Authors: T.M. Franklin
They pulled off the highway onto an isolated gravel road that wound through a thick canopy of trees. A couple of miles into the forest, Tiernan finally pulled off the road, crashing through some brush before parking the Jeep out of sight.
“Nice spot.” Ava shot him a wry look.
He ignored her, leaned his seat back, and closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “There’s nothing we can do until I get word from Andreas, so you might as well get some sleep.”
“I’ve
been
sleeping.”
He opened one eye and frowned at her. “I haven’t. So be quiet.”
She was. For about thirty seconds. “What’s going to happen?” she asked quietly, as if speaking in lower tones made it all good. “You know, when we find him?”
Tiernan sighed. “I need to take him to the Council.”
“But . . . you’ll let me talk to him first, right?”
He sat up and rubbed at his eyes before answering. “If it’s possible. Yes.”
“What do you mean?”
“He might try to run again. I’ll have to stop him if I can.” He turned to her. “He’ll be safer with the Council than he would be on the run.”
She nodded.
“Will you try to stop me?”
Ava considered that for a long moment. “I don’t know,” she finally whispered.
Tiernan shook his head and closed his eyes. Within a few minutes, he was breathing deeply, asleep.
She turned to look out the passenger window at the trees and brush beyond, letting her mind wander. She jumped when her phone vibrated in her pocket. With a quick glance at Tiernan, she fumbled for it, her breath catching at the text from Caleb.
It’s not what you think. I’m sorry.
She stared at the phone in shock and worry and reached for the car door handle.
Tiernan stirred. “Where are you going?”
“Little girls’ room. I’ll be back in a second,” she said, willing her voice not to wobble and praying she could get out of the car before her phone vibrated again and Tiernan noticed.
Luckily, he just shifted in the seat, tucked his chin into his chest, and went back to sleep.
Ava got out of the car and walked into the cover of some trees. She wanted to call Caleb, craved hearing his voice, but she couldn’t risk Tiernan overhearing. And she didn’t dare walk far enough away to ensure that wouldn’t happen.
It would probably take an hour anyway. Stupid super hearing.
She texted Caleb back instead, erasing and retyping several times thanks to her trembling fingers.
Are you all right? Where are you? What’s happening?
She paced back and forth in the little clearing between two trees, waiting anxiously.
I’ll explain soon. Everything will be all right. Just trust me.
It took all of Ava’s self-control not to scream in exasperation. She did let her gift loose a little—enough to throw a couple of pinecones zinging off through the forest.
How? The Council thinks you’re working with Rogues! They’ll send assassins if you don’t come in.
She’d almost given up getting any response at all until her phone buzzed once more.
Don’t trust the Council.
And that was it. She texted him three more times, but got no response, and finally gave in and dialed his number. It went directly to voice mail. Again.
Ava reached up and touched her necklace through her shirt, fighting tears. She wanted to trust Caleb, wanted to believe him that he could explain the whole mess, but she couldn’t fight the feeling that she was missing something. Something big. She closed her eyes and felt for her gift, the necklace warming under her fingers. She didn’t let her power loose, just let it trickle through her body, centering and calming her. After a while, she took a deep breath, letting her gift settle within her again.
She turned to walk back to the car and got in quietly. Tiernan didn’t stir, so she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep.
Chapter 7
“You got anything?” Tiernan asked as they pulled to a stop somewhere in the mountains east of Salt Lake City. They’d finally gotten a call, the sensor directing them to the isolated area, but they’d had to abandon the Jeep, taking to the rough terrain on foot.
“Not yet,” Ava replied, tightening the straps on her backpack as she set off after him. “Maybe when we get a little closer.”
“You can feel him, right?” Tiernan asked, not meeting her eyes. “I mean, you and Caleb . . . you . . . uh
. . .
”
Ava flushed, realizing what he meant. “Yes. I feel him,” she said, clearing her throat. “Just not at the moment.”
Tiernan nodded and climbed up a rocky slope, Ava scrambling up behind him. “The sensor said due south from where we left the car,” he said, lifting a hand to shade his eyes as he looked up at the sun. “Should be close in about an hour. Let me know as soon as you feel him . . . or anyone.”
“You think there are others?”
“Well, someone may be shielding him,” Tiernan replied as he started walking again. “Andreas said that’s why the sensor was having so much trouble.”
“And you think it’s a Rogue.”
Tiernan didn’t answer.
They trudged along for several minutes, and Ava appreciated that he didn’t complain once about her slowing him down. For a huge, scary monster, Tiernan really wasn’t such a bad guy.
The silence was getting to her, though, her mind on a constant repeat—the look on Caleb’s face as Tiernan confronted him, Caleb disappearing without even looking her way, his texts . . . her feeling for a while now that something had been off with him. She knew Caleb. She knew she could trust him. But all of the evidence against him was . . . unsettling. Frightening. And she had absolutely no idea what would happen when they finally caught up to him. Sure, Tiernan had promised she could talk to him. The problem was the Council had evidence against him. Of course, from current personal experience, she knew that evidence didn’t always prove the truth. And if Caleb was found to be a traitor, even his mother couldn’t save him, regardless of her position with the Council.
She half slid down a slope, coming to a stumbling stop next to Tiernan, who was taking a long drink out of a water bottle. “Could a Rogue be setting Caleb up as well?” she asked.
He handed her the bottle, frowning as he considered her words. “I suppose it’s possible. I wouldn’t have thought so before, but now
. . .
