Altered by Shelly Crane Page B

mood if this was what it entailed. I came for her harder, but she kept her hand there even as she protested. “I thought we talked about this and you weren’t going to…to…”
    “To what…sweetheart?”
    “That!” she shrieked and looked up at me like I was a villain. A villain with something she wanted. “The sweethearts and the gorgeous behinds and that stuff you’re pulling on me. Stop it.”
    “But you don’t like me. So why does it matter? I’m just trying to kill some time.”
    “I…” She licked her lips. “I never said I didn’t like you.”
    I moved until she was pressed against me, her hand stuck between us. She was breathing hard and she made this little noise, a cross between a beg and a groan.
    “Enoch,” she tacked on with it and I was about to lose it.
    I growled . “You are the most—”
    We heard a loud, thunderous screech that sounded like a car accident from the road. We both jerked our gazes to the road and then back to each other. She opened her mouth and paused for only a second before asking, “I am the most what?”
    I chuckled. “Looks like I was saved by the bell. Come on, princess. Maybe I’ll tell you later.”
    She huffed and hung on to my hand as I tugged her up the steep hill back to the car. The pine needles made the climb slippery and hazardous.
    When we reached the top of the hill, the car we’d stolen was gone. I blurred across the street, startling her with my quickness. I groaned. “A car doesn’t just disappear,” I bellowed. “We heard that noise. What the hell happened?”
    “You should know better than to leave your getaway car in broad daylight, Thames.”
    I sighed and turned toward the further south side of the woods. “Franz.”
    He smiled. “Enoch.” He turned to Fay and nodded his head once. “Miss.”
    “Fay,” she said softly.
    “Well, Fay. Any friend of Enoch’s is a friend of the rebels’.”
    “You’re here?” I questioned and blurred to Fay’s side. She hadn’t moved an inch and as soon as I got a taste of her fear, I moved without even thinking. I took her hand in mine and looked at her before tugging her to follow me, silently telling her it was okay. Franz watched the exchange and, even though he kept his expression the same, I could tell he was shocked. He didn’t move or say a word for far too long as he studied me.
    “Is something wrong?” Fay finally asked.
    “Yes,” Franz said and stared me down. “But we’ll talk about that later.” He smiled at her. “I’m sure you must be starving.”
    “Not really, actually. We ate not too long ago. But thank you,” she rushed to say. “I really appreciate it, but Enoch has been doing a really good job of taking care of me.”
                  Franz’s eyes bulged. I sighed. “Has he now. Well.” He left it at that and turned, we assumed for us to follow him.
    She gripped my hand tighter and leaned in. “I think he was just expecting you to come. I don’t think he’s very happy about my just showing up out of nowhere.”
    “No,” I assured. “No, it’s not that.”
    “He didn’t seem to like me being here very much.”
    I rubbed her fingers with mine and she shivered, causing a delicious ache to settle in my chest. I groaned. “You’re killing me, little human.”
    “What?” she whispered.
    I ignored that. “He’s trying to figure me out. That’s all. It’s me, not you. I told you that I used to be different. The last time I saw them was months ago and I used to be…” I chuckled with the irony of it, “a lot different. I was an ass, Fay. I wasn’t a good guy. I’m still not.” I sighed, unable to hold it in. I lifted the hand that wasn’t attached to her. “He knows me. He’s known me for a very long time. They’re all going to wonder what happened to me.”
    “So just tell them you changed. People change,” she reasoned.
    “Devourers aren’t people, and devourers don’t change,” I argued softly. I stared at the green