Chapter 13 · Get Out of His Car

The car smells like leather and something sharper. Antiseptic, maybe. Or just money.

I'm in the back seat. Eli's up front, hands loose on the wheel, like he does this every day. Pick up marked humans. Drive them somewhere quiet. Talk.

The door locks clicked the second I sat down.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

He doesn't answer. Just pulls onto the main road, smooth and easy, like we're heading to brunch.

I press my palm against the window. It's cold. The mark on my shoulder is still burning, that same sick heat that started the second I walked away from Karl. I don't know if it's because I left him or because Eli's sitting three feet away.

Maybe both.

"You made a choice back there," Eli says. His voice is calm. Too calm. "I respect that."

"I didn't choose you."

"No?" He glances at me in the rearview. "You got in my car."

"Because you said you'd answer my questions."

"And I will." He turns left, away from the main strip, toward the industrial edge of town. Empty lots. Chain-link fences. No cameras. "But first, let's clarify something.