Priceless (20 page)

“
You damn well know what a throw
away is. You
’
re just going to get in the way,
and
cause more harm than good unless I
’
m using you for a shield. For them to put that restriction on you WAS a death sentence and you know it. Those bastards don
’
t care about you, Milly!
”
I was shouting by the time I finished
.

Alex
was whispering in the back seat
.
“
No fighting, no fighting.
”

“
Stop this car right now. I am not a throw away
,
”
Milly said, her voice as cold as a chunk of ice pressed against my skin.

“
It
’
s not a car, it
’
s a Jeep
.
”
I glanced in the rear-view mirror. No werewolves galloping behind us. That was a plus.

“
PULL THE FUCKING JEEP OVER!
”

Well, that was a first. Both for the
“
F
”
bomb, and the screaming.
I
didn
’
t
pull the Jeep over.
“
Milly, I don
’
t think you
’
re a throwaway, but that
’
s how they
’
re treating you.
”

I drove for another fifteen minutes
on the main highway doing well over 60mph, checking the mirror for a pack of werewolves galloping behind us
before I pulled over
, though it was still reluctantly
.
“
If you still want to go, then go. You aren
’
t a throwaway.
”

She got out, her hands shaking as she held the door open with both hands,
almost
as if she were holding herself up.
“
I know that. But they
’
re everything I
’
ve fought so hard to have.
And I need them
.
T
hey have training techniques I can
’
t learn anywhere else.
I
need
to be a part of the
Coven
. They need to be my family now.
”

“
And if they end up killing you? What then?
”

“
They won
’
t let me die
,
”
she
said, though her voice wavered.
“
Goodbye, Rylee.
”

She shut the door and started to walk down the shoulder, her thumb out. I waited until the first farm truck rumbled into view and she hopped in.

“
I wouldn
’
t be so sure of that, Milly
.
”
I couldn
’
t deal with that loss right now. At the very least
,
she
’
d helped me to pinpoint the
“
who
”
behind India
’
s disappearance. A rogue
Coven
.
That only made me feel slightly better about the case. It wasn
’
t identical to Berget
’
s, but still . . .
.

Checking my mirrors for cars and rampant werewolves, I pulled back onto the road when all was clear. As I drove, I wracked my brain for everything I knew about the
Coven
, or
Coven
s in general
.

“
Okay
, Alex. What do we know about witches?
”

He grunted and slithered up to the front seat.
“
Milly.
”

“
Yes, Milly is a witch
.
”
M
y heart ach
ed
more than
a little.
“
Coven
’
s have any number of people, but the core of them
is
always thirteen. Which means we
’
re dealing with at least thirteen rogue witches. Yay.
”

Alex lifted his head and laughed.
“
Yay!
”
My sarcasm was lost on him completely.

On the open road, fields spilling out around us, I concentrated on what I had. I needed to find a deep mineshaft, needed to be prepared to face down the rogue
Coven
and
,
on top of that, avoi
d the pack that was
probably
setting up camp at my house
,
waiting for us to get back. And that
’
s where all my gear was.

I stopped at the first hotel we came to,
one
I
’
d
used a few times in the past. R
unning in,
I
booked a room in under three minutes. The fear that the pack would be on us if I left Alex by himself was strong
, even though they didn
’
t appear to be following us anymore, I wasn
’
t taking any chances
.
Losing one friend in any given day was enough for me
,
particularly considering how few I had
.
Room key card in hand
, I drove the Jeep into the underground parking, a large sheeted metal door closing behind us. Now
the trick
was going to be getting Alex into the room without being seen.

“
Come on, we
’
ve got some flights to run up
.
”

Alex gave a soft woof, his tail wagging as the flight from his rampaging pack mates was already forgotten.

