Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

Samantha

If I'm going to make it out of town, I need gas. Luckily, the town isn't huge, so I know where I'm going. I drive down different roads to get there, just in case, until I make it back to the first and largest gas station that we stopped at when we entered the town on the bus. I pull the truck up to the pumps, use a card I find tossed around with the other bag's contents in the back, and start to fill her up.

Seconds tick by. In the distance, I hear the revving of an engine in the silent town and my pulse picks up, but there's not enough gas in the truck to get off the mountain, so I can't just run for it. I have to be a little more patient.

Besides, there are lots of people in this town. It could be anyone.

I see a car come flying down the road, and my heart leaps into my throat. Knowing I can't drive away yet or get caught out here, I run into the gas station, phone clenched in hand, praying I'm making the right decision.

Instantly, I know there are people inside, even if I don't know how. My gaze sweeps over the silent store, then back out, where I see the car pull up next to my truck. Evander leaps out, eyes blazing with rage.

My stomach flips. I hear something fall from a shelf.

"Hello?" I decide to go for frightened female, since it's not far off from how I feel now. "I'm scared of the dragon, and a strange man is chasing me. He's outside. Please, I need help." I gesture out the window where Evander is barreling down on us.

Someone stands from behind the counter. An older man with a shotgun. Around the room, standing from behind the shelves, I see two women and three more men. The women are my grandmother's age. Two of the men are nearly twice my age, and the third is a little older than me. I freeze, not knowing what to do as they stare at me, but knowing I need to do something before Evander reaches me.

The older man behind the counter rubs a hand along his bald head, looking tired. "Go through the back. We'll try to head him off. You need to stay still and keep quiet. We don't want anything attracting that dragon."

"Thank you," I whisper, but my voice carries as I hurry past them.

As I slip into the back, one of the older women presses a finger to her lips, then closes the door behind me. I'm in a small hall. There are two directions I can go. One is toward security monitors that are currently black and rows of supplies in boxes, and the other way seems to be a metal door leading to a freezer. I go to the freezer section, but not inside, just pressing myself up against the door, waiting.

A second later, I hear the door hit the back of the wall in the store, and I jump. Fuck. My thoughts go back to all the people in that room. Some part of me thinks this Evander guy wouldn't hurt them, but I have no reason to believe that. All I truly know is that he's hell-bent on giving me to his bosses, and that he carries around a gun.

I hear the sounds of men's voices being raised. I can't tell whose.

Opening the freezer door, a wall of cold hits me hard. Fighting against my instincts, I slide inside and creep in, trying to better see what's going on in the store and hoping to make it harder to find me should Evander make it to the back. Luckily, the freezer is set up like most industrial-sized freezers, with extra product stacked in boxes on the floor and a row of glass doors with products on shelves facing the front of the store. Evander could technically open one of the glass doors to get to me, but he'd have to get rid of all the products on the shelves, and the shelves themselves, to do it. And that's if he somehow managed to see me behind the rows of items.

The sound of a gun going off shocks me, and I instinctually fall to my knees, hands over my ears briefly. When I realize what I'm doing, I'm back on my feet, heart racing.

Was the sound Evander's gun? Or the gun of the other man?

There's more noise. I see a shelf in the store hit the ground, and then there's the sound of glass breaking. I'm moving around, trying to see what's happening. I peak between ice cream containers, but I can't make out any people.

Maybe I should see if there's a back way out? Or should I stay put? I have no idea, but I feel like I should be doing something.

All I know is that it's cold, brutally cold. My breath already puffs out in front of my face, and I find myself shaking.

How long can I make it in here? It was definitely the wrong choice. I'm trapped and freezing. Should I try to go the other way?

There's more noise. There's the sound of glass breaking. Some shouting.

Should I run and see if there's a back way out of the gas station? Or should I stay put? I have no idea, but I feel like I should be doing something.

Suddenly, the door to the freezer flies open. Evander is there, blood running from a cut on his cheek, bruises blossoming on his face, looking pissed as hell. "Outside. Now."

I stuff my phone in my back pocket and shake my head, hands curling into fists. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

He smirks. "You know there is only one way this is going to end."

"Do I?" I ask, and I'm proud that my voice isn't shaking.

He lunges at me. I leap back, hit something made of glass, and it shatters. Trying to slip further away from him, I slip on the broken glass and fall.

