your safety, learn more about you by investigating your apartment, or capture you and take you to their headquarters. If it’s the last, that means they already know that I took you. And the only reason they would sneak into your apartment was because they knew you were back and their intention had been to wipe your memory.”
Or maybe access her memory. For all I know, they would have first plundered Brianna’s mind to gain information about me.
The thought of anyone violating her like that makes me grip the steering wheel so tightly it begins to bend.
But given Brianna’s dazed expression, she’s oblivious to the rage inside me. She sits quietly for a moment before shaking her head. “But how do you know that? Did they tell you that?”
“No, they didn’t tell me anything. But didn’t you see what your living room looked like? Did you not see the destruction?”
I hold my breath as I wait for her reply. If she truly hadn’t seen any of it, then she may believe I’m making all of this up and that I simply abducted her again. Fuck a duck. I’m up shit creek if that’s the case.
Her forehead scrunches up more, and her frown grows. “Actually, I think I did see some of it.” Her eyes grow to saucers just as the horizon takes on a faint glow. “My couch was blown up!”
“Yeah, and that wasn’t the only thing they blew up.”
Her hands fly to her mouth. “But how could I have slept through that?”
“One of them was a witch. She used a cloaking spell around the living room. Everything that happened there was muted to everyone outside of it.”
When Brianna just stares at me, I add, “A cloaking spell is what the SF uses when they don’t want anyone aware of their whereabouts or actions. It effectively cloaks the area under the spell to resemble exactly what the witch wishes. The witch can change how outsiders see the area, or it can just mute all sounds within. The witch can essentially create the perfect illusion. So while I was fighting for my life in your living room, you and all of your neighbors were sleeping soundly in your beds, none the wiser.”
“Wow.” She sits back, her fingers trembling.
I can only hope she believes me.
Chapter 17 – Brianna
I have no idea what to say. The last ten minutes of my life are all a blur, but I did see some of what Collin’s talking about.
I close my eyes and concentrate, trying to remember exactly what happened after Collin whisked me from my bed.
Vague images come to mind. Holes in the wall. My exploded couch. A lump near the window.
My eyes flash open when I realize that lump is actually two bodies garbed in black and piled on top of each other.
Horror slides through my veins. “Did you kill them?”
Collin shakes his head. “No. I just knocked them unconscious.”
I want to believe him. I really do, but what I’ve seen… “But how do I know that?”
A pained expression crosses his face. “You can’t. You’ll just have to trust that I’m not lying to you.”
He looks so dejected, and his hands keep rhythmically gripping the steering wheel.
My stomach plummets. Before I know what I’m doing, I’m reaching for him. My hand lands on his arm and squeezes. His muscle pops beneath my grip, his bicep like a boulder. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
Some of the tension eases from his shoulders, and with a start, I realize I just did it again. He was upset, and seeing that upset me, so I did the first thing I could think of to comfort him—I touched him.
Stunned, I jolt away as if I’ve been burned.
What the hell’s the matter with me?
Collin gives me a side-eye, then pulls off the next exit and slows.
I perk up again. “Where are we going?”
“We need a new vehicle. We can’t keep driving this one.”
My lips downturn when I realize what he means by “new” vehicle. More like stolen one. He’s on the hunt to commit another crime and since I’m not opening my mouth to protest, I’ve truly become his accomplice. We’re a regular Bonnie and Clyde.
Bri! Snap out of it! You need to stop this.
“Isn’t there another way?” I ask when he pulls into the parking lot of a Burger King. The street we’re on reveals a gas station another block down, along with a McDonald’s and a Walmart. I twist my hands in my lap when his eyes