however, she just wanted to get the hell out of there. “If you are trying to help me, prove it. Let me walk out of here unharmed.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw seconds before he disappeared again and then reappeared by his jacket.
“Would you stop doing that?”
He shot her a dark look as he rifled through his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a card. Slowly, he crossed the room toward her. “I’m just trying to get you used to it.” He offered her the card. “I can teach you to move like me. I can teach you to control the power that’s been locked inside you. Take it.” He gestured with the business card. “Call me when you’re ready to believe.”
As the door closed behind Rose Kelly, Fionn fought the urge to chase after the girl. His patience strained. Before walking into the hotel room with the food she didn’t touch, Bran had called to say there was movement from the Blackwood Coven. Bran kept tabs on all the coven hunters, and two of their hunter warlocks had just appeared on the American Airlines database for flights to Zagreb.
They had time. But not a lot. If the burst of powerful magic from the spell breaking had alerted the Blackwoods, other supernaturals would have felt it too.
Yet, Fionn knew if he wanted Rose to trust him, to follow him willingly to Ireland and to her death, she needed to believe that he meant no harm. It was a risk to let her go, but she was so freaked out, he was 99.9 percent certain he’d get a call within twenty-four hours.
Her power was in its infancy. She had no control.
She’d need him before the next sunrise.
6
It was still dark outside so Rose had the hotel call a cab for her. It wasn’t like her to waste money on frivolous things like taxis, but she was giving herself a pass since she’d just been attacked by a vampire.
That was the truth.
As much as what Fionn had told her was insane, the vampire attack was real.
And something was happening to her.
Adrenaline coursed through Rose’s body, making her jittery and anxious. The farther the car drove from Fionn, the worse it got. Despite all his crazy talk, despite his less than warm, fuzzy manner, there was something about him that drew her.
Something about him that made her feel weirdly safe.
“Šta jebote …” The driver slammed his hand on his wheel, drawing Rose’s regard forward.
His headlights cast a glow across the quiet street, but they flickered frantically while his radio whipped through the channels.
“Glupi auto!” the driver growled, hitting the wheel again. “Ne treba mi ovo sranje!”
From the little Croatian Rose had picked up over the last few months, he was cursing his stupid car.
Yet, she realized, it wasn’t the car’s fault it was malfunctioning.
It was hers.
“Calm down, Rose,” she reassured herself, drawing in a deep breath. Calm. Calm. You’re okay. You’re safe.
Almost immediately, the driver’s headlights stopped flickering and the radio stuck to one station. The driver grumbled something unintelligible, and Rose tried to relax against the back seat.
The driver stopped outside her apartment. Once she’d paid and bolted from the car, the calm she’d been holding on to started to slip again. Mostly because in her frantic desire to get into her apartment, she pushed at the building’s front door as she fumbled for her keys and she burst it open. Lock and all.
Rose gaped at the heavy door as it swung back to her, splintered wood sticking out of it near the locking mechanism.
Holy shit.
Even though it was still the early hours of the morning, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was around to have seen that. Relieved she was alone, she hurried upstairs to her apartment, wishing she was already inside, and suddenly, the world blurred past her.
She was speeding.
Like Supergirl.
The realization made her falter, bringing her out of warp speed and causing her to slam against her apartment door.
Rose stumbled and stared toward the staircase.
She’d just blasted up three flights of stairs in seconds.
“Okay, that was weird,” she huffed, looking down at her legs. A small, slightly hysterical smile curled her lips. “And fucking cool.”
When Rose wanted a cup of tea and the kettle flew across the room at her head, that was less cool.
Her neighbor pounded on the wall seconds after the kettle smashed into pieces against it, leaving cracks in the plaster.
When she decided she wanted a shower and found herself in her