Page 20 of Bones

To run.

I ignored both as I got into the rental car before he started driving.

“How’d it go?” I tried again when the silence stretched for too long. Even though he’d been peeved earlier when I’d asked, if I waited too long before asking again, he’d accuse me of not caring.

“They need a total overhaul, but they’re fighting me on the basics. They don’t even have a streaming setup.” His voice was filled with outrage, like not broadcasting the intimacy of a worship service was a sin that would earn the whole congregation an express ticket to Hell. “But I’ll work through it. It’s mypurpose.”

It wasn’t the first time Ryan had said something like that, but it was the first time something about it sent a chill down my spine.

Tearing my gaze from the window, I shifted in my seat to look at him.Reallylook at him.

His jaw was clenched as he drummed his thumbs on the steering wheel. His usual pristine hair was messy, like he’d been ruffling it while my attention was locked outside.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I told you, they’re old-school here, and?—”

“Not with them. What’s going on with you?” When he glanced at me with something resembling sorrow and grief in his brown eyes, I amended, “Withus?”

“Nothing.”

My gaze shot from him to look out the window to search for a sign of… something. Someone.

But we’d long ago left the city, and the only thing around us were trees. It was how I’d pictured Maine—but a lot creepier when that dread I’d felt returned tenfold.

“Tell me the truth,” I ordered.

But I didn’t need him to.

A vision of Ryan shaking hands with a burly man filled my head. I watched as he handed over my toiletries bag to him.

Right before he handed me over, too.

The vision faded, but the panic that seized my heart remained.

“Who is that man?” It was a stupid question since he hadn’t been able to see my vision. “Light brown hair, dark brown eyes. Looks like he’s in the military or law enforcement.Angry.”

“No one.”

“You’re lying.”

He pushed out a hard exhale. “Steve Jones. The representative from Beacon who’ll be traveling with me.”

It wasn’t uncommon for Ryan to subconsciously speak inI’sandme’s. His world was him, and I was just along for the ride. But the way he said it that time was different. Purposeful.

I tried to stay calm, but betrayal dripped from my words. “Why are you bringing me to him?”

“It’s my purpose. Mydivinepurpose.” The angst he’d been grappling with shifted to excitement. I could almost feel his adrenaline and pride filling the car. “I’m going to save the world, Aurora. Not just your soul or the congregation’s souls.Allof them. The entire world.”

Oh no.

He’s had some kind of break.

Even if he was delusional, my vision was very real. “What does that have to do with me and that man?”

“I told him about you.”

“What?” I shouted, more stunned by that than anything else that’d happened.

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