”
She sipped from the bottle, swirling the cool water around in her mouth before swallowing. “The question is why? Why would a Rogue want the Council to think Caleb was helping him?”
“Maybe to protect whoever
really
released Elias Borré?”
“Who is this guy, Borré, anyway?”
Tiernan shrugged, taking the bottle from her and putting it back into his bag. “I don’t know anything about him other than the fact he’s a Rogue. And he’s apparently pretty powerful.”
“So how would Caleb even get to him?”
“Maybe he had help.”
“What if
. . .
” Ava started up another hill with Tiernan walking beside her. “What if it’s the same guy? The one who killed Nick Simmons. And the one who set up Caleb?”
“I don’t think so.” Tiernan scratched at the scruff on his chin. “Borré escaped early Saturday morning. Simmons was killed late Saturday night.” He glanced sidelong at Ava.
“I suppose a shifter might be able to do both—”
“No,” she said stubbornly. “Don’t even try to point the finger at Caleb.”
He raised a brow. “What I was
going
to say is it’s far more likely that it would be two different people.”
“Two Rogues. Working together?”
“It used to be unheard of,” he said with a humorless smile. “Until your recent experience, that is.”
Ava swallowed thickly, remembering her time as a prisoner in the Rogue lair. Until then, Rogues were thought of as disorganized, selfish—each operating on his own, with greed and lust for power his only motivation. The fact that a group of Rogues conspired to capture her was worrisome to the Council.
Well, to be honest, it didn’t make Ava feel all that great either.
“Of course, all of this is pure speculation,” Tiernan said. “And ignores the fact that Caleb never denied helping Borré escape. And he ran, which only makes him look even more guilty.”
Ava opened her mouth to defend Caleb again, but was interrupted by the ringing of her phone.
Tiernan glared at her. “Are you out of your mind? Why do you still have your phone?”
Ava glanced at the display. “I don’t recognize the number, but it’s a Witteville prefix. It might be Lucy.”
“Your roommate?” Tiernan’s face was red with fury. “You’re wanted by the cops, in case you don’t remember. And they may not be Race, but they can trace a cell phone. It might even be them calling.”
Ava felt like such an idiot. She knew that. She’d just been so worried about contacting Caleb, she hadn’t thought it through.
“If it’s Lucy, I need to talk to her,” Ava told him. “She’s got to be wondering what’s going on. I disappeared without a word and now with the police looking for me
. . .
” She watched Tiernan carefully, and he finally gave a begrudging nod.
“Make it quick,” he said. “And then, destroy that thing.” He took a few steps away, presumably to give her at least the illusion of privacy, and turned his attention to the ground at his feet.
“Hello?”
“Ava? What in the world is going on?”
Ava let out a relieved breath at the sound of her friend’s voice.
“I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. Didn’t you get my voice mails?”
“I’ve been kind of in and out of service,” she said lamely. “Where are you calling from? I didn’t recognize the number.”
“Pay phone,” she said with an almost irritated huff. “I’m not an idiot.”
“I know that—”
Lucy continued talking as if she hadn’t heard. “The police came to our room, Av. They said you killed that campus police officer. They went through all your stuff. Asked all these questions. They called your parents.”
“Oh, no way. They talked to my parents?”
“Yeah, and they are freaked out. Haven’t you called them?” Lucy took a breath. “Ava, what is happening? Are you all right?”
Am I?
Ava wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that question. “I didn’t kill anyone,” she said.
Lucy snorted. “I know that. That’s what I told the cops. There was no way you were sleeping with that guy. I told them you had a perfectly hot boyfriend, and Av, not to speak ill of the dead, but that cop was
old.
”
Lucy believed her. So whoever had tampered with the witnesses hadn’t gotten to her. Ava supposed she had Katherine to thank for that. She suspected the Protector was still keeping watch outside her dorm, even if she wasn’t there.
Katherine.
Ava couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of her before. Katherine had been with her. Katherine had
always
been with her.
“But why do they think you did it?” Lucy asked, interrupting her train of thought.
Ava let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know, Luce. Someone else killed him and made it look like I did. I don’t know who and I don’t know why, but I’m trying to figure it out.”
“Are you crazy? Ava, you need to get back here and talk to the police. You can’t handle this on your own!”
“I’m not alone,” she said, casting a glance at Tiernan.
“Is Caleb with you? The police were looking for him, too.”
“No, not Caleb. I have a . . . friend in law enforcement. He’s helping me get to the bottom of this, and he’s keeping me safe, Luce. You don’t have to worry.”
“I don’t know, Av—”
“The cops think I’m guilty, Luce. And there’s too much evidence against me right now. You know they’ll lock me up if I come back, and I’ll never be able to figure out what’s happening.”
Tiernan crossed his arms over his chest and tapped at his watch.
“Look, Luce, I have to go. Just . . . trust me, okay?”
“You know I do.” She could hear tears in her friend’s voice, and it broke her heart.
“I’m going to fix this, but I can’t come home right now. It’s not safe.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure.” Ava swallowed thickly, trying not to cry herself. “But if you talk to my parents, let them know I’ll call them when I can. I’ll have to destroy this phone, or the police will find me.”
“God, Av . . . be careful. Please?”
“I will. You too, okay?” She considered her next words, but only for a second. “And you know that woman you saw with Caleb? The pretty one with black hair?” Tiernan raised a brow, but she ignored him.
“Yeah,” Luce said.