Read Online Alliance by Lacy Williams as Lacy Yager, Haley Yager - Free Book Online Page B

can’t believe it, but I have to. I’m looking right into the evidence.
    “Yes,” Blondie breathes. “We want a ride.”
    I lead the way to my truck before the creep makes it outside. No way I’m letting Blondie into the cab with Chloe, so I pull down the tailgate. She frowns, but moves to lift the little girl up in the truck bed, then pushes the teen up there too before hopping in herself.
    I latch the tailgate, and Blondie and I stare at each other from about a foot away. I’m intensely aware of her closeness, her lavender smell, and not in the way I’m used to—what I’m feeling right this second has nothing to do with violence.
    “Give me your jacket.”
    Her words knock me free from the spell I’m caught in. “What?”
    “Samantha is bleeding all over the place. Unless you have a first aid kit in your truck, give me your jacket.”
    She can’t have it—there are two knives sewn into special pockets in the seam and I can’t risk her finding them. I move over to Chloe’s window and knock on it. “Hand me some bandages, will you?”
    Chloe quickly gives me what I’ve asked for, wisely keeping her mouth shut. I toss them back to Maggie, who catches them expertly and then sits with the other two girls against the toolbox that spans the back of the truck bed, near the cab. It’s one of the heavy metal ones made for construction workers who carry tools around. Except mine is filled with my kind of tools. Weapons.
    “Mind telling me where I’m going?” I call out as I cross in front of the truck.
    Maggie rattles off an address across town from E.W. House, not one that I recognize.
    “You’re welcome,” I mutter as I get in.
    ~o~
    The sun’s first rays brighten the sky when Maggie walks out of the two-story girls’ shelter and down the walkway toward where I’m parked. Her entire body droops, as if she carries the weight of the world and is exhausted by it.
    She looks up, seems surprised to see me.
    I push off the truck where I’ve been leaning—I got too antsy sitting in the cab—and take a couple steps toward her.
    “My—Chloe’s asleep,” I explain, jerking my head toward the truck. Maggie’s got a scrape on her left cheek, I notice for the first time. It’s partially healed already—thank you vampire abilities—but it bothers me.
    She nods. Her eyes slide behind me and then back to my face. “Thanks for your help last night. It was… nice.” She doesn’t sound too sure about that. “So did you… follow me?”
    “Um. Yeah, I guess so. That makes me creepy, but I’m glad I was there.” I am? “To help. How did you know that girl was in trouble?” I rush on before I can examine my previous thought too closely.
    “I met her in the hospital and she called me, so I went.”
    “By yourself?”
    “Yes. Why did you follow me?”
    We seem to be dancing in circles here, but I kinda like the challenge.
    “I saw you leave your school and I didn’t think the rules allowed that. I guess I wanted to… make sure you were okay.” Okay, so that’s a lie. I followed her with the intention of killing her, but something changed between then and now.
    “Are you heading back to your school? You want a ride?”
    “In the back?” A slight quirk of her lips tells me she’s teasing, but her question reminds me why I put her in the back in the first place. Chloe.
    It would be too weird to ask her to sit in the truck bed now that there are only three of us, but I can’t risk her being able to grab my kid sister. Think, Shane, think.
    “Hop in,” I say, and open my door for her. Chloe stirs, starting to wake up.
    Blondie peeks into the truck, probably taking note of the single bench seat. Yep, that’s right, vampire girl: you get the middle. If you cause trouble, I’ll filet your heart.
    She clears her throat nervously. Do I make her uncomfortable? What a laugh. She’s a vampire, and if I didn’t know any better, I make her nervous.
    Her shoulder brushes against my arm as she takes a