“Damn deer in the road,” he mumbles under his breath.
My phone rings, and I reach into my pocket to slide it out and answer.
“What happened?” Uncle Grayson barks. “You’re not pulling one of your mother’s stunts are you?”
I laugh a little as Jase slumps down.
“No, Jase almost hit a deer. These woods are pretty full of wildlife.”
I hear a sigh of relief coming from my uncle, and then Jase takes the phone from me.
“We’re about to go dark stalk. Make sure all drivers are full bloods.”
“They are. I prepared for this,” Uncle Grayson says to my full blood who seems to be acting more in charge than him.
It’s hot as hell too.
I see a smirk spreading over his face as he hands me back my phone. I turn it off before sliding it back into my pocket.
“Something amusing you, Aria?”
“You’re just really sexy when you act all authoritative. I swear it sounds like my uncle is taking orders from you, and believe me, that’s unusual.”
He grins a little bigger while pulling my hand to his lips, and then he shuts off the lights while driving the same, hellacious speed in the stealthy, almost silent car.
His eyes nearly glow as his night vision kicks in, and my glow-free ones start working as well to scour the landscape for anything that could put us on the right trail.
“These woods are crawling with ambush-worthy hiding places. Let me know if you hear anything, since your hearing is better than mine,” he whispers.
“I will.”
I keep my eyes burning against the ground, hoping to find something. It would really look bad if I finally got a shot at proving myself, only to fall flat when it counted.
“Stop,” I whisper.
“Here? We’re nowhere close to the lead my sister’s team found.”
“Stop,” I repeat, and he halts the convoy following us as I climb out of the vehicle to investigate the unusual tracks.
I bend down to examine the tread patterns, but someone has covered them up. They just barely missed a ridge on the right that holds the secret of their trip turning and heading a different direction than what we where intending on going.
“These tracks were covered up. They barely missed this spot. They’ve got a sweeper on the back of their vehicle. It’s a sophisticated one too.”
“Then how did they miss these?” Angelica asks while squatting down with her flashlight.
“Because that stone lifted the sweeper enough to leave these behind when they turned. They’re heading to Northshore. These are the guys who broke through our boundaries six months ago. This same sweeper was used. I can smell the rubber on it, and it’s a rare blend,” I murmur while sniffing the mud.
“Damn it. This is a bigger lead than I thought. Call ahead. Tell Northshore we’re heading their way, and we’ll need access to their security feed,” Uncle Grayson says to a shorter man standing beside him.
“Good job, sweetie,” Aunt Angelica says while patting my back, and I smile triumphantly while turning around to see the smug face of my full blood.
“What?” I muse while walking back to him.
“That was by far the hottest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m definitely going to come in the field with you more often,” he says while pulling me to his body, and his lips stroke mine lightly before opening my door for me.
“If you think that was hot, you should see what I can do in the daylight,” I seduce, and he tugs at his collar as if it’s too tight.
“Something tells me I’m going to have one hell of a time with you,” he whispers while walking around to the other side, and my lips find his the moment he cranks the car.
