Read Online Slipping the Past by D.L. Jackson - Free Book Online Page B

of the house again, as though looking at it would change anything. She wasn’t taking him, and she wasn’t able to drive off without him. They couldn’t continue to do this. Soon she’d have to grab some courage and leave, and unfortunately, she’d have to take Nate with her.
    “Jocelyn?”
    “I don’t know. I’m trying to think.” Which was hard when she was being hunted.
    “Stop thinking. I told you I’m not getting out, and I’m not leaving you. Where you go—I go. You’re wasting the charge in this vehicle. We need to put as much distance as we can between us and that reaper.”
    “Stop, Nate. I’m trying to figure it out.”
    “You’re not ditching me.”
    Jocelyn groaned and rolled to a stop in front of the house. Nate turned away from it, intentionally keeping her from seeing what she needed to. “Nate, look at the house. I can’t see it.”
    “No. We need to get out of here.”
    “Nate.”
    “No.”
    “Damn it, Nate. Would you look at the house? I need to see.”
    Nate snorted and stared at the pavement, refusing to give her what she wanted. She watched through his eyes as the wind caught the leaves and sent them whirling across the road’s surface in a spiral dance. She growled under her breath, but he continued to stare at the debris, not caring.
    “Please.”
    “If we keep doing this, he’s going to come out of our house and see us. Then we’re done.”
    “I’m done. You’re not involved.”
    “Says the woman who’s borrowing my eyes to sort-of make her escape—if she’d actually leave the neighborhood.” Nate huffed and glanced at the front door. “Happy?”
    Jocelyn put the vehicle in gear and began to drive again.
    The door opened and a tall reaper ducked from the entrance and onto the porch. The streetlights flickered and popped off, leaving only a set of red glowing eyes fixed on them like a laser sight.
    “Oh, shit. You better get this thing going. If it’s not moving, he’ll suck the charge out of our ride—or hop in.”
    “Eyes front, Nate!” Jocelyn slammed her foot to the floor. Her heart began to pound so hard it hurt.
    He snapped his head around and stared at the street. “Get us the fuck out of here, Jocelyn. You stand still and he’ll have us.”
    The reapers weren’t without weaknesses. They needed to be close to draw the energy, with the object sitting still. Their best chance for escape was to keep moving. The tires squealed and the aged transporter, an antique from 2015 and the best her mother could afford, shot forward.
    “They can’t teleport inside a moving vehicle. Don’t stop.” Nate glanced in the rearview mirror to see the reaper standing in the street behind them. “Left. Go left.”
    The tires screeched as they took a corner. Nate checked the mirror. The reaper teleported behind them and watched. She turned right, taking another side street. He teleported again, staying in the rearview mirror. He could follow them all night. Too bad they’d wasted most of the transporter’s charge circling the block.
    “We have to get on the interstate. He can’t follow us that way,” Nate said.
    “I don’t think that will stop him.” He’d never give up. Something about the reaper made the hair on her neck snap to attention. The Enforcer had come for her four hours early. He’d been anxious to get her soul and didn’t care if he broke the law to do it. Until midnight, she was still seventeen and untouchable, or she should have been. If he didn’t care about that, there was a good chance he wouldn’t care if she got hurt during the capture, or worse.
    “We might be able to ditch him in traffic. Get to the interstate and we’ll take a side exit. There’s no way he can predict our next move. He can keep popping behind us on these side streets. The interstate won’t be as easy.”
    “Fasten your safety harness and keep your eyes on the road.”
    Nate complied and eyed the sign ahead. “Oh, shit. You can’t do that.”
    “Just watch