“You must be exhausted.” I gave him a quick hug in thanks before I chickened out. “You don’t have to come too.”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight until we resolve this situation.” He released me. “We don’t know who we’re dealing with, but there’s a link to Cass. There must be. You’re her friend, and her partner. That might make you a target.”
“I’m not a vampire.”
“Neither was Twyla Thorne.”
“I’m not arguing with you.” I couldn’t help a warm at his earnest concern. “I don’t mind the company.”
“Then let’s go.” A slow smile crept across his features. “Have you ever ridden on a motorcycle?”
“Um…”
“You’re going to love it.” He took my hand and dragged me toward his bike. “Her name is Willie.”
The boyish glint in his eye connected the dots for me. “You’re pulling my leg.”
Removing a second helmet from his saddlebags, he strapped it on me. He pulled a leather jacket out too and forced my arms through it then zipped it up to my chin.
“I don’t know about this.” I couldn’t see my hands, the sleeves hung so far past my fingertips. “Is it safe?”
“You hunt rogue vampires and goddess only knows what else for a living.” He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Are you serious right now?”
Rolling my eyes, I watched him helmet up and swing a long leg over the bike. He patted the seat behind him, and I had seen enough movies to get the idea. I climbed on and let him place my arms where he wanted them around his waist. I linked my fingers and buried my face in his back.
“Ready?” He covered my hands with his. “Hey, no pressure. We can take your car if you’d rather.”
“How can I say I don’t like it if I don’t try it?” I screwed my eyes shut tight. “I’m willing to extend you this much faith.” I clenched my thighs. “However, if you wreck, and I die, I will come back and haunt you.”
“I would expect nothing less,” he said, a smile rich in his voice. “Hold on tight, and let me know if you want to stop. I don’t care if I have to walk Willie back to the house, I’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”
Relationships were about give-and-take, right? No one who didn’t love bikes spent the kind of money on one that Willie must have cost. The thing was huge, and it was spotless, and it was all decked out with accessories made by the manufacturer. The logo was everywhere. I didn’t have to love bikes, or riding them, for this thing to work between Boaz and me, but I was determined to make an effort rather than dismissing what frightened me out of hand.
After all, if I did that, I would run screaming from the altar. Marriage was scary as heck.
The bike roared to life, and my eyes popped open wide. Boaz glanced back one last time to check on me. I wasn’t willing to let go of him, so I smiled and hoped he understood I was set. He must have, since he pattered slowly down the drive, allowing me get a feel for it.
“This isn’t so terrifying,” I yelled to him. “I like the wind in my hair.”
Thankfully, now that we were moving, he kept his eyes on the road. “Ready to go faster?”
“Yes?”
The wind increased, and I squished myself tighter against him, hiding behind his back. The vibration under me jarred my teeth…and other places…but it wasn’t a bad feeling. Just an awkward one.
“Doing okay back there?” Boaz slowed for a car to pass us. “We’re almost at the speed limit.”
“We’re not even going fifty-five yet?” I gaped at his spine. “It feels like we’re flying.”
Boaz’s laughter carried back to me, and an answering smile twitched on my lips.
Despite the somber night, I was having fun. It shocked me to realize one day I might want my own Willie. Just with a classier name. I still couldn’t believe he named his bike Willie. Talk about overcompensating.
“Almost there,” he called, though I knew this road better than he ever would from traveling back and forth between my place and Cass’s. “Hold on a little longer.”
“Hey.” I sniffed the air. “Do you smell that?”
“Goddessdammit. I have to call this in.”
“What’s wrong?” I couldn’t see over him, he was too tall, and I wasn’t brave enough to lean out and peek. “What do you…?”
Gently as he could, he took Cass’s gravel driveway, but we were close now. I could see the flames licking the night sky, smell the burning forest, and tell my highly flammable friend was in grave danger. This close to sunrise, Cass was screwed. Her bedroom was downstairs, in the basement, but she couldn’t retreat there without trapping herself. She couldn’t run either. The sun would be up in a half hour, maybe less, and she had no shelter in the woods.
“Stop.” I released the fist I’d made in the back of his shirt. “Stop the bike.”
The second the motor quit, I was shucking the protective gear and then running for the house.
“Cass,” I screamed. “Cassandra.”
The door was engulfed in flames. I didn’t have to kick it down. It fell. The first-floor interior was a raging inferno.
“You can’t go in there.” Boaz caught me around the waist. “You can’t reach her.”
Flailing against him, I kicked and hit him and bit when he got too close to my face. “Turn me loose.”
“I’m not going to let you kill yourself. Cass wouldn’t want that.”
“Cass can’t want anything if she’s dead.”
“Addie…” He turned me in his arms. “It’s too late.”
“No.” I stomped his instep and then screamed in his face when his grip loosened. “It’s not.”
“Wait—” He kept reeling me back in. “Do you hear that?”
I heard nothing over the pounding of my heart.
He seemed to understand that and clarified, “Music.”
“Music.” I whirled from the house toward the woods. “Like the
