Page 53 of The Hunted
I kissed Abbey on the forehead. “Be good. I have to run.” Then I strode over to Layla and cupped her elbow. “We need to go.”
She puffed out her pale cheeks. “Can you make it quick? I want to try to leave before the snow gets any worse.”
I didn’t answer her. I didn’t know whether Tripp and Webb would let her and her sister leave before my father had spoken to her uncle or located Jordyn’s whereabouts. I hadn’t heard if Webb had done just that.
Once out of the lab, Layla and I wound our way down an empty hall. It wasn’t the same route we’d taken to get up to the infirmary from the lobby. The elevator might have been quicker, but it was best if Layla and I weren’t in a closed space with no way out. As much as I would like to think I had willpower, I was finding with Layla that I didn’t.
“Where’s Jordyn, by the way?” I asked.
“At the house,” she said as her mind wandered and her pulse increased.
“You’re lying.”
The sound of our footsteps bounced off the bare walls.
“I hate you,” she muttered.
“We both know that’s a lie too.”
She created some distance but still walked alongside me. “Have you always been this arrogant?”
I slipped my hands into my pockets to keep from combing my fingers through her thick locks. “Ever since I was human.”
She huffed out a breath. “You sound proud of that.”
“When you have people fucking with your life since you were a child, you learn not to roll over for anyone.”
“Sounds like you had a tough childhood.” Her tone was even.
It wasn’t the time to dive into my past, so I shrugged.
Silence dangled over us as the red exit sign up ahead drew closer.
“No elevator?” Her pulse quickened more as a wave of lust oozed off her.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sounds to me like you want to go for round two.” Just the thought of us in an enclosed space made my cock jerk.
She gathered her long auburn hair from behind and draped it over her shoulder. “I don’t think so.” She didn’t sound all that convincing.
A wave of scented cherries permeated the air, snuck into my veins, and made me fist my hands together. My self-control in not taking her right there was about to burst into flames.
“Do Abbey’s visions always come true?” Her voice wobbled as she asked me that for a second time.
I couldn’t blame her for freaking out. If someone told me Jo would kill me, I would have a hard time believing it. My earlier response hadn’t exactly been a firm answer, and Abbey’s visions had always been spot-on in the past. I hadn’t lied about how Abbey was struggling lately, but that was only with her dreams. “Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time.”
Instantly, her anxiety hit me like a Mack truck speeding down the road at a hundred miles an hour. I almost faltered.
What the fuck?
I cursed the ability to feel others’ emotions, and Layla’s were tearing my insides to shreds suddenly.
Put up your shields, man.
No matter how hard I attempted to shut my brain down and think of something off-the-wall, like a dog cuddling with a cat, I couldn’t shake the desire to wrap Layla in my arms and tell her everything would be okay. I was beginning to believe that our little tryst in the elevator had something to do with whatever was happening to both of us.
“Sam.” Layla said my name with so much emotion, I stopped mid-stride while she kept walking.
It took her a second to realize I wasn’t beside her. Then she pivoted on her heel like a graceful ballerina, and waves and waves of auburn hair flew behind her.
