“We don’t think this is a sound plan,” Winifred said.  She opened her mouth to say more, but Bethi turned on her.

“Did you see what happened to her when Ethan died?  Her skin split.  From the inside.  Her eyes were seconds from hemorrhaging, based on how they looked just after.  She’s lucky she didn’t liquefy her liver.  If she doesn’t learn how to push out the excess emotion the next time something bad happens, she won’t have an out.  Denying her isn’t an option.”

Bethi’s angry waves of frustration made me twitch.  I needed to call my attack Chihuahua off.

“Down girl.  You’re back on my sleepover list,” I said, nudging her with a finger.  “Just cut back on the overload, okay?”

She took a breath and muted some of what she felt.

“Can we pull over to talk about it?  After that, I think I need to drive with Carlos again.

“Sorry,” Bethi mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it.”  As I spoke, the lead vehicle put on its blinker and braked.

When Winifred came to a stop on the shoulder, I breathed a sigh of relief and climbed out.  Carlos was already out of his seat and walking toward us.  His gaze swept over me.  He’d been worried.  I couldn’t feel it or see it in his gaze, yet I knew and felt a flutter in my middle because of it.

“I’m fine,” I said when he walked up to me.

“Why did we stop?”

Winifred indirectly answered his question as she spoke to Sam and Grey while everyone else joined us.

“Isabelle wants to find a lone Urbat.  She needs to figure out how she released her emotions yesterday and can’t do it with us around.”

“Alone?” Sam said.

Carlos studied me.

“Isolated.  Not alone,” I said.

“It’s not up for debate,” Bethi said.  “If she doesn’t learn how to do this, the next time she overloads, she could kill herself.”

Carlos’ hands, which had hung loosely at his side, curled into fists.

“How does the route look?” Sam asked Gabby.

“Clear.  It’s been clear since we left.  Although, one of them came near the hotel last night then left again.  Since then, none of them have moved.”

“It’s bugging me that they’ve backed off like that,” Bethi said.  “They don’t back off.  They fight.”

“Maybe what Isabelle did scared them,” Winifred said.

Bethi seemed to consider it, then slowly shook her head.

“I think there’s something more to their actions.”

“We need to find out what,” I said, agreeing with her.  “Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking at me.

“They are obviously trying to steer us north, right?  So let’s go west and see what happens.  As soon as we find an Urbat, we’ll stop and I’ll say hi.  Maybe the lucky guy will be able to shed some light on why they want us to go north.  If not, I’ll still get my chance at figuring out my newest trick.”

“What exactly do you mean by isolated?” Grey asked.

“You just need to be far enough away that when I pull or push emotions, you won’t be in the blast zone.”

He nodded and looked at Winifred and Sam.

“If the rest of you stay back by the vehicles, Carlos and I can walk Isabelle as close as possible.  Then, she can go the rest of the way on her own.  Gabby and Sam can keep Carlos and me informed of any movement.  We’ll be close enough to protect her if need be, and the rest of you will be far enough away to stay safe.”

They debated it for a while, then finally agreed.  Gabby would take us to a thin spot.  Not too close.  Within a mile.  Then Carlos, Grey, and I would walk the rest of the way.

Before we got back into the cars, we practiced again.  Emmitt was getting better at trusting the circle to protect Michelle and his mom.  The three in the middle were working together seamlessly to announce the fight.  Our weakness would be in the numbers.  There was no way we would survive without casualties if we were attacked again like we had been.  We needed to get to New York.

*    *    *    *

I sat in the front again, enjoying the emotional silence as Carlos drove.  My stomach rumbled, and I unbuckled to reach back for the sandwich I’d forgotten.

“Isabelle, that’s not safe.”

“Not feeding me isn’t safe.  I’d hate for you to lose an arm because I’m hungry.”

I settled back into my seat and set the box in my lap before I buckled again.

“See, nothing to it.”

He didn’t comment.

With a grin, I opened the box and saw a whole sandwich inside.  It wasn’t the toasted BLT I’d half eaten.  I lifted the top and saw peanut butter and grape jelly.  I’d mentioned I’d wanted one, and he’d gotten it for me.  It wasn’t the first thing he’d quietly done for me.  He’d been taking care of me since Ethan had died.  And how had I treated him?  Like a pariah.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

“You’re welcome, Isabelle.”

My stomach dipped and danced at his use of my name.  I had a feeling he knew exactly what he did to me when he said it, too.  Thoughtfully, I lifted the sandwich and took a bite.  Ethan had been right; the big guy did want me.  But watching my back wasn’t going to be enough because Carlos wasn’t attacking.  He was worming his way in.

“This pull won’t go away, will it?”

“No.”

I nodded slowly.

“I don’t do relationships,” I said softly.  “It’s not just to protect the guy, you know.  It’s to protect me, too.  I don’t want to spend my life hitting the people who mean something to me.”

“Maybe you’ll feel differently when you learn how to release what you pull in.”

I finished my sandwich in silence then turned in my seat to study him.  He really wouldn’t give up.  For some reason, the idea didn’t annoy me as much as it probably should have.

“And maybe I’ll be so overcome by my awesome new skill that I’ll bite you.”

His hand tightened fractionally on the steering wheel. The bite thing was really messing with him.

I smirked when he cleared his throat lightly before speaking.

“Michelle found a place in New York already,” he said.  “Three apartments in a secured building.  Bethi is arguing that you need better isolation.”

“It’s New York.  How isolated does she think she can get me?  Tell her to stop worrying.”

“Will it be too much?”  He glanced at me.

“It will be what it will be.  We need to expose the Urbat, and everyone agreed New York is the place to do it.  So, we have to go there.  But, this side trip will be helpful.  If I can master pushing out the emotions, pulling won’t be an issue anymore.”

We drove west for almost an hour before we pulled over again.

I got out and stretched.  I was tired of all these car rides and just wanted to get where we needed to be already.

“He’s about a mile up the road,” Gabby said as she walked toward me.

“He?”

“Just a guess,” Gabby said.  “They’ve all been men so far.  I figured the Urbat are just as hard up for females as these guys are.  I’ll keep an eye on things from here and report any movement to Sam.  Sam will keep Grey and Carlos informed.”

I nodded.

“Ready for a country stroll?” I said, looking at Grey and Carlos.

“Lead the way,” Grey said.

My palms started to sweat as I walked away from the group.

“I want you to stay as far back as possible, Grey.”

“You have my word,” he said. Yet, Grey’s worry drifted on the wind.

I didn’t bother trying to reason with Carlos, who strode beside me.  I doubted he’d listen.

The sound of the idling engines faded as we walked.  Ahead, in the road, I spotted a little figure.

“Gabby says there’s movement north and south.  Reinforcements,” Grey said.  “We’ll only have a few minutes.”

We picked up our pace, and I watched the distant figure rapidly grow.  Whoever it was approached us, too.

When I could make out the worn pants and stained shirt of the man, he stopped advancing.  So did Grey.  Carlos and I kept going.