“The police are on their way, Jillian.” Her father said in a sing-song voice. “There’s nowhere for you to go.”
“Uh-huh…You have us cornered, Dad. We give up.” She narrowed her eyes, picking up Conner’s clothes and nodding to the wall with the fish-tank. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Conner flung his head up and down in agreement before backing up and charging the fish-tank. The glass shattered, and the wall on the other side dented outward. The second go at it, splintered the beams like toothpicks while the fish flopped around on the antique Persian rug. He backed up and ran at it again, this time making a hole in the wall in a cloud of sheetrock dust and crumbled bits of drywall. Looking out of hole facing the front of the house, Jillian could see the security guards scatter at the sight of the massive beast inside. As soon as Conner transformed back into himself, Jillian handed him his pants, and they dropped down to the grass below.
“Get on!” Conner crouched, and Jillian leaped onto his back. He hiked her up a tad higher, hooking one arm under her thigh before sprinting toward the thirty-foot brick wall. The bottoms of his shoes clamored, scraping up the side as he reached with his free arm, barely gripping the top edge.
“Don’t let go.” Jillian looked back at the guards that were now all running toward them.
“Wasn’t planning on it.” He groaned, pulling them the rest of the way up and hopping down on the other side. Jillian’s eyes closed as they dropped to through the ground on the other side. Conner was used to jumping around and rock-climbing. Normally he would have hit the ground and rolled, but with Jillian on his back, he landed on his feet, forcing his ankles to take the brunt of the impact.
Jillian jumped off his back at the sound of the nasty snap as Conner fell forward to his knees.
“I’m fine.” Conner got up, limping forward. Jillian put her arm around him, and he leaned on her as they headed to the street, taking refuge behind a parked car.
“Look, you need to get out of here.” Conner grimaced, sliding down and extending his leg. “I’m just going to slow you down. There’s no sense in both of us getting caught.
The ankle was already black and blue and swelling to twice the size of the other one.
“Let me think.” Jillian pressed her hands against her temples, glancing around the side of the car. If only she had more time to think… If she had a way to contact the Finn and Vincent, or hell, if she had her phone so she could call Elaina.
If only… She shook her head, letting out a defeated sigh.
“You’re wasting time…” Conner curled his lip back, clenching his fists. “You need to go.”
“If you think I’d ever leave you, you don’t know me at all.” A soft smile reached her eyes as she shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m doing, so just bear with me.”
All right, spirits. I’m playing your game. Jillian rubbed her hands together, working up friction before holding them up to Conner’s ankle like she was warming them on a fire. White light pulsed from between her fingers. She winced as her hands heated up.
She screamed as the sensation of boiling water scalded her palms and fingers.
“What’s happening?” Conner’s eyes widened, yelping as a crunch sound made him reach for his ankle. The swollen flesh shrank down as Jillian’s magic reversed the break. “Holy shit.”
“Did it work?” She turned her palms upward, trembling as she examined the blood-blisters covering her hands as the glow faded. She gaped as Conner as he flexed his foot, rotating his ankle.
“I wonder if Vincent’s grandma could do that.” Conner got to his feet. “Is my shirt in the backpack?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, letting the backpack fall off of her shoulders.
“Your hands.” He frowned as she put them behind her back.
“I’ll be fine. Get a shirt and shoes on so we can get out of here.” She looked back in the direction of her family home. Conner got his shirt and shoes on. “My father knows better than to call the cops. For the moment, he still has something I want. That means there’s still a chance I won’t go public with all the things that I know.”
“Are you seriously considering letting him off the hook after what he was going to do to you?”
“What’s that old saying that I prefer to live with the devil I know than the one I don’t?” She walked toward the closest house.
“What are you doing?” Panic flashed in Conner’s eyes. “Do you know these people?”
“Nope.” She knocked, and a woman in her forties answered the door. She was pretty with dark hair and wore a blue housekeeper’s outfit.
“Hello, my friend and I are stranded, do you have a phone I could use?”
“You’re the girl from the news.” The woman blinked. “I just watched the report online.”
Shit.
“She has one of those faces.” Conner smiled.
“No, you were lost in Hemlock for five days.” The woman smiled, opening the door a little wider. “And you gave up your hospital room to that little kid.”
“Oh.” Jillian chuckled nervously. “That was no big deal. Miles is a sweetheart.”
“Come in.” The woman stood aside.
“Thank you.” She and Conner followed the woman inside as she shut the door behind them. “We’ll be out of your way shortly. I need to contact a friend to come to pick us up.”
“Where are you going?” The housekeeper picked up her purse. “I was getting ready to go into the city to pick up some groceries
