Page 26 of Blood
I slide into the driver’s seat and slam the door as I start the ignition. I turn back to look at Everleigh. She deserves to know about this new development.
Only, the backseat is empty. She’s gone.
Fuck. My little rabbit is on the run again.
20
Everleigh
Iprobablyshouldn’thaverun. When Wolf catches up with me—and I know he will—he’s not going to be happy. But I have to do this on my own. Somehow, I’ve grown attached to him over the past several days, and I can’t put him in this kind of danger.
My pussy tingles at the memory of the punishment he gave me when we first arrived at the cabin, spanking me over his lap like a small child. It hurt, but there was something intimate about it, too. The way he held me in place, firmly but gently. The way it felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest once he was done. The pain was cleansing in a way I hadn’t realized I needed.
A part of me hopes that he does come after me, catch me, and take me over his lap again. Only someone who cares would go to the trouble of punishing me for running.
Something hitches in my chest. Wolf cares about me, doesn’t he? Somehow, something has grown between us during our time at the cabin. Maybe he didn’t plan to bring me there, but it seems like it was meant to be in some way.
Something like grief stabs my heart. I miss Wolf already.
I suck in a deep breath. I need to get moving before he catches up with me. I stick out my thumb for a passing car. It slows, and an older man peers out the window of the old Crown Victoria. There’s rust on the wheel wells.
“Need a ride, sweetheart?” he asks.
I nod without offering any other information. I must look ridiculous, in this oversized t-shirt and shorts that Wolf gave me. It’s clear that they belong to someone much bigger than I am. At least I have my own sneakers, even if I don’t have socks. With any luck, I’ll be back to my apartment soon and in my own clothes.
“Are you heading to the city?” I ask hopefully.
“Sure am, sweetheart. Hop in.”
He unlocks the car. I pull open the passenger door and climb inside. It smells like pipe tobacco and something else. Menthol, maybe? He pulls back onto the road without any further questions.
I stare out the window, watching the passing trees. It’s been less than a week since I left the city—since Wolf took me, to be precise—but everything seems different now. Everything I thought I knew has been turned upside down.
Since my parents died, my life has seemed to move forward on autopilot. Go to a crappy gig, then another one. Drive for a ride share. Deliver food for people who are doing much better in their lives than I am. Scrape by, barely making enough to cover both my rent and food. It’s been the same thing, week after week, month after month. All of my energy was focused on two things: surviving and finding a way back into Asher’s life.
Now, though, everything has shifted. Nothing seems clear. The group that I thought would offer me protection, the way they’ve protected Asher for years, has stabbed me in the back, at least if Wolf is correct, and I don’t think he’d lie to me. I don’t know who to trust anymore.
You can trust Wolf,a small voice in the back of my head insists.
Not anymore. Not since I ran from him again. He’s gone. He has no reason to help me. All I’ve been is a colossal pain in his ass.
I’m sure he’s already driving the other direction, happy to be free of me. He hadn’t planned for any of this. He can take his half a million dollars and start over, away from this whole mess.
The man in the driver’s seat clears his throat. “It’s probably none of my business, sweetheart, but…are you in trouble?”
I pull my eyes away from the forest that borders the road. “No, just… got stuck out here. A friend was supposed to give me a ride, and we had a falling out.”
That’s true enough, and to my relief, the man doesn’t push. He gives a short nod. “Mind I we listen to the radio?”
“That’s fine.”
He turns a dial, and voices fill the car. So, he’s the kind of guy who listens to NPR talk radio on road trips. This fact reassures me somewhat. What I’ve seen so far makes me think he’s someone’s grandfather. The type who smokes a pipe, pulls quarters from behind your ear, and sends you a five-dollar bill on your birthday with instructions to not spend it all in one place.
The rest of the car ride is filled with the commentary from the radio. The voices from All Things Considered drone on about plastics and their impact on the environment. It’s interesting, as it turns out, and gives me something to think about other than my current predicament.
The man driving doesn’t ask my name, and I don’t ask his.
As we near the city, he asks for a destination. I give him a set of cross streets that will get me close enough that I can walk the rest of the way. I’ve never been to Asher’s apartment, but I know his address. My digging turned up plenty of information, and the rest of it I got from the private investigator I’ll be paying off until I’m thirty.
