Chapter Sixteen

                                    

                                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
I HAVE a thirty second window. Maybe twenty to be safe. 
I tiptoe to my bedroom door, ensuring that it's locked and then crouch to the router lying on the floor by the closet. It runs to the camera located right outside my window. I inhale a deep breath for courage and pull the ethernet cord. I wait a few seconds before I plunge it right back into the router. 
There. Simple enough. 
Then I dash to the window and twist the latch. The light signal turns red because the connection is rebooting. So far, everything is working. 
Juniper snarls as I carefully step over Oshun's shrine and put one foot out the window. "Don't be a sourpuss. I'll be back before you can say meow." 
The ward caresses my skin the minute both feet hit the ground. Then, I make a run for it.
| | |
Thanks to Caleb's obsessive perimeter checks, I know where all the sensors and hidden tree cams are. I clear the cottage without alerting the angel within, but it isn't until I've walked a mile down the road that I take a real breath. 
Since every car that drives by could be Lora, I draw the hood up on my sweatshirt and keep to the edge of the trees. 
The night is young but a college party echoes off the leaves from a cabin nearby. Animal hoots and hisses buzz from the thickets and surrounding shrub. I try not to let the pitch black of night freak me out. 
Despite my desire to stay calm, an innate instinct drives me to keep peering over my shoulder, afraid Caleb will suddenly appear and drag me back to the castle. But the street remains empty. 
After another mile, I spot a convenience store. The inside is gross. It smells of smoke and cheap chocolate. There's a young man who fixates on me while I stroll up to his counter. I flash a pretty smile. His throat constricts, as if I'm the most exciting thing that's happened to him all night. "Hi there. May I use your phone?" 
He stutters, "M-my phone?" 
I nod and then toss him a pocket knife with a bright red handle for sale next to his cash register. It probably won't do much damage to a monster, but it's better than nothing. "I'd also like to purchase this." 
| | | 
Booker picks me up at a bus stop near the convenience store. He's decked out in fashionable jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt that spells out ICON. The gleam from his baby blue neck chain is the first thing to catch my notice. The second are those blond-tipped dreads hanging over his eyes, still fresh from my work. 
"Hello beautiful," he says, a smile from dimple to dimple. 
I smirk and drop into his white Charger. "I'm so glad you answered your phone. I was worried you wouldn't with an unknown number."