Page 81 of Bound By Blood
Her eyes dartednervously to the rearview mirror, but she couldn’t differentiateone car from another. “Are they following us?”
CHAPTER 63
“Not that I cantell, but we’ll take a roundabout way to your house. It will take awhile, but I’ll make sure no one is following us.”
“Should we switchcars?”
“Not unless wehave to. It’s better if they don’t get their hands on yours.”
“It’s notregistered to me or my home.”
“I’d still prefernot to leave a stolen car trail behind us… if possible.”
Truth be told, hedidn’t think he was up for going through what it would take tosteal multiple cars. His strength was too sapped for that. He woulddo it if necessary, but they should be fine with this one.
Or at least that’swhat he told himself as his head spun, and he briefly leaned itagainst the back of the seat before focusing on his injury oncemore. He had to stop the bleeding.
Saber shrugged outof his leather jacket and pressed it against his side. Though thepressure caused the already irritated gashes to throb, he kept hisdiscomfort hidden as he directed Caro off the highway.
He guided herthrough towns, down side streets, dark, winding roads, and openstretches until he was certain no one followed them. He didn’tthink there was any way someone could have put a tracking device onthe car; he hadn’t detected any Savages nearby when they parked orreturned to the car, but he would examine it to make sure.
They were on awide-open road of rolling farmland with cows, sheep, and horses onboth sides. If they stopped now, they could see someone coming formiles before the vehicle got close.
“Pull over,” heinstructed.
Caro guided thecar to the side of the road and parked it. Using the arms of hisjacket, Saber cinched it around him and against his still bleedingside before shoving the door open.
He refused toexamine his injury more closely. Even if no one else was around,they didn’t have time for that.
“Open the hood andlet me know the second you see headlights coming,” he said toCaro.
“Okay.”
She pulled on thehood release latch, and the lock popped as he climbed out of thecar. Saber made his way around the vehicle, inspecting every inchof it and the warm engine before getting onto his hands and kneesto search the wheel wells and undercarriage.
After half anhour, he was satisfied the Savages hadn’t found some way to put atracking device on the vehicle. Grasping the license plates, thethin metal bent beneath his hand as he ripped them free.
Saber threw theplates into the back seat. It would be easier to get new platesthan a new car. When he climbed back inside and closed the door,his wound felt like someone was playing the drums on his raw skinand ribs.
He gritted histeeth as he got the next words out. “Let’s go.”
Caro pulled offthe shoulder and back onto the road. “Why not ditch the car to beon the safe side?”
Caro would prefernot to give up her car; she was tired of losing things she loved,but she’d seen that demon in the storm drain, watched how fast itmoved and how lethal it was. She worried one of its brethren wassomehow lurking in the shadows, following them to their deaths.
But then, if thatwas true, it wouldn’t matter if they switched vehicles or not. Thething would simply follow them home.
“We’ve been on thesafe side. No one is following us, no one can track your carthrough its plates, and you said Charles disconnected the GPS inall your vehicles before they ever came home.”
“He did.”
“Then we’re good.Besides, I’ll never let one of those things near you again.”
The convictionbehind his words drew her attention. He’d sounded so protective, socaring… sounlikeSaber, it warmed her heart a little. Thewarmth evaporated when she reminded herself that he was usually acomplete, overbearing asshole who liked to order her around.
Caro continueddown the back road for another half an hour before entering a smalltown and rejoining the highway. Nearly two hours later, two sets ofplates he stole from vehicles at a roadside diner and truck stopbefore tossing both aside again, and almost three hours after theyleft the city behind, they drove through the gates of her home.
Some of hertension eased, her shoulders slumped as the gates closed behindthem, and a sense of coming home and safety descended. Maybe it wasonly a false sense of security, maybe those things had somehowmanaged to track them this far, but she doubted it.
