Page 102 of The Rut in the Road

Oh,Jesus, Mary, God, fuck, it hurt. It hurt so much.

He was gonna die.

He knew he was gonna die.

Bleed out in the street, because who the fuck was gonna help an orc?

Nobody.

Except maybe that medium guy. The one married to an orc.

He hoped so.

Because then he could tell the guy the plate number he’d seen right before?—

Oh, fuck.

The damn thing was coming back.

I swallowed again,and Cass shoved the box of tissues at me to clean up my face and blow my nose.

Hart was already calling Ward.

“It could have been you.”Raj’s voice was clipped.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “It absolutely could not have been,” I argued back, irritated not only because I was sosick of having this argument, but also because I had not been out walking at four in the morning when Gavin Nelson had been run down, and I hadn’t beenwherehe’d been run down, either.

“You don’t?—”

“I absolutely do,” I snapped. “I was in his head, remember? Twice. So, yes, Rajesh, I fucking do.”

He stared at me, eyes wide.

I regretted not a word.

“Now, either take me home or take me to work.”

“You can’t seriously?—”

“One or the other,” I hissed. “It’s my fucking life, not yours. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Rayn—”

“Work or home, or I’m getting out at the next stoplight.”

He stared at me again, then decided I meant it.

I did.

If he’d kept arguing with me, I would absolutely have gotten out of the car, then called Vi or Mason to come pick me up.

He took me to Beyond the Veil.

Neither one of us said a word for the rest of the drive.

I didn’t intend to break the silence when I popped open the door.

“Rayn?” His voice was softer.