an hour after dawn, Seth took an exit offering gas stations and food. Lilah’s stomach rumbled when she followed him into a little diner after he’d filled the tank. Expected, she figured. She hadn’t eaten since breakfast the previous day. After everything that’d happened, it may as well have been a decade.
They sat stiffly and quietly after placing their orders, only breaking the silence with murmured thanks whenever their server swung by to offer refills of hot coffee. Lilah didn’t need to look up to know Seth watched her. She felt his sharp focus whenever she shifted in her seat, and a lesser study when she remained utterly still.
After the third time of glancing up to see his eyes dart away, she tucked her hair behind her ears and drew in a deep breath. “So,” she started, wrapping her fingers around her coffee mug to keep them still, “what’s the plan?”
Seth’s dark eyes met hers without a flicker of any other color. “Wolfden, south of here. I already updated Jaime. Plus, the Conri pack has no love for lions. Or anyone else, for that matter. Snooty fucks. You’ll be safe there.”
“Me?” Lilah blinked. “You’re not staying?”
Seth grunted. “Isn’t that what you wanted? You were desperate to get away last night.”
“I…” Looking at him in the light of day made all her actions and attitude seem silly. Humiliating, even. He was just a man. A very intense, no-nonsense, done-with-her-shit, man.
She felt his eyes on her again. It was… unnerving, to be honest. Even on dates, she never commanded such attention.
Not that they were on a date. She may not ever date again. She might not even live to see the end of next week.
Cold hit her like a wave and left behind a rising tide of guilt. Here she was, not even a full day since a colleague died next to her, and she was thinking about her dating life. That was what near-death experiences did to a person. Those brushes with the other side took all her collected thoughts and feelings and split them into five thousand tiny pieces of an impossible puzzle, then threw them high into the air. She needed time to pick through them and piece herself back together.
Seth’s hand fell over hers. “Lilah,” he said softly. “You’re going to be okay.”
Calm rolled over her. She wanted to lean into it, let it envelop her like a warm blanket. He had no reason to comfort her or do more beyond the barest of actions to keep her secure. Even after she behaved abhorrently toward him, he offered her reassurances.
“I…” she started again, unsure of what to say. Sorry, probably. That was a safe start.
Seth snatched his hand away as the server appeared at their table. The sudden movement pierced the bubble of quiet around them. All her nerves spiked at once, leaving her mouth dry and a shudder rushing down her spine.
Cedric was dead.
Jasper and his lions had tried to kill her twice.
She was stuck with a man who was making the best of a very complicated situation while she did nothing but add to the trouble.
Her stomach turned, and she rushed to her feet. Bathroom. Even if she didn’t spill the bile in her throat, she’d rather have a completely legitimate panic attack without intense eyes watching her every breath.
Three steps away from the table, Seth pulled her back around. “Lilah.”
His voice commanded her to stop and listen even more than the hand around her wrist. “I need a moment,” she whispered. “Please.”
His thumb stroked over her skin. Heat flared to life, warming her against the ambient chill of the diner and settling that blanket of calm around her shoulders. She tugged away, but he only tightened his grip. He stared at her for a beat longer, almost eating her alive with his gaze, then let her loose.
“I’ll be waiting,” he said in a voice thick with gravel, dropping his eyes.
Lilah murmured something at him in response. She didn’t think they were full, complete words. The warmth died and left her colder than before. Goose bumps raised the hair on her arms, but she resisted the urge to rub them away until she was safely hidden from view.
Restless energy coursed through her limbs. She wanted to run, but settled for pacing the few feet between the stalls and sink, stumbling between the walls as the room spun faster and faster.
What the hell had happened to her life? Where had she gone wrong?
Where did she turn when