* * *
Ethney folded up her sub wrapper and shoved it in the bag by her feet. Her eyes scanned the road signs as they passed by them. They were about three hours away from Savannah.
While Noah phoned his superiors about getting his sister safely to Savannah, she checked in with Aric. All was well with Aric and the girls—the girls figured out how to play video games and spent all day trying to beat Aric. When he wasn’t slaying lycanthrope, Aric was an avid gamer; he even challenged his gamer friends online. How he managed to keep up with his work and have a social life was beyond her. Not that she would call online gaming communities a social life, but she supposed it made it easier since he didn’t have to meet people face-to-face.
Noah sighed and set his phone in the cup holder. He put his hands on the wheel and flexed his fingers.
“How did it go? Are they going to pull the strings?”
“Yeah.”
She narrowed her eyes. The frown was back on his face and he blew out a long breath as he shifted in his seat. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Too many people are getting involved for my liking. I wanted this to be a small operation.”
She nodded. Too many people were getting involved. It was making her uncomfortable, too. The more involved the bigger chance she and Aric would be discovered. Astraea could whammy people and make them forget, but this group was getting large. Including Elena, at least a hundred people knew what was truly happening and most of them were military and government officials; hopefully, they would keep things quiet.
The game was changing and she and the other guardians had to adapt before it was too late. It might already be too late for some of them based on what Brockwell said last night. She couldn’t help but wonder which of her comrades had been captured and who betrayed them. She didn’t want to know. The thought of one of her own turning made her stomach twist, so she focused on something positive instead.
“The last time a human got involved we won. Maybe it’s not a bad thing,” she said quietly.
“I thought no one was supposed to know about us?” Noah asked.
“They aren’t, but there are some rare exceptions.”
“What happened?” Noah asked seemingly relaxing in his seat.
“Daire, the other dragon, had an assignment in St. Joseph, Michigan. He met a young woman there who helped us. We didn’t kill Brockwell, obviously, but we did kill a lot of his followers.” She sighed and shook her head. “Of course, he built them back up again in a very short period of time. Six months later and his numbers have doubled, if not tripled.”
“I’m guessing this woman wasn’t bitten?” Noah asked.
“No. She’s completely human. Grace has been a huge asset to our team, though. Maybe we need more people like her.” She shrugged. It couldn’t hurt anything.
“So, she still works with you guys?”
“Sort of. Daire has been released from his agreement pending Astraea finding another guardian to replace him. Grace is Daire’s soulmate, a reincarnation of his wife, so she is happy to help in anyway she can.”
“Soulmate?” Noah made a face. “I didn’t think such a thing actually existed.”
Ethney snorted. “Me either. I guess I’m screwed, huh.”
“You’ve been jaded, but that doesn’t mean love doesn’t exist,” Noah said.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. She did believe Grace and Daire were meant for each other, but love wasn’t in the cards for her. After what Angus did, she would never trust another man. How could she? Her job was a blessing. She was in and out of towns long enough to have a passing fling to scratch her itch, but not long enough to develop a real relationship. She didn’t want one either. It would only end in heartbreak.
Noah was the first man she spent any amount of time with in decades. It was wearing on her, too. Why did he have to be so damn nice? And cute? She let her gaze slide over to him, admiring the way his muscles bulged beneath his form-fitting tee. She quickly snapped her attention away from him.
It had been too long since she was with a man. It was something she’d need to remedy soon, but definitely not with him. He was her enemy and she was going to have to kill him in a few weeks—on her birthday. Happy birthday!
“You don’t believe in love?” Noah asked.
“Do you?” she countered.
“Well, yeah. I haven’t found the one, but I know people who have. You’ve been alive a long time; there isn’t anyone you’ve loved?” his voice dropped lower as if he was sad for her.
She didn’t want his pity. She did have love. Her children still held a special place in her heart, even after all these centuries. Daire and Aric did, too, as her brothers.
“Not besides family. I didn’t love my husband. Back then, you didn’t marry for love, only for convenience or money. Some people got lucky enough to fall in love while others...” Maybe some didn’t end up as poorly as she, but they definitely didn’t love their spouse. “It was expected for a woman to marry and produce children for her husband.”
Noah frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“There is nothing to be sorry about. It’s just the way things were back then. The world has come a long way in some respects,” Ethney said, focusing on the trees zooming by in a blur.
Suddenly, the car’s engine rumbled loudly, stuttering before dying completely. Noah cursed under his breath and edged the car to the side of the road.
“What’s wrong?” Ethney asked leaning over the center console. All the needles were at zero and the radio was off.
“The car’s dead.”
When the car came to a stop, Noah got out and lifted the hood. Ethney followed him out and crossed her arms over her chest waiting. He huffed and turned to her.
“Well?” she asked tapping her foot. This wasn’t on the agenda. They needed to get back to Aric and the others.
“I’m no expert, but my guess would be there is something wrong with the alternator or battery. Probably a combination of the two. It’s not something I can fix,” he said, taking a step back and stroking his chin.
Ethney looked toward the sun. It was starting to crest, which meant it was well past eight at night. The car rental place would be closed by now. No taxi would take them all the way to Savannah without an upfront payment and she doubted Noah was carrying that kind of cash. There might be a bus, but she didn’t know if it would still be running this late. This sucks!
Noah pointed in the direction they came from. “There was a town a few miles back that way.”
She huffed. “I guess we better start walking.”
Too bad they weren’t closer to the water. She could use a good soak and swim.