car.

“No,” I croak, my feet coming up to brace against his knees and keep him from moving. I’m distantly surprised that he can carry my weight. Especially with me struggling even though it’s feeble at best.

“I’ve got you now,” Jake whispers, confusing me. “No one will ever touch you like that again. I’ll kill anyone that tries, I promise you.”

His arms release me, and hands grab my arms to pull me into the vehicle. I barely keep my feet as one hand lets go, and the other yanks me close.

Gabriel keeps me next to him as Jake hops in to squeeze me between them. The door stays open long enough for me to see Ace’s furious face as he sets the baton on the floorboard at my feet. Then it slams closed.

Cade is sitting across from me, looking pissed. He leans across the seat and opens a cubby by one of the armrests.

“We should go.” Jake’s smile reappears from the corner of my eye. My brows furrow at the switch in personality.

Cade sits up with a bottle of water and opens it to hand to me. I stare at it blankly and he gives me a tight smile.

“It will help your throat until we can get to the doctor.”

“You can get her another one. Unopened,” Jake says teasingly.

Cade’s eyes snap to him and widen slightly. “I didn’t-”

“Unopened,Cadey,” Jake’s smile turns into a baring of teeth. His arm moves to prop along the backrest behind my head, enveloping me in the smell of his cologne. I’m morefocused on the scent of citrus, wood, and spice than anything else.

Gabriel’s hand tightens over my forearm as he stares at my face. He’s getting a great up-close view of my swollen cheek. I watch the slowly retreating water bottle in a daze.

“Are we all on the same page now?” Jake looks around at them both as Cade digs out another water with a concerned expression.

“Weare,” Cade insists, extending his arm with a fresh water bottle with the cap on. Jake takes it and inspects it carefully before handing it to me.

I’m suddenly parched, my tongue dry, and the water looks amazing. It tastes almost sweet, but I struggle with swallowing and tilting my head back to drink. When I get a few sips, I lower my head to pop my neck. It gives me a little relief, but not much.

I’m still drifting in a haze as they stare at me. Until the door opens again, startling me, and Ace gets in followed closely by Mikael. When I jump, Jake’s arm drops onto my shoulders, and Gabriel’s hand tightens on me. Both Ace and Mikael glare at Jake as they settle with Cade in the middle. The three look like the beginnings of an extremely violent football team.

“That was beyond reckless,” Mikael begins to lecture. I tune him out. If they’re focusing on Jake it gives me an opportunity to defend myself.

My eyes slide down to the floorboard where the baton is waiting for me to pick it up. Jake’s leather shoe goes over it and presses down. My lips tighten over the move as his thumb rubs over my shoulder as if it could soothe me.

“I’d rather not get hit with that,” he interrupts Mikael to tell me with a gentle smile. I don’t think he’s listening to whatever lecture is going on. “I’m impressed by the damage youdid. His ribs on the left?Veryspongy, my imp. After only two hits. It can stay down there for the drive. You rest.”

I don’t respond as my eyes slide away to take in the buildings we pass without moving my head. I didn’t notice we had started moving, and the idea is making the unease rise past the ache in my head. I can’t tell where we’re heading, but the doom feeling doesn’t make an appearance.

The damn thing is on the fritz. Stupid,uselesssuperpower.

A silence descends over them like a wet blanket and all the attention swings to me.

I ignore them, focusing on finding a location that I recognize so I know where we’re going. There’s five of them and one of me. And at least Jake and Mikael are armed. It’s safe to assume the rest are too. It hasn’t passed my notice that none of them are surprised that we just left a dead man behind. Even the driver I haven’t really seen isn’t in hysterics over it. Not exactly a good sign for me.

Less than twenty-four hours of freedom, and I’m either going back to jail or heading to a place where they can bury my body. The abruptness of it pisses me off. I thought I’d have at least a week to track people down.

I’m just starting to wallow in‘I had a good run’thoughts when my text chime rings out. It takes my dazed mind a second to catch up to the fact it’s really my phone. I reach for my back pocket and pull it out without much thought behind it.

The screen now has chunks of glass missing and is darkened enough I can barely read it. I’m lucky it still works. Now I have to figure out if I have glass in my butt or just in my back pocket.

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