Page 13 of Lure

I also didn’t care.

“Hold tight,” I said. “This ride is about to get bumpy.”

Then I did a hard turn off the highway and onto the hard packed earth. The arid land might crumble in places, but it was as sturdy as any dirt road. It also shaved time off the drive. A lot of time.

The sound of the van rattling climbed and if I didn’t trust our contact, I’d worry about it falling apart with the way it vibrated. As it was, Grace let out a sharp laugh—whether it was in disbelief or shock, who knew, but I did like hearing it.

She said something, but I missed it. “What?”

“I said,” she shouted. “You’re crazy.”

I grinned. “Yes, Gracie-girl, I am.”

Then I pushed the accelerator to the floor.

Chapter

Five

GRACE

Between the violent shaking of the van as Alphabet raced across the desert, coupled with the vibrations rattling my body, I was kind of surprised it didn’t make my head hurt worse. Honestly, it had, for a bit, but the noise and the bouncing seemed to drown out the ache. Weird.

Or maybe not. It wasn’t like I hadn’t done plenty of shoots with a hangover. Sometimes, you just had to rely on the music and the laughter to boost your endorphins. Granted, a race over inhospitable landscape in an ancient Volkswagen Bus van that reminded me of the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine had never been on my bucket list.

But hey, here we were.

I tightened my grip on the oh shit handle as the van bounced into a dip and then up again. This was not the vehicle we needed to catch air in. Alphabet’s sudden laugh reached me and I whipped my head to look at him. The wide grin on his face was wildly infectious and I found myself smiling in response.

Until he looked at me.

“Eyes on the—” I ordered, glancing forward. “Dirt or whatever.”

A fresh bark of laughter escaped him. “Don’t worry, Gracie-girl, we’re almost there.”

That shouldn’t be comforting, yet my grin felt just this side of feral as I held on tight. I stole a look at the map on the phone. The distance had been shaved considerably. What had been thirty-ish minutes had been trimmed to under five now.

If I’d thought it had been remote before, it had nothing on this. There were rises ahead. Dark rocks jutting upward like dark fingers reaching for the sky. Despite the starry sky, I wasn’t sure how I could make out any of these details. The next hard bounce had my teeth clacking together.

That definitely didn’t help the headache. Light spilled over the side of one rock, giving it a red, ruddy appearance.Like it had been stained with blood…

The moon was on the horizon, where it hadn’t been before. Half-full, it offered so much light to turn the inky blackness into a more velvet blue-black. We were already slowing down from the juddering pace. I was going to feel those vibrations in my soul permanently.

It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes since he took us off-roading. I reached for the phone where he had it set. We were almost to the flagged location. And I was right… It hadn't been more than fifteen minutes. It had been twelve.

“Gonna find a place to set up. I’m going to need you to stay in the van, Gracie-girl.”

“I hate that.” The answer escaped me almost automatically and he shot me a glance. At least I could hear myself think again. The thud of my headache was still there and it seemed to throb into my teeth. “I get it, I’m not some super bad-ass spy-mercenary-action hero chick, but I’m not some helpless damsel either.”

We were amongst the huge rocks when he finally stopped the van and cut a look toward me. Lips pursed, he studied me.

“Before you say anything…” I said, pointing a finger at him. “The vehicle isn’t always safeeither.” Granted, he hadn’t been there when Voodoo, Bones, and I had been forced off the road and down that hill, but it was a fact.

Instead of arguing, Alphabet smashed his lips flat as he stared forward. I could almost see him arguing with himself. That was better than arguing with me, so I wouldn’t complain. I glanced at the phone. The blue dot was getting closer to us. But it was coming from a different angle.

Hopefully, they were on the road and not taking our shortcut. “Not sure how far away they are, but they are headed to us.”

“If you go with me and Goblin, you doexactlywhat I tell you, when I tell you, no questions or arguments.”

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