It’s not here. Not yet.
Sampson shook his head. “It looks bad.”
Up close, it looked even worse. What was left of Link’s piece-of-crap car was crushed like a tin can, and firefighters were hosing down the half-melted body of the Beater.
As Sampson guided the SUV toward the shoulder, Nox jumped out and bolted for the ambulance. He held his breath when he glanced at the wreckage. No bodies or body bags. Just a lot of charred and banged-up metal. Smoldering upholstery. Shattered glass.
Where is she?
Two paramedics were standing around behind the ambulance.
“Is she okay?” Nox asked, out of breath.
One of them looked up at him, confused. “Excuse me?”
“The girl in the car. Is she okay?” Nox repeated.
The paramedics exchanged a strange look. “There was no one in the car when we got here. It was a hit-and-run. The police checked the area, but they couldn’t find any sign of the driver. Do you know whose car this is?”
“Yeah. It belongs to this guy we know,” Nox said as Sampson caught up with him.
One of the paramedics stepped back at the sight of the Darkborn. It was everyone’s reaction to Sampson. At over six foot five, he looked like a linebacker.
“The police are trying to figure out what happened to the driver,” the paramedic said. “They’ll probably want to talk to you guys.” He took a closer look at Nox. “What happened to your face?”
Nox stiffened. “I got in a fight.”
The paramedic looked at him skeptically.
“More than one,” Nox added. “What are you, my mother?”
The paramedic glanced over at the nearest police car. “Wait here.”
The moment the guy turned his back on them, Sampson shoved Nox in the direction of the SUV. “We need to bail. As much as I don’t like Mortals, I hate cops even more.”
Nox agreed, and after seeing the wreckage, part of him was relieved Ridley wasn’t there.
She’s not dead. There would be a body.
But another part of him had a bad feeling.
Don’t fool yourself. Nobody could walk away from an accident like that. The Beater looks like a burnt pretzel.
Lennox Gates’ feelings were never simple when it came to Ridley Duchannes. There was no reason to expect them to be any less complex now. He climbed back into the car and slammed the door. “We need to figure out where she is. Fast.”
“I’ll work on that as soon as I get us out of here.” Sampson threw the SUV into reverse, guided the car off the shoulder of the road, and flipped a U-turn. He waited until the flashing lights were out of sight before he hit the gas.
“Relax. It’s not a high-speed chase.” Nox grabbed the door.
The Darkborn glanced at the rearview mirror. “Not yet.”
“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Nox said, though he didn’t sound convinced.
“Yeah? That’s not how it looks.” Sampson kept his eyes on the road. “My hand is bleeding. The window is shattered. And you look like you lost a cage fight.”
“Think it’s possible she walked away from the crash?” Nox asked, hating how desperate he sounded. He didn’t want to say the words out loud.
She’s alive. She has to be.
“I don’t know.” Sampson seemed doubtful. “The back of the car was crushed.” He glanced at Nox. “But yeah, anything’s possible.”
As Sampson turned back onto the highway, Nox noticed something on the side of the road. Something small, and furry, and out of place.
An animal.
A cat.
Lucille Ball. She was sitting on the shoulder, as if she was waiting for them.
“Pull over. That’s Link’s cat.”
“I wonder how she got all the way out here.” Sampson stopped the car a few feet away from Lucille.
The cat didn’t move until they both got out. Then she trotted off into the trees.
Nox took off after her. “I think she wants us to follow her.”
Sampson shook his head. “It looks more like she’s running away from us.”
“But toward what?” Nox asked. Ridley had told Nox a story about how Lucille had practically led Rid and her friends to her cousin Lena when she was missing once. He had no idea how much of it was true, but that cat was definitely different.
Lucille scampered ahead, stopping every now and then to make sure they were still behind her. Nox wasn’t that interested in chasing mangy cats through the bushes, but he followed her anyway.
If that stupid cat was in the car with them … she could be leading us to Rid.
Nox wasn’t so sure when the cat led them through a cluster of trees and he saw Link slumped against a trunk ahead of them. The ridiculous spiked blond hair and threadbare Black Sabbath T-shirt were unmistakable. Above Link, the branches were cracked and broken as if he’d hit every one of them before he finally made it to the ground.
Headfirst, knowing him.
“What are you doing out here, Link?” Sampson asked as they made their way through the brush.
Link barely moved. His skin was smudged with black smoke and ash, and one side of his shirt was singed above the burns running down his arm.
Nox leaned closer and grabbed a handful of Link’s ripped shirt. “Hey. Wake up.”
Confused didn’t begin to describe the expression on Link’s face. He opened and closed his eyes, shaking his head at the sight of Nox. “Aw, great. I’m in Hell. My mom was right.”