Grey beat me to the room, and I saw my bag on the bed with him.
“Werewolves are ridiculous,” I said before closing myself in the bathroom to change into my exercise clothes and pull my hair back. When I stepped out again, Ethan was on the opposite bed, reclined and watching TV.
“You game for a little exercise?” I asked him.
He glanced at me and gave me a reassuring smile.
“Nah, I’m going to milk it another day.”
I shook my head at him and left the room. He probably wasn’t milking it. He hadn’t asked me to rub any more ointment into his shoulder, and I was willing to bet it was because he didn’t want me to see the ugly colors his bruise was turning.
The exercise room in this hotel was almost nonexistent. The tiny room had a treadmill, an elliptical, a TV, and a Carlos. He leaned just inside the door and straightened when I walked in.
I debated turning around but knew I would regret it if I did. My skin already itched. He was here and sparring was always better than running. So I stayed.
Ethan had made a valid point before we’d eaten. Running wasn’t an option. That left tolerating these people. Most days, I didn’t tolerate well. I needed to set things straight with Carlos.
“We’ll need to be careful in here,” I said, looking around at the foot room.
He nodded and got into his ready stance. I started out slow with easy jabs. He blocked each one with an open palm. His stoic silence, both emotionally and verbally, bugged me.
“What did you think talking would accomplish?” I asked, just before I picked up the pace.
He shrugged.
“Not good enough.”
I dodged around his block and caught him in the ribs. He exhaled slightly, so I knew he felt it, but otherwise gave no other indication I’d even touched him.
“It was obviously planned,” I said as I continued with a few jabs. “I mean, you had Winifred say something to Ethan, so he wouldn’t ride in the car with us. And you said Grey wanted you to drive, so you would stay calm. Meaning, you talked to him about it beforehand. If you planned something, you had to have an expected outcome.
“So, what did you hope to accomplish?”
“Alone time.”
“We’ve had alone time. This is alone time.”
“Alone time where you weren’t angry.”
“Then you picked the wrong topic.”
He stopped blocking and straightened. I automatically stopped hitting.
“Why did it make you angry?”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve known about you people for what? Three days? You flipped out when I first met you. The girls in this group—my ‘sisters’—are all paired up with a werewolf; then, the first night Ethan and I join the merry men, Michelle comes to my room and mentions how she was attracted to Emmitt. Next, you try to start talking about ‘the pull.’ Three days. How would you react?”
“So, it has nothing to do with him?”
I knew he meant Ethan.
“It has everything to do with me. Just me. I will never be with anyone. Ever. I kill people, Carlos. Slowly. I leave behind burnt-out shells of who they used to be. Ethan understands that. He jokes, and I know he would be there waiting for me if things ever changed; but he knows that, to keep him safe, I have to keep my distance.”
“I’m not like Ethan.”
“No. You’re not. You’re scarier. The control you have over your emotions is incredible. But, you’re a volcano. When your emotions finally erupt, you will leave devastation behind. If I’m around you when that happens, I can’t imagine how it would feel under my skin.”
I sighed and rolled my shoulders.
“Now, are you going to help me purge or not?”
He nodded and got back into a ready stance.
****
“Isabelle, get up and get dressed.” Grey’s loud, firm voice startled me awake. I sat up as a light turned on.
Grey was out of bed, grabbing my bag. Carlos was reaching out to shake Ethan. Grey tossed the bag to me. His urgency seeped into me.
I quickly got out of bed.
“E, get your lazy ass out of bed. Now.”
Ethan sat up and looked around at us.
“What is it?”
“Gabby said we need to leave immediately,” Grey said. “A group of ten are netting this way. We have five minutes to be a mile from here.”
Crap. I shouldered my bag and slipped on my shoes. I had a tank top on and leggings. Good enough.
Ethan bounded out of bed, grabbed his shoes and bag, and went to the door. As soon as he opened it, I heard movement in the hallway.
“Hurry,” Winifred said.
I hustled to the door with Grey close behind me. The others were already speed walking the hall, heading toward the lobby. I kept pace with Ethan. The glass door showed the lit parking lot. The sun wasn’t even close to rising.
Ahead, I saw Clay walking near Gabby. She was speaking softly.
Ethan went straight for the car and slid into the backseat. I got in and closed my door a second before Grey and Carlos closed theirs. Ours was the second engine to roar to life. We were in the middle of the procession out of there.
“Talk, Grey. I want to know what’s happening.”
“There are more now. They’re closing in fast. Gabby says they aren’t veering at all, almost as if they know right where we are.”
We sped through the streets. The city wasn’t overly large, and it didn’t take long to reach its outskirts.
“They’ve made city limits and have split up. Five in each group. They’ll find our trail.”
The vehicle in front of us accelerated suddenly. Carlos pressed the gas to keep up.
“Buckle up, Isabelle,” he said, glancing in the mirror.
I hadn’t realized I’d skipped that part. I clicked the belt and reached out for Ethan’s hand. His strong fingers wrapped around mine.
“We’ll put as much distance between them as we can. It should be fine,” Grey said. He faced forward, watching the road, so I wasn’t sure who he was reassuring.
For the next two minutes, only the sound of the wheels devouring the blacktop kept us company. I wasn’t sure if it was because Grey had no update or because he focused on something we couldn’t hear.
His uneasiness worried me, though.
“Grey?”
“They have our trail. The net’s closing.” The quiet way he spoke sent a spike of fear through my chest. Ethan’s reassuring fingers squeezed mine lightly.
“How many?”
“At least sixty, more closing in behind them.”
My pulse spiked. Sixty? I looked around. Fields and trees and a few houses.
“Stop the car by the next field,” Grey said.
“There’s no way to avoid them?”
“None.”
I turned to look at Ethan. He met my gaze steadily. He’d already closed himself off.
“Keep that wall up,” I said, squeezing his hand. He nodded.
“Grey, warn the rest. They need to close themselves off from me as best they can or stay away from me.” My insides quivered with what I knew I would need to do, what I didn’t want to do. But I needed to protect everyone. I needed to protect Ethan.
“Done.”
The vehicles pulled over and doors opened. I wanted to tell Ethan to stay in the car, but given our last experience with Urbat, a car wasn’t any safer than out in the open. We moved into the field. Emmitt, Clay, and Thomas pushed their women into the middle of our loose circle. Winifred stayed near them. Bethi came to stand beside me after handing something to Ethan. She oozed fear.
“Take a hit,” she said.
I pulled her fear away from her like the thick, unwanted skin it was. It filled me with energy. She pulled out a wicked knife from her jacket and held it with ease.
“Have you used that before?”
“Yeah. You taught me how in another life.”
“Good.”
After that, no one spoke. We waited in silence under the stars.