War of Hearts (True Immortality 1)

Not yet anyway.

The car she was hiding behind was too nice, too new. Not inconspicuous enough. It was broad daylight, midday on a workday, and the parking lot wasn’t very busy. In the far corner, however, there was an old Ford, a little rusty, more than a little uncared for.

After checking to make sure there were no witnesses, Thea yanked on the door handle, breaking the lock. Her limbs trembled as she scrambled to get in the driver’s seat. When she was younger, Thea tended to fry things like engines when her emotions were high.

But that was years ago.

She’d learned a lot of control since then.

Placing her hand over the empty ignition, she sent what was left of her depleted energy into the car. It started abruptly.

Satisfied, Thea tore out of the parking lot, searching the roads for signs of where she was.

Wroclaw. They were near Wroclaw. Thea hadn’t visited the city, but it should be big enough to hide in until she got her strength back. If Conall was determined to hunt her, she needed to be strong enough to either fight or throw him off her scent entirely.

Following the signs into the city, Thea reached into the glove box and searched. A cheap pair of sunglasses, a map, and some old mints. Sighing in frustration, she flipped up the armrest and relief moved through her.

There was two fifty zloty banknotes and a handful of coins. That was nothing. About twenty-five dollars. But in Poland, it was enough to get you a room somewhere for the night.

She needed to find a cheap hotel. Somewhere she could rest up and get her strength back.

Although it was a risk, Thea dumped the car on the outskirts of the city center and began to walk. Paranoia caused sweat to soak under her arms and bead across her top lip. She tried her best to look calm, to not draw attention, as she stayed to back streets, following signs where she could.

Thea wandered into the heart of Wroclaw, wishing she had time to fully appreciate the colorfully painted facades on some of the buildings. There was a Gothic structure in a square like the market square in Kraków’s Old Town, but she didn’t have time to find out what the building was. She gathered from the paved roads and lack of vehicles in this part of the city, however, that this was Wroclaw’s Old Town. Her curiosity over a new city niggled but she had no time for it. Instead, she worried about being somewhere so visible.

On the outskirts, she found a hostel. The streets there weren’t nearly as pretty and graffiti covered much of the buildings, but the sign outside said she could get a room for the night for fifteen dollars.

Sold.Frustration tore through Conall as he drove through the streets of Wroclaw in search of Thea. He’d become aware as he stood in line to pay for petrol he couldn’t feel her. This hadn’t occurred to him since injecting her only a few hours ago because they’d shared a small car together. However, as he waited, testing his grasp on her scent, Conall realized it wasn’t working.

It must have been the drug. There was no other explanation.

Yet, under the assurance from Ashforth that the drug would incapacitate Thea for hours, Conall hadn’t expected to return to an empty fucking car!

Now, having guessed the little murderess would have taken off for the nearest town to hide in, Conall had driven into Wroclaw. For the last hour he’d circled the town, searching the faces of pedestrians as he waited for his ability to kick in. His stomach growled with hunger, only intensifying his irritation. Seeing a stall selling what looked like bratwurst, he pulled over, ignoring a Polish man who seemed to berate him for parking his car in a no-park zone.

Fuck that.

Conall paid for the oversized hot dog and wolfed it down in two bites. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he gazed around the streets, hoping Thea would miraculously appear. He didn’t have time to chase her.

A warning tingle made the hair at the nape of his neck stand on end. Turning slowly, Conall searched the passing faces, looking for one that was watching him.

“You can’t park there,” the man behind the food cart said.

Narrowing his eyes, giving the street one last sweep for a threat, Conall nodded at him. “I’m just leaving.”

His whole body felt even more wired as he crossed the street to his car, and his senses screamed at him he was being watched. Was it Thea?

However, as he climbed into the car, he felt a familiar tug on his mind and just as suddenly as he’d lost her, Conall could smell and feel Thea again. The drug was wearing off.

Satisfaction and anger mingled as he drove, following her scent.