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she had hurt his pride was enough. What if he let on that what really hurt was the continuing idea that he was less-than in her eyes by virtue of his birth alone, and that not a single thing he did would change that? It was far more than he could expose of himself.
    â€œYou said traffic’s awful this time of day. We should really get going,” he said. “C’mon. Drive.”

Chapter 7
    â€œWhat do you mean you don’t know where it is?” Tyra’s grip on the steering wheel was so tight that her knuckles blanched and then turned red. Tension inside the black Land Rover she’d taken from the estate’s fleet of vehicles kept climbing even as the sun dipped low in the sky. She pointedly ignored the low growl that was Anton’s response.
    They wound through the back roads of Ash Falls. Over hills and past farms that weren’t very active now because it was January. The sparse scenery scrolled past them, and the more rural things got, the more Tyra’s nausea and unease grew. This driving into the middle of nowhere—and the “I’m not sure, it’s around here somewhere” crap Anton was pulling with her—were shredding what little trust they’d started to build.
    â€œDo you honestly need me to explain it again?”
    Yes, she did. “I’m a little slow sometimes, Anton.” More accurately, she still didn’t entirely believe him. Checking whether or not he was lying would be easy, if she were willing to touch him. But between the kiss and the strangeness that had happened back at the surplus store? Nuh-uh, no thank you. Not yet, anyway.
    He shifted in the seat. “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you? You still don’t trust me. What do you think I’m doing, luring you into some kind of trap? What, like I’ve got us tooling around in the woods to kill time until I can rendezvous with the rest of the coven?”
    Uh. “I don’t think that.”
    â€œYou do, don’t you? Good grief, Tyra, I get why you have your doubts, but I’m doing everything I can here to prove I’m on the level. Sweet Jesus, if I was really out to kidnap or kill you, this wouldn’t be the best way to go about it. What about… hmm, I don’t know… maybe when you were in a coma ?”
    One side of her mouth lifted in a sneer.
    â€œOr what about the fact that I’ve spent the past two days crashing in your bedroom while we hashed out a plan to go after my father? I could have snuck out during the day to go take out half the vampires on that estate while you were taking a shower. I could have gone after your king and queen. I mean, come on, what better way to make your kind vulnerable than to take out your leader? Be easy for the wizards to pick the vampires off like frightened rats without the king’s military to protect ’em.”
    He was absolutely correct. That had been the reason Thad was so desperate to find Isabel after their parents passed. Their race had always relied on strong leadership. And she could admit that part of her felt oddly comfortable in Anton’s presence. Another part, however, couldn’t stop thinking about the very bad ways that this entire situation could go wrong. “I took a very quick shower.”
    She glanced at Anton in the passenger seat from the corner of her eye. Even in the scant evening light, an angry red flush was clearly visible on his face. Maybe it was inherent in the rivalry between their two races, but boy, they could really push each other’s buttons.
    â€œYou must trust me on some level or you would have had my head days ago, so I have to wonder what all of this is really about.”
    â€œBecause I can’t afford to be wrong.” Tyra’s palm slammed the steering wheel. Damn. She hadn’t meant to blurt that out. A surge of adrenaline whooshed through her body as the words flew from her mouth, like they were being yanked out