Fire Rising

CHAPTER FIVE

Sammi turned off the car but remained inside as she casually let her gaze roam over the small village. There were four pubs, one restaurant, a co-op, and a gas station along with a bank and post office.

The size of the village should have put her at ease. Instead, the tingle returned full force. She rubbed the back of her neck and looked around for what had put her on edge.

Her stomach rumbled loudly, reminding her of one reason why she’d stopped. She needed food and the P.O.S. needed petrol.

“A quick bite for both of us,” she mumbled as she opened the door and stepped out.

There wasn’t a cloud in sight. The sky was so bright blue that it hurt her eyes to look at it. However, it was perfect for wearing sunglasses so no one would know who she was looking at.

Sammi slid on her shades and adjusted her purse on her shoulder before she walked into the restaurant and found a table that gave her a view of the door, but was close enough she could dart out if needed.

It was early enough that she was able to get her order in almost as soon as she sat down. The waitress was quick to bring her some coffee, and Sammi was thankful for the dose of caffeine it offered.

Since she was sitting by a window bathed in sunlight, she was able to have a reason to keep her sunglasses on. Sammi gazed out the window and found her thoughts turning to soulful, deep eyes and brown hair streaked with gold, of a muscular body that her hands itched to touch.

Tristan. She didn’t want to think of him but there was something compelling and captivating about him. It wasn’t just his sublime body or mouthwatering good looks. It was the way he looked at her—as if he wanted to see her soul.

And then there was his voice. Sammi closed her eyes, a smile beginning, as she thought about the rich baritone. The way he said her name made chills run over her skin.

Sammi rubbed her arms as her body reacted just thinking about Tristan’s voice. She still didn’t understand how she had been so intent on leaving before, but he had managed to calm her.

She stirred more sugar into her coffee, puzzled at how her fears had seemed to just melt away from her when he had focused his gaze upon her. His touch had been nonchalant as he gripped her arms, and yet that was all it had taken to soothe her.

Was her body telling her what her mind hadn’t caught up to yet? That she desperately needed a man? Surely not. She had gone longer than a year without a date before. Hadn’t she?

She thought back to her last date, which had been after Daniel. Her food was placed in front of her as she counted up the months. It wasn’t a year. It was nearly three.

“Oh, God,” she mumbled.

“Is something wrong with the food?” the waitress asked.

Sammi jerked her gaze up and forced a smile through her embarrassment. “Not at all. It looks delicious.”

She dug into her eggs and sausage as the waitress walked away, looking at Sammi as if she had grown another head. Sammi soon forgot her as she devoured the food.

It had been good seeing Jane again, but all the visit did was reaffirm why she had to stay away from any friends or family. It would be so easy to let them close, but she knew the devastation when they left her.

Nothing was worth that kind of pain.

Sammi wanted to linger over another cup of coffee, but it was time to fill up the P.O.S. and get on the road again. She rose and tossed down some bills as she heard the door to the restaurant open.

She glanced up through her sunglasses and saw a man with coal black hair and thick streaks of silver walk in. The silver in his hair wouldn’t have been noticeable except for the fact he wasn’t an old man. He looked to be in his thirties and drop-dead gorgeous as he stood in full motorcycle leathers and dark shades.

His head turned as he surveyed the restaurant as if looking for someone. And then his gaze came to rest on her. She didn’t know how she knew since she couldn’t see his eyes, but there was no doubt he was looking at her. Sammi’s skin felt flushed, her body tingling with a need that hadn’t been there a second before.

If she hadn’t been on guard, she might have fallen for the hunky guy, but there was no time for attachments—of any kind. No matter how much she might want them.

Sammi gave him a moment to move away from the door so she could leave, but he remained where he was. With clenched teeth, she grabbed her purse and walked purposefully to the door.

Just as she neared him, the man removed his sunglasses and stepped close to her, causing their bodies to collide. Another flush consumed her but was drowned out by the fear that swarmed her.

Sammi lifted her gaze and found herself staring into red eyes. She blinked and shook her head. It had to be a trick of the sun.

Instead of checking to see if it was the sun, she slid past him when the door opened and two elderly couples wandered in. It gave her the time she needed to get outside.

Once on the sidewalk, she didn’t slow. She was being watched. The tingle was back, but so was the fear and the anxiety. She had felt it all too frequently since running from Oban.

Sammi climbed inside her car and started it up. A check of the gas said she had a fourth of a tank. She hoped it was enough to get her to the next town, because she wasn’t going to linger in this one any longer.

She pulled out of her parking spot and drove away. As she did, she looked in the rearview mirror to find the hunky guy from the restaurant standing on the sidewalk staring after her.

“Damn!” she shouted as she slammed her hand on the steering wheel.

She was going to have to ditch P.O.S and find another car now. If the hunk was working for the Mob, they would know what she drove and could easily track her. If he wasn’t, then she was just being cautious.

Sammi was nearing the edge of the village when her car began to sputter and then just died. She pulled the car over and turned off the ignition even though the car was lifeless. With her heart pounding, she was trying to convince herself it was just a coincidence that the stolen car had finally died.

