Page 13 of Awaken the Dragon
“Change of plans,” he snapped.
The door to the room opened just as she was set to reply and in walked Magnum with a sour look on his face, hair tied back and fists clinched at his sides.
“Truck’s in the alley. We gotta move quick!” he yelled.
“Get her bags,” Theo ordered and crossed the room to where Shola stood.
“I cannot leave. I must wait for my package. I must—”
Theo moved in until they were toe-to-toe. She immediately dropped her hands to her sides and tilted her chin so that she could look him in the eye. At any other time he might have thought her actions bold and admirable, but not today.
“A woman is downstairs with her throat ripped out. You can either go with me or take your chances staying here alone.”
“Theo!” Magnum yelled.
He should just pick her up and toss her over his shoulder, or as a gentler option, just pick her up and carry her like a baby. But he did neither. He had no idea why, he just didn’t.
“Why are we running?” she continued to question him. “We didn’t kill her.”
No, they hadn’t killed her but Theo could now scent the demonic activity that had taken place right beneath them. Why he hadn’t picked up that scent last night or in time to stop the woman from being killed were questions for another time.
More importantly, if the room was reserved in Shola’s last name, was she the intended target?
That last question had rage boiling in his gut.
“I’ll come back for your package but we’ve gotta move now!”
The higher pitch of his voice made her jump and he cursed before grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her out of the room. They ran down the hall and slipped through an exit door taking the steps without looking back. He didn’t need to look back, he knew what was there. Enforcers had stepped off the elevator the moment they hit the stairs, and not all of them were human.
They kept moving until Magnum kicked through the final door and they ran into the alley where the truck was waiting. Theo did lift Shola this time, tossing her on the back seat before climbing in behind her. He slammed the door and seconds later they were moving.
Shola had no idea what was happening.
Someone had been killed in a horrific way but why were they running? They were not the killers. Unless...no, Theo and his friend were guards. They’d been hired to protect her until the wedding.
“What’s his name?” Theo asked after they’d been riding for a while.
“Who?”
“Your husband-to-be. What is his name and why isn’t he here with you?”
He looked irritated, his eyes even bluer than they were before, if that were even possible. He’d been staring out the window since the truck had begun moving. She presumed his friend was riding in front with the driver, but a black glass shield blocked any view of what was in front of them. And the only thing she could make out through the tinted side windows were lights. Even during the day Burgess was a colorful city.
“Shola. Tell me why you’re really here.”
Those words were spoken with deathly calm and for the first time since embarking on this journey to this world, she felt a spark of discontentment.
“I am here to be married. And I would think that I should be asking you about people being murdered in the hotel you and your company decided I should stay at. What kind of place is Burgess? Do things like this happen all the time?”
She kept her hands in her lap and decided it was best not to look at Theo again. Even angry he was a very attractive man and she’d resolved before she’d come out of her room a while ago that she would not look at him in that way again. After all, she was betrothed to another.
“I asked you for his name.”
It seemed neither of them were good at simply answering questions.
“Warrick Camden. Do not ask me where he lives or what he does for a living because those things I do not know.”
“But you’re marrying him?”
