Page 97 of Protected from Malice
How could I say no when it could bring me everything I’ve ever wanted?
It’s not just my choice; that’s the only problem. For this to work, it has to be everyone.
I hope?—
Hope. It’s been a foreign thought for so long.
As I navigate the traffic headed out of the city, I can’t help but look at my surroundings in a different light. Not as a visitor, but as someone who might?—
But my thoughts are cut off by a heart-stopping cacophony.
My chest seizes.
My foot slips off the gas pedal, drawing an indignant honk from behind me.
No.
It can’t be.
My brain doesn’t want to accept the origin of the sound even though my gut already knows.
Still. I glance in the rear view mirror, wishing for the first time ever to see the flashing lights of a police car come roaring up behind me. I’ll take being pulled over, questioned, searched, fuck, arrest me—anything other than what I fear.
But all I see is a hatchback driven by a sour-faced man gesturing angrily at me.
Then I look down at my phone, sitting face up in the center console.
It’s flashing red.
No.
I don’t want to accept it.
Eden’s supposed to be at home, protected by all the securityIinstalled for her.
She’s supposed to be safe.
But my phone says otherwise. My phone says Eden’s in trouble. That she triggered the earrings Blade and Arrow sent us. That?—
Fuck.
What’s going on?
Could she have triggered the alert accidentally?
I punch the gas, shooting forward with a sharp jerk and earning another horn blast in return.
With my attention half on the road, I snatch up my phone and jab at the screen until the damn tracking app opens. As I frantically scan the little map, I distractedly think about how pissed Eden would be if she knew I was doing this. She busted me texting and driving once and spent a good ten minuteslecturing me about it after, reeling off statistics about distracted driving and how dangerous it was.
I haven’t done it since. Not until now.
But this is different. This isurgent.
I need to know?—
She’s there. Still at home. I can see her little tracking dot flashing right at her house. So if she’s inside, she should be okay. Right?
Unless someone broke in? Or could she have fallen? Hurt herself?
