I put both hands on his chest and shoved with all my might. He staggered back a few steps, though more out of shock than my brute strength. Liam’s jaw clenched as he shifted his weight slightly, and I could see in his eyes that the gloves were off. I put my weight on the balls of my feet and brought up my hands.

Things were about to get interesting.

“Jase! Do something!” Talley demanded.

“No need,” he replied. “I’ve got a pretty good view right here.”

“Jase!”

“Come on, Tal. He deserves it.”

Showing the utmost confidence in me, Talley said, “He’ll hurt her.”

“Well, maybe she deserves it, too.”

I weighed my options. Liam was bigger, stronger, and possibly even faster. I had to be smarter. He would expect stealth and misdirection, but if I went straight at him? Would I catch him off-guard enough to have the advantage? There was only one way to find out--

“Are you sure there is a cave up here?” Came a giggling voice from about halfway down the mountain.

Crap.

“I promise. It’s called Murder Cave because --”

“We have company,” Liam announced. I thought about adding a “No, duh,” on there, but realized he was probably saying it for Talley’s benefit.

“Seriously?” Make that Talley and Jase’s benefit.

Liam shot me a look and said, “We can discuss this late, but we need to move now. It’s too risky for us all to be seen together.”

“We’re parked near Chimney Rock,” Talley said. “You?”

“Princess Arch,” Liam answered. Jase made a valiant effort to not laugh, but was unsuccessful.

“Okay, Jase will go with you and guide you back to the house, and Scout will come with me.”

“You’ll never find your way down the mountain,” Jase said exactly at the same time as Liam declared, “It’s too risky for you to be seen with her.”

The look of annoyance Talley shot the both of them was priceless. “One, I grew up hiking these trails, Jase. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the one who guided us here.” She turned towards Liam, who had the sense not to glare back. “And two, what risk? Who is going to recognize her? I’m her best friend and it took me a while to realize the person behind the wig and color contacts was Scout.”

“Sunglasses,” was all he said in response.

Delighted over Talley’s ability to put the boys in their place, I slipped the sunglasses back on with a smile.

Chapter 8

“How are my parents? How is Angel?” The questions came spewing out the moment Talley put the key in the ignition. “Charlie?”

“Everyone is fine.” She turned her palm up so she could squeeze my hand in hers. Through our bond she sent a shot of reassurance. “They’re fine, Scout.”

I took a deep breath, trusting her unlike I would anyone else. She may have looked different, but she was still my Talley. I could feel her goodness in every cell of my body, and if Talley said they were okay, then they were okay. But still…

“Details. Lots of them, please.”

Talley backed the car out of the parking spot before fulfilling my request. “It’s been a bit tricky with your parents. Jase is playing the part of Sarvarna’s lapdog, and she’s keeping a pretty close eye on anything he does, so he can’t just out and tell them what is going on. Luckily, I have a bit more leeway. They keep me around because my skills are valuable, but they all think I’m too much of an emotional basket case and way too devoted to you to be of any real use. So, I’ve been the one to talk to your parents mainly. I keep it vague so as not to get the Alpha Pack nosing around and to keep your folks from freaking out, but they know you’re alive and in hiding. Your dad wanted to go out and find you, thinking he could protect you from whatever you need protecting from, but Jase managed to stop him.”

She tapped her finger on the steering wheel. “And…?” I prompted, knowing there was something there she wasn’t so keen on sharing.

“And, well, they’re currently not speaking to each other, but don’t worry. It’ll work itself out.”

I sighed as I slid back against the seat. Dad and Jase weren’t speaking to each other? Great. Add that to the list of things I’ve royally screwed up just by being me.

“Angel?”

Talley smiled, which made me nervous. Things other people found amusing about my little sister usually aren’t that funny to me. “Well, of course she has no clue about what is really going on and thinks the whole car crash story is true...”

“Oh God.” Somehow that seemed worse. “The news is implying I’m dead.” Poor Angel. My poor, sweet, innocent little--

“…So she called CNN to set them straight. She left a message telling Nancy Grace to shut her stupid mouth and quit saying her sister is dead, because she’s not.”

“She did not. She’s only seven, for pity’s sake. Where would she even get the phone number?”

Talley was really going to have to stop smiling like that. My peace of mind was in serious jeopardy. “She may have been under the influence of Jase.”

“This is the reason they really should be kept apart as much as possible.” Although, I found I was actually grinning a little bit myself. “Did Nancy Grace reply?”

“Oh yes. She played the voicemail on air. The whole world got to hear Angel call her a lying wicked witch.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“She did!”

Talley slowed down to a virtual crawl, letting a red pickup pass. I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a familiar blue-grey car.

“She’s sorta kinda grounded from now until she’s thirty, but that’s probably for the best. Angel isn’t exactly the kind of kid who needs access to computers and phones. There’s no limit to the amount of havoc she could cause.”

“True,” I admitted. “And if she’s grounded, that means Mom and Dad will be keeping an extra-close eye on her. That makes me feel a little better.”

Talley reached over and gave me another reassuring hand squeeze. “Everyone is fine.”

“Everyone?” I bit the inside of my lip so hard I tasted blood. “The news said he was in critical condition.”

We were at a stop light, so Talley was able to turn to look at me. After some consideration she said, “Can you promise to not make a single sound?”