Falling Light (Game of Shadows #2)(16)

Long moments trickled past. She clutched the steering wheel so tightly, the muscles in her arms, shoulders, back and neck were rigid with tension.

If she were a superheroine, she could do all this in tight leather pants and a bustier. She would have a coiled whip at one hip and a gun at the other, and a bored, sort of droopy-sexy pout on her lips. She would yawn as she kicked ass, sneer as she took any man she wanted, and she would boot him out of bed when she was done.

A superheroine, she was not. She was pretty sure she didn’t achieve slightly cool. Maybe she managed somewhat capable. Sometimes. She sighed and pinched her nose with thumb and forefinger.

The green Jeep pulled alongside her at the stop.

Michael paused long enough to catch her eye and nod. Then he accelerated and she pulled into place behind him.

They drove for perhaps fifteen minutes. She had stopped trying to guess his intentions some time ago. The labyrinthine route he drove had her lost within a couple of turns. She worked at keeping the Jeep in sight, the rest of her mind a blank, so that she actually felt surprise when he signaled, turned down a gravel road and pulled to a stop.

Tangled overgrown forest crowded either side of the gravel road. They could almost have been where they had abandoned her Toyota. Wow, a lot of water had flowed under that bridge. She stopped behind him, put the Ford in park and rested her forehead against the steering wheel.

Tension spilled out of her body. Exhaustion roared back in. She felt limp as a rag doll. Michael opened her door and put a hand on her arm. “Come on, Mary. Climb out.”

She tried. Her legs didn’t cooperate very well. “We’re fugitives in the age of information. Should we have worn gloves or something back at the house?”

He reached in the car, put his hands under her arms and hauled her bodily out of the car. She tried to get her rubbery legs to stiffen and support her weight. He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

“We only used the bathroom and the kitchen. And I doubt the police will dust for fingerprints for a car theft and home invasion, but I still wiped everything down before I came out.”

“The front doorknob,” she said.

“I wiped that too, and the door to the garage, and the garage door switch.” He ran his hands up and down her arms. “I’ve taken care of everything. Stop worrying.”

She squinted up at him. “You’ve done this when you’ve had to, huh? How often was that?”

He grinned. “Often enough.”

“Ooh-kay. Okay.” She leaned against him. Words poured out of her. “Sometimes everything just hits me, you know? My house burned down a few days ago, and I called a dragon yesterday morning—who answered me—and I really think I would be okay if I could just take a little time and deal with it all.”

“It has all hit you fast.” He rested his cheek at the top of her head.

She slipped her arms around his waist and held on tight. “Only we can’t take any time, can we? I want and need to help you and Astra in whatever way I can, but I’m really scared of what’s coming next, and isn’t it funny after all this? I’m scared to die. Or worse. There’s much, much worse than dying.”

“Yes,” he said, very low. “There is.”

She sucked air. “And if by some miracle we don’t die, my job is gone, my life is gone and I don’t know how to survive as a fugitive from the law. I feel—I feel like I’ve turned down this dead-end alley, and something terrible is blocking the mouth of it. It’s coming for me, and there’s nowhere to turn.” She balled her hands into fists and said through her teeth, “And you don’t have to say anything. I already know I’m babbling.”

He steered her around the door to the hood of the Ford. “Sit here.”

She climbed onto the hood and watched as he retrieved the bags of food. “I’m sorry.”

“I know you’re sorry. Shut up.” He set the bags beside her. “Eat.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “What about you?”

“I will in a minute. I have things I need to do.” He looked at her hard. “I mean it. Eat. Force yourself if you don’t feel like it.”

She nodded. The simple orders he gave her provided structure and purpose while she struggled with feeling overwhelmed. She recognized the technique. She had used it herself with trauma patients.

He opened the trunk of the Ford and the back of the Jeep, and he moved back and forth between the vehicles, transferring the contents from the car to the SUV. She couldn’t identify what was in some of the bags but she thought she saw a tent go by, along with other camping supplies, and also a toolbox.

She asked, “I thought we were hoping we could ditch the Jeep soon.”

He glanced at her. “I’m keeping our options open. You never know what may come at us.”

She said, “You know, I’m not usually such a beta.”

The sun fell into his eyes as he glanced at her, illuminating the pewter color to a pure keen light. “What do you mean?”

“Usually, I’m an alpha. Just wait until we get trapped sometime in a hospital.” She pointed at him and winked. “I will rule. Then you’ll see.”

Laughter creased his face. “I can’t wait.”

She rummaged through the contents of the grocery bags. There were apples, grapes, a couple of containers of low-fat yogurt, chocolate and peanut butter–flavored breakfast bars, a package of sliced turkey, three Tupperware containers, a partial loaf of bread, cheese, a couple packages of tuna, a box of crackers and two cans of Coke.