My eyes narrowed. For the last time, get out of my head.
It’s hard not to. You have such a big head. One side of his lips curved up as he returned to staring at the seat in front of him. Besides, how could I bring you back? You saw what I did to get us out of there.
He had a point. Could just be a setup, like it was with Blake. He did the same thing.
I’m not Blake. I want to get away from them just as badly as you do.
I didn’t respond to that. Turning my gaze to the window, I watched the small houses and the signs for the hot springs blur and then finally fade into the flat open highway of nothing but small brush and tan soil. It wasn’t until I saw the sign that I relaxed a little.
“Las Vegas? Are we’re going to gamble and take in a Flamingo show?”
Luc shook his head. “Not unless that’s your thing.”
Not knowing where we were going or why didn’t settle well with me. I kept on guard, my eyes peeled to the road, looking for any suspicious vehicles that got a little too close. About seven miles into the almost two-hour trip, Kat dozed off. I grabbed the doll before it hit the floorboards and held onto it. I was relieved that she was getting more rest. She needed it.
Every time we came near a police car, I would tense, ready for them to pull us over for a multitude of reasons, varying from a stolen car to taking out military personnel. But no one stopped us. Not a damn thing happened the entire drive, except for Luc and Paris arguing over the radio like an old married couple. I couldn’t figure the two out. Then again, I couldn’t figure out myself.
I thought about the craziest shit on that drive to Vegas. And I mean some really far-out-there stuff, and I don’t know if it had to do with the fact that there were two people in the car who could potentially be peeking inside my head that made me think of things I really didn’t want other people to be privy to.
It all started when I looked away from the window and my attention fell to my leg. Kat’s left hand was curled up against my thigh. For several minutes, I couldn’t look away. What was it about the left hand? It was just a hand, and Kat had a really great hand and all, but it wasn’t that.
It was what typically went on the left hand, on the ring finger.
God, thinking about rings and the left hand made me want to get out of this vehicle and do about a hundred laps, but being married to Kat—married? My brain tripped up over that word, but it wouldn’t be terrible. Nah, it would be far from that. It would be sort of…perfect.
Spending the rest of my life with Kat was something I planned on. There was no question or doubt when it came to that. I saw her—only her—in my future. Making a decision like that didn’t send me into a cold sweat. Maybe it was because my kind mated young, usually right out of high school, and our version of marriage was really no different than what the humans did.
But we were young. Wet behind the ears, or at least that’s what Matthew would say.
Why in the hell was I even thinking about that right now, when our lives were a complete mess? Maybe it was because when everything was chaotic and tomorrow might not come, it made you think about these things? Made you want to seal the deal, so to speak? I hated thinking it, but there might not be a couple of years down the road to get married.
Shaking the thoughts out of my head, I tightened my arm around Kat and focused on the road. When the skyscrapers started to come into view, I gently roused her. “Hey, sleepyhead, take a look.”
She lifted her head from my shoulder and rubbed her eyes. Blinking a couple of times, she bent a little and stared out the front window. Her eyes widened. “Wow…I’ve never been to Vegas before.”
Luc twisted in his seat, grinning. “It’s better to see at night, with all the buildings lit up on the Strip.”
Eagerness filled her gaze, but she settled back, shoulders slumping. As much as I would love to take her out, there would be no sightseeing for us. It would be too risky.
I leaned over, pressing my lips to her ear, and said, “Next time. I promise.”
She turned slightly, eyes closing. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Kissing her cheek, I ignored the speculative look Archer gave me. As we entered Vegas, Kat was straining over me to see everything. The palm trees lining the Strip were probably familiar to her, but the pirate ship in front of Treasure Island wasn’t something you saw every day.
It took forever to get through the packed traffic, and normally that would have had me clawing at my eyeballs with impatience, but it wasn’t too bad. Not with Kat practically bouncing halfway in my lap, pointing out well-known hotspots like the Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, and the Eiffel Tower at Paris.
I was sort of in heaven.
Unfortunately, this version of heaven had an audience. Dammit.
As we reached the outskirts of Vegas, I started getting weary of this whole surprise bullshit, especially when Paris turned off the main avenue, following another road around a country club and huge golf course. We kept heading farther down the road, farther away from the teeming city. There was nothing out there but a few sprawling mansions, and then a twenty-foot security wall came out of nowhere, a glittering sandstone structure.
I leaned forward, dropping my hand on the back of Paris’s seat. “Is that quartzite in the stone?”
“You better believe it.”
Kat glanced at me, her eyes widening with realization as Paris slowed in front of a wrought-iron gate that had tiny specks of the quartz in it. I’d never seen anything like it.
An intercom popped on and Paris said, “Knock. Knock.”
Static and then a woman’s voice said, “Who’s there?”