Zoe relished the quiet as she drove home. Mile after mile of pine trees, interrupted by shore exits and gas stations, soothed her. Soon enough they'd close in on the city and she'd need to put all her focus on driving. Occasionally she glanced at the mirror. Jack kept exactly one car length between them. She could almost make out his discernible frown. He hadn’t been happy taking two separate cars, but the solitude was just what she’d needed. Time to think without Jack turning her brain to mush and her body to liquid fire.

A shiver raced down her spine as her thoughts drifted to Jack. She shrugged it off and turned on the air conditioner full blast.

Focus, Zoe. This wasn’t just about sex. It was about her whole life being turned upside down. How the hell was she going to integrate witchy-power and a mate into her life?

She couldn't even tell anyone what had happened. Jack and his family had made it very clear that there was a no tolerance policy about blabbing. But really, who would she tell? Her therapist would have her committed, and Nan already thought she had been brainwashed. She was going to freak when she saw the vortex. Shit, what was she going to say when she found out Zoe was pregnant?

Pregnant. It still didn’t seem real. She glanced in her rearview mirror and chewed on her lip. Could she really raise a baby with a man she had just met?

No matter how deep her attraction, she didn’t know the first thing about him outside of the bedroom. She shook her head and gripped the steering wheel tighter. That wasn’t entirely true. He was close to his family and treated them all with kindness and respect. Loyal too, and protective. When he wasn’t solstice-crazy, he seemed pretty normal.

Maybe they could make it work.

And maybe pigs could fly.

Relationships equaled love–not sex. And Jack had made it quite clear that love wasn’t part of mating.

One thing for certain, she couldn’t trust her body to make the decision. Her stepfather had seen to that.

As a kid, before she knew right from wrong, she'd wanted his touch. Asked for it. Zoe shuddered, her stomach cramping at the unbidden thought.

Could she trust Jack? Could she trust herself?

This morning, Jack had been sweet and gentle as he massaged her. But that, too, was all about sex, wasn’t it? She wasn’t sure. Her sexual perspective was all fucked up. Wasn’t that why she was in therapy? For once in her life, she’d like to have a normal relationship without all her baggage showing up on the doorstep like an unwanted guest.

But there was nothing normal about Jack or their relationship. There never could be.

Zoe’s head snapped forward, jolting her into the present. A car slammed into hers with a sickening crack of plastic and metal. In the rearview mirror, a dark SUV with black-tinted windows barreled towards her.

What the hell? Where was Jack?

The SUV rammed into her again. Zoe’s neck whipped forward and the seat belt cut into her skin. She grabbed the steering wheel, righted her path, and stomped the accelerator to the floor.

Too slow.

On the next hit, her car spun in slow motion. Dirt and grass spewed on her windshield, and then it all stopped. In her vision, the world still rotated. She unbuckled her belt and reached to the passenger seat floor. She unzipped the side pocket of her knapsack and curled her fingers around the mace can.

A vehicle screeched to a halt, and she played dead. She rested her cheek on the hot plastic of the front seat. Leaking gas and burning rubber stung her nostrils and her stomach twisted. She gripped the little canister tighter and made a Herculean effort to stop shaking.

Her driver side door opened “Get out of the car.”

She stayed still and waited for him to come closer.

He leaned over, grabbed her arm. The smell of garlic assaulted her nostril, along with the tingling of electric voltage. She turned, opened her eyes, and stared into the nightmare that had scared her shitless for months. How was he still alive?

“Don’t move.” His smile was triumphant and arrogant. “I used the vortex energy before you were even born. I don’t want to injure you or the baby. You come with me. Like a good girl.”

Zoe prayed, whipped one hand from behind her back, and maced his face. He screamed and dug his fingers into his eyes. Immediately, she thrust her feet into his chest and he fell back into the ditch, cursing.

She sprinted for his idling car and snorted a triumphant laugh. She hadn’t survived alone in New York without learning a few tricks.

Stones spit from under the tires as she floored the accelerator of the SUV. After a couple of miles, her heart stopped racing and her brain engaged. Where was Jack? The southbound traffic was at a dead standstill.

Oh my God. No, no, no.

She picked up her cell phone, and said, “Call Jack.”