Fuck!

He's over me in an instant. We wrestle on the ground before he hauls me to my feet by my wrists. "Stop this shit! I'm not the enemy! That dragon is! You're going to kill yourself trying to get away from me!"

A cold feeling slips along my spine that has nothing to do with the freezer, and I stop fighting him. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking."

His grip loosens on my wrists, and he glances down, his face softening. "You cut yourself on the glass."

I don't look, because I don't care. It's not the cut I'm worried about. "Are we going in the car now?"

He nods. "We're going to call my bosses and come up with a rendezvous point, and they're going to get us out of here safely. Do you understand?"

"Yes. Sorry. This has all just been a lot."

He lets go of me completely, running a hand through his hair. "I understand. Let's just work together from here on out."

I head for the door, making sure to go slow. To limp a little. To play the part.

He's walking beside me, and I make sure to stay on his right side. I open the door with my left hand, and with my other, I snatch his gun from the holster firmly attached to the left side of his belt, then I bring both hands up and slam him in the chest as hard as I can, sending him reeling backwards. He slips on the floor, his eyes wide, and falls back into the glass. I slam the door on his shocked face, and snag a broom from beside the door, wedging it through the handle and the wall, trapping him inside.

A minute later, I hear him slam against the door, but it doesn't budge. Dropping the gun on the ground, hands shaking, goosebumps running across my skin, I take a slow breath. I need to get out of here. I need to move quickly.

Heart in my throat, I race back to the front of the store and see chaos everywhere, but all the people seem okay, except for the store owner, who seems to be nursing a head injury. "He's in the freezer!"

They hurry into action, using everything they can find to wedge the freezer doors closed on the outside. Evander seems to figure it out a minute too late. He's tossing the ice cream off the shelves and slamming his hands against the glass, looking infuriated as our eyes lock.

He's got two to three hours in there before he dies.

"I need to go," I tell them. "But I don't want him to die. Can you give me a little time and then let him out?"

They're all quiet. I look at a sea of frightened faces.

"Please. He's not a good person, but I don't want him to die."

The older man nods from where he's sitting. "We'll give you forty minutes. Enough time to slow him down and make him a bit less feisty."

"Thanks." Then I eye him as he rubs his head. "For everything."

I head for the door and wince when I take a step. Glancing at the back of my leg, I see a giant piece of glass sticking out. Blood stains the fabric all around it, and it continues all down the back of my jeans.

Gritting my teeth, I grab the shard of glass and pull it out slowly. My head spins and I have to clench my teeth to keep from crying out. Damn it. That's a lot of blood.

And behind me? I've been tracking blood with every step I took. Fuck.

Rolling up my pant leg carefully, I see a nasty-looking cut that doesn't seem to be healing like my last injury. Maybe because I hadn't shifted? I don't know. But I know I can't leave this openly bleeding much longer. It's definitely deep enough for stitches, and the last thing I need is to pass out somewhere on the drive down the mountain.

"Let me help you," one of the older women says.

Help. I could use that right about now.

She sits me down on the floor, where I turn and lie on my stomach. Then she hits up the first aid supplies scattered on the floor. Her small hands move quickly, using an antiseptic that burns like hell to clean the wound and all the tiny cuts I have from the glass. She then pulls out butterfly bandages and pulls the open sides of the gash together before using the tiny white band-aid-like pieces to close the wound the best she can. When she's done, she wraps the whole wound with a large white bandage.

I glance down. Blood stains the wrappings, but I feel a little better. I can handle a little bleeding and a little pain.

"Thank you."

Her smile is genuine. "Of course."

Except, will this attract the dragon's attention? He mentioned they're attracted to smell.

I get to my feet and go find the disinfectants and start spraying two-handed until the room begins to smell like hell.

"What are you doing?" the store owner asks.

I don't know to explain it, but I try. "I heard the dragons might be attracted to the smell of blood."

His eyes widen.

"Thanks again," I say, spraying my clothes with the stinky spray as much as I can before putting the bottle on the ground. "Be careful. And remember to let him out."

Outside, I get back in the truck, placing my phone on the seat next to me and try to ignore the way my leg hurts when I floor it out of there. Now… I just have to get out of here and call Aydan and Granger.

I can do this. I can survive this.