“There are no coincidences,” she said, repeating the words her mother had spoken so often when she had been alive.

Her hands shook as she put her purse over her head and looped one arm through. Behind her lay the village. The post office was on one side of her and a housing division on the other.

The only way out lay before her in the wild, open expanse of the countryside. She swallowed past the growing lump of dread in her throat. What choice did she have? She couldn’t call Jane and ask for help. The point in leaving Dreagan was to take the evil away from her half-sister.

Returning to the village also wasn’t an option. The organization after her didn’t care if they took out innocents in their effort to capture her.

Her gaze returned to the mountains around her. She could live off the land for a while and really disappear. An image of the time her mother had tried to take her camping when she had been ten came to mind, causing Sammi to smile at the catastrophe that had occurred.

Then her eyes began to tear up thinking of her mother. How she missed her. There had been an emptiness inside her ever since the day her mother’s spirit left her body.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sammi saw a Lexus SUV pull to the side of the road behind a parked car. That’s all it took for her to know she had to make a decision.

She leaned over the passenger side to look for any kind of weapon that might be tucked underneath the seat. A knock on her window had her whirling around, a scream on her lips.

The guy immediately held up his hands. “I was just going to see if you needed help pushing the car into the station. I’m a mechanic.”

Sammi rolled down the manual window a couple of inches, her heart still in her throat from her scare. “Um … I think it might have finally, officially died.”

The man laughed, and that’s when she noticed the grease on his hands and clothes. “You’d be surprised what I can bring back to life.”

He had kind blue eyes and weathered skin that probably aged him more than he actually was. Sammi glanced at the gas station and saw that there was nothing behind it. A look in her rearview mirror showed the Lexus was still parked and there were men inside it.

“Thanks. I’ll take you up on that offer,” she said.

The man looked behind him with a frown. “Is someone bothering you, miss? My brother-in-law is a constable here. Should I get him?”

“No need. Once I’m back on the road, I’ll be fine.”

He didn’t seem convinced, but he walked to the rear of the car. “Put it in neutral.”

“She looks on edge,” Banan stated tightly.

Tristan nodded. “That Dark Fae is still back there. I’d like a little time with him.”

“No’ here. No’ now.” Banan ran a hand down his face. “You’ve already called the others and let them know. They’ll be on alert. I still can no’ believe one of those evil shites is this close to Dreagan. They know better.”

“He isna after us.” Tristan swung his head to look at Banan. “He’s after Sammi.”

Banan’s forehead furrowed deeply. “How did she get away from him? He had his sights set on her. I’ve seen women strip bare after just a look from a Dark One.”

“I doona care. I’m just glad she did.” Tristan had been getting out of the vehicle as soon as he saw the Dark Fae, but Banan had held him back. “We are no’ seriously going to let that Dark Fae go, are we?”

Banan let out a deep breath. “If we do, it’ll make Ulrik think we’ve no’ yet figured out his role in this.”

“There’s no doubt this is somehow connected to the Dark Fae and whoever is trying to expose us.”

“There’s no one else but Ulrik. The bullet you pulled out of Sammi proved that.”

Tristan heard the note of sadness in Banan’s voice. He didn’t know Ulrik, but he couldn’t imagine the betrayal felt by Banan and the other Kings who did know him. “I’m sorry.”

“We all knew this day would come. It would’ve been easier had Con just killed him instead of leaving him without his magic or the ability to shift.”

“We’ll put an end to this. Right now our focus needs to be on Sammi and how the Mob figure into it. Do you think they targeted her because she’s Jane’s sister?”

Banan shrugged. “I asked myself that and didna come up with an answer. I think it’s something we should keep in mind until we get more pieces to this ever-increasing puzzle.”

“Agreed.”

Tristan watched as Sammi and the mechanic stopped the car in the garage. She got out and said a few words to the man before she went into the station.

He lost sight of her behind the high shelves, but it wasn’t like she could go anywhere but back out the door she had come in.

Banan’s mobile flashed a text. “Ryder, Rhys, and Laith just arrived.”

“Good. I’m no’ liking that Lexus SUV. It hasna moved nor has anyone gotten out since it pulled over.”

“It couldna possibly be Ulrik or his men. How would they know where Sammi was?”

Tristan slammed his fist on his thigh. “How could we be so fucking stupid? She’s Jane’s sister, Banan. Where else would she go if she was in trouble?”

“Son of a bitch,” Banan said as he dropped his chin to his chest. “They led her to believe she was being followed.”

“And we assumed that’s what they were doing.”

“That assumption could get Sammi killed or taken.”

Tristan unbuckled his seat belt as he leaned forward to stare into the store. “That means they targeted her from the beginning to get to us.”

“Kellan and Denae were taken by the Dark Fae, Tristan. What do they have planned for Sammi?”

“Whatever it is, it can no’ be good.” Tristan barely got the last word out when he saw something in the field behind the gas station. “I doona believe it. Sammi is on the run!”