A painful eternity of six unanswered rings followed while she held her breath.

“Hi, this is Jack…”

She exhaled. “Jack, Jack. Are you okay?”

“…please leave a message…”

She cursed, hung up, and then spoke into her phone again. “Call Olivia.”

“Hi, leave a message for Olivia’s Natural Herbal Remedies...”

Damn it all to hell. Didn’t anyone pick up their fucking phone anymore? She left a message. “Olivia, nine-one-one. Call me back immediately. Something’s happened. Get Josh, too. Get everyone.”

Every few seconds, she checked the rearview mirror. How long would it take finger-gun-man to catch up? For a millisecond, she considered calling the police. Get real. She was driving a stolen car.

She ached to turn around and find Jack, but the southbound lane was at a dead stop.

Slamming her palms on the steering wheel, she cursed. She'd be a sitting duck if finger-gun-man found her, but she needed to find Jack. Despite the danger, she pulled off at the next rest area, ran into the overcrowded building, and sat down at a table in the far corner of the cafeteria.

Zoe took out her phone and tried Jack again. No answer. Please, please, please be okay.

Two heavyset, blue-haired women sat down at the table next to her. “I heard it was a twelve car pile-up.”

Another similarly aged, big-haired matron bobbed her head from another table. “I heard twenty. Two buses across both lanes, one tipped over. Some idiot spun into the south bound lane.”

“Probably drunk.” The woman clucked her tongue. 

“I saw it happen,” a man said, smugly. “An Audi spun like a top and then wham.” He clapped her hands together and Zoe's gut wrenched. “Two buses hit it, and it scrunched like an accordion. No one could’ve survived it.”

Zoe’s body went numb.

The awful truth hit her like a two-by-four. She gasped and barely made it to the bathroom stall before retching.

Her phone rang while she was rinsing her mouth. “Olivia? It’s Jack. He’s, he’s…he’s had an accident.”

“Whoa, slow down. I got Josh, here, too. On speaker. What’re you talking about?”

“I think Jack was hit by a bus, maybe two. I can’t find out. The traffic on the parkway is backed up for miles.” She leaned against the bathroom wall, shaking, and slowly sunk to the floor.

Josh's voice came out of the little speaker, dry and emotionless. “What is it, Zoe? Do you think or do you know it was Jack?”

“He was following me, then he wasn’t. And I heard a woman describe the Audi that got hit. Josh, he never would’ve left my tail, unless something really bad had happened.” Zoe’s throat tightened with the tears she hadn’t allowed herself to shed. “The Russian guy…I thought he got blown up with Kyle but he wasn’t…he tried to take me, but I maced him and stole his SUV. I’m at a rest stop, a few miles north, but–”

The police band radio squawked in the background, drowning out Josh's voice. He let out a stream of expletives and then commanded, “Get out of there. Get into that car now, Zoe, and drive.”

“But Jack needs me.” Zoe couldn’t catch her breath. Her head was spinning. She wanted someone to come get her and bring her home, not send her away.

Josh spoke slow and direct, as if she was a little kid. “If what you say is true, Jack needs to know you’re safe. So do what I say. Do you understand me?”

“Okay.”

“Are you south of Point Pleasant?” He sounded very much like a clan leader. Like Jack. And it broke her heart.

“Yes, but–”

“Listen carefully. That man's car probably has GPS, as does your phone. You need to make sure you can’t be tracked. When you hang up, turn off your phone and find another ride. Follow the signs for the town of Point Pleasant. Buy a ticket for the city. Leave the car in the station.  Do not turn the phone back on and do not go home. Find a place to stay.”

“But I have to find Jack…” This can't be happening. Pain pierced through her chest in waves. The grief was beyond measure, the not knowing, even worse.

Josh kept talking but Zoe couldn't pay attention. Not now. Not when Jack needed her. “...in command now that Jack is…well, we just don’t know. You and your baby are our biggest hope. Don’t let Jack down. This is what he would have wanted. Hang up. Do as I say. Now. Pick up a disposable phone and call as soon as you're safe.”

The line went dead and she let out a little whimper.

Zoe stood and placed a trembling hand on her stomach. She wasn’t just fighting for her own life anymore. She would survive. She had to. For Jack and his unborn child, she would make certain of it.