Forever - Chanda Hahn Page 0,3

looking around in confusion. “Where’s your car?”

“This way.” He ran to the left, making sure to keep pace with her. “What’s wrong, Mina?”

“Reaper,” she huffed.

Her heart thudded loudly in relief when she saw the car. She ran to the passenger side and lifted the handle, but the door was still locked. Come on.

She held on until she heard the automatic click and then jumped into the seat. Brody pulled out his keys and fumbled with the ignition. “Go, go, go! Start it up.”

“I’m trying,” he said between clenched teeth.

The keys fell on the floor, and Brody bent down, feeling for them on the floor mat.

Another howl filled the air.

He stilled. “What in the world is that?”

He slowly straightened to look over the dashboard. “That dog is huge! But where’s the Reaper?”

Mina glanced back. Nothing. “I think the dog is the Reaper. Can you still see it?”

Her hand snaked forward along the arm rest until her fingers found the switch. A soft click sounded in the car as the doors locked. Childish, but she was out of options.

Crash!

“Whoa!” Brody shouted.

Mina heard claws scraping and digging at the glass. But she couldn’t see anything out there. “Is it heavy enough to break through the windshield?”

Brody shifted the car into reverse and sped backwards, spinning the wheel and executing a turnaround worthy of a stunt driver. The black beast’s claws clicked and screeched across the hood as it tried to stay on, but Brody’s driving threw him off. They heard a thud as it slammed against the side of the car. Brody hit the gas, flying up the road.

Thirty, forty, fifty, on up to eighty miles per hour Brody sped. Mina couldn’t make herself open her eyes until about thirty seconds had passed. She tried to look at her passenger mirror, but all she saw were trees whizzing by.

Brody slowed only enough to turn onto the on ramp. When they were safely speeding down the highway among other cars, he looked over to her. “That’s a Reaper… as in death?”

“I think so,” Mina craned her head to look between the seats. “They’re the hunters and assassins, but they’ve been known to go rogue.”

“And that beast dog is one?” Brody continued driving and cast a quick look over to her. “I’ve never seen anything that big.”

Mina studied his profile. He didn’t look scared at the prospect of being hunted—he looked angry. His sun-kissed blond hair accented the deep blue of his eyes, and his strong hands gripped the steering wheel with determination.

“I’m not sure what that was.” She shrugged, turning in her seat to face him. “What were you doing there? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad you showed up when you did, because I couldn’t have outridden that thing on my bike.”

“Following you.” He glanced at her quickly.

“What?”

Now it was Brody’s turn to shrug. “Well, Ever, Nan, and I kind of promised to never let you be without a guard. And since Ever left to try and track Teague, it was between Nan and me, and I drew the short straw for today.” He sighed, trying to make it sound like a huge inconvenience.

“I’m not a straw,” Mina said.

“No, but you are short.” He tried to hide the smile, but Mina smacked him in the arm with the back of her hand. “I followed you this morning when you took off on your bike. I almost lost you a few times, but I figured out where you were heading. You wanted to say your goodbyes.”

Her gaze dropped to her folded hands. Her heart swelled with the pain of her loss. “It’s not fair,” she mumbled, not expecting an answer.

“No, it’s not. I know you cared a lot for her.”

“She was like a second mom to me.”

Mina looked over her shoulder and noticed the white handle and red metal frame in the backseat this time. “You grabbed my bike.”

“Yeah, it took a bit of finagling, but I got it in.” Brody reached out with his right hand to hold hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Mina looked at their clasped hands on the seat between them, and she was filled with mixed emotions. This was everything she wanted, but she couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with guilt. She had been forced to face her true feelings about Teague in the tower, and—given the choice—she had chosen to stay.

But she wasn’t quite herself then. Right?

“What are we going to do if that thing shows up again?” Brody’s mood got serious as he faced the fact