Diary of a Runaway (BOOK #3)

Revelations

Jane

            "I think we're here," Derek announced, blinking me out of my drowsy stupor.

            Luke leaned forward in-between the seats. "Where are all the cars?"

            "They probably parked around the block," I assumed noticing how abandoned the building seemed. I closed my eyes, trying to catch a scent or the glimmer of a noise. The tiny tinkering of tools responded along with the slight whiff of Hunter. And human.

            I'd grown used to Derek and Luke's smell. It no longer bothered me.

            "What do we do now?" Ava asked.

            Derek stopped the car and turned to her. "You are staying here. I don't need you in there trying to play martyr. You can help after we get out with Chris."

            "If he's even in there," Luke commented. Then he made a move to open the door. "Let's go."

            I reached a hand out to grab his wrist. "Hold up. You're not going inside."

            His eyebrows came together. "You told me--"

            "I told you you could come. You're here, aren't you?" My stomach churned that the thought of lying to him, but I knew now that I had made a mistake letting him come along in the first place. "I'm not letting you go in there and risk your life. We already have to make it out with one human. I don't want to have to keep up with two."

            I realized then that I'd never seen Luke angry, and I never expected him to get to that point. Truly, I didn't think he was capable. Someone so sweet, so genuine couldn't feel that emotion. But the way he looked at me now...it froze my bones in place.

            I shook my head. "It's for your own good, Luke. Please believe that."

            He avoided my eyes now. "That's what they always say."

            I couldn't get caught up in how my gut twisted at his words or the hollow expression on his face. Honestly, I couldn't blame him. I promised he could come along. He begged and insisted. I'd just been stupid enough to say yes.

            "He'll get over it," Derek told me as we made our way to the building before us. "He's just upset. I think he likes you."

            I bit my lip. "It doesn't matter anyway. He can't like me, but I can't say 'no' to him. He does something to me. Makes me feel something unlike anything else I've ever felt before. I...I don't know how or why..."

            Derek's eyebrows shot up. "Sounds like you 'like' him to, maybe even more."

            "No," I snapped, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Don't you dare start that with me. You may think you know me and my preferences and my past, but you know nothing about who I am now. Including how I might feel."

            He only rolled his eyes, just further pressing my urge to slap him. "Exactly, Jane. But I know more about you than any of your little friends. You haven't told them about yourself, have you? Not William or Angelina or Luke. You've been keeping them in the dark all this time."

            "I have the right to keep my own secrets."

            "Not when they explain so much about who you are--where you come from." He squinted in the sunlight, but I recognized this expression. Damn, I hated that look. It aged him beyond his appearance, made him the wise Original Hunter. "You can't lie to the people you care about. I should know. Look what happened with William--I completely screwed everything up by keeping things from him. I lied to my son and to myself because I was afraid. Of going back to that place. Of what people may think about me. But Jane," He reached over and squeezed my shoulder, "You don't have to be afraid. I'll be right here as support."