Using the stairwell, keeping a hand on Alex
’
s collar, we sprinted up the three flights with no problem. Peeking into the carpeted hotel hallway from the stairwell, I could see our room was at the far end.
“
Ready?
”

He bobbed his head.
“
Yup.
”

I couldn
’
t help but laugh, and for that alone
,
he was worth the pain in my ass he caused with all
his
pack issues.
Sprinting again
,
we ran to our room, the key card in my hand and sliding through the lock before I
’
d come to a full stop, which meant we slammed through the door in a heap. Alex laugh
ed
and tried to start a wrestling match with me.

“
Nope, not right now
,
”
I said, pushing him off me, the scratches on my arms a reminder of how lucky I was to be immune.

Flicking on the TV, I said
,
“
You stay here, be quiet
.
I
’
ll be right back.
”
Alex ignored me as he leapt onto the
king-
sized bed and flopped down facing the TV.

Two trips later
,
I had brought up my overnight bag as well as a range of weapons
from my Jeep
. No way
was
I going anywhere else without them. For that matter, I was going to sleep in my flak jacket.

Next on the list was finding that mineshaft.

I dialed in Kyle
’
s number from memory, hoping my little hacker was still up. A groggy hello answered the phone.

“
Kyle, can you look up mineshafts for me around here?
”

“
Hello to you too, Rylee
,
”
he
grumbled. A shuffling of papers and then I could hear him typing on the keyboard.
“
Lots of mineshafts, anything in particular?
”

“
Deep ones, two hundred feet or better
,
”
I said, switching the channels to a local news station.

“
Only four that deep that I can find. Mines are deeper
,
but you just want the shaft?
”
His voice
became
clearer the longer we spoke.

“
Yes. Send it here. I gotta go.
”

I gave him the hotel
’
s fax number and hung up, not wanting to stay on longer than we had to
and
chance
either a tap or a power failure due to my proximity
.
Plopping the phone back into
its
cradle, I stared at the TV. It was the main story that caught my eyes.

“
FBI AGENT KILLS PARTNER IN COLD
-
BLOODED MURDER
,
THEN
ESCAPES.
”

“
You
’
re in deep shit now, O
’
Shea
,
”
I said.

“
Gun man in trouble?
”
Alex
’
s voice pick
ed
up in intensity.

I stroked his head, soothing him.
“
Maybe.
”

The news reporter came on, her voice pitched all wrong for TV. The gist of it was that on transport
,
O
’
Shea (though they didn
’
t name him) overpowered his guards and stole the unmarked car following the police cruiser he was in. The pictures looked like a bomb had gone off, like some
high-
end movie production chase scene had gone horribly wrong. Cars flipped
over
, debris everywhere, not to mention the people gawking at the edges of the scene as the helicopter flew overhead.

“
Who do you think you are, O
’
Shea?
Schwarzenegger
?
”

I turned the TV off. He was on his own now
;
I
’
d offered him help and he
’
d turned it down, stupid man.

Leaving Alex in the room, I took the elevator down to the lobby to see if Kyle had faxed me the info yet. The clerk, the same flustered young woman who
’
d booked me in
,
went all
wide-
eyed when I said I had a fax coming in.

“
Oh, I
’
m sorry, we can
’
t do that.
”

“
Too late, I
’
ve already given him the number and if you didn
’
t want people sending in faxes it shouldn
’
t be on the welcome card.
”
I flopped down said
welcome
pamphlet on the high counter that made me feel like a little kid even in heeled boots.

Tight blond curls bounce
d
as she shook her head
.
“
I
’
m so sorry, we can
’
t . . .
”
a beeping noise interrupted her. Bless Kyle and his timing. My body ached
, my arm hurt,
and all I wanted was to soak in a tub and sleep for a few hours before seeking out the mineshaft.
Sleeping against my bedroom wall hadn
’
t been the best of ideas. Damn, I needed Milly to keep me on track.

The doors behind us slid open and a moment later
,
a large hand pressed into the small of my back.
“
Did you get us the room . . .honey?
”

M
y eyes
bug
ged
out
when
I turned
to stare at a more than rumpled O
’
Shea standing at my side.
“
How did you
—
”