Bella eyed the man and the short woman sitting in the passenger seat of the car, unsure. Had he just helped to rescue her from her kidnappers? Probably. Or, rather, his thoughts had.
And how did that even work? How was he able to speak into her mind?
“If you’d care to get into the car, I’d be happy to tell you,” he said. “Their inactivity inside will only last for so long. The pain of the Lord’s goodness is more quickly shaken off by the evil in the physical world, which is not the case in the spiritual realm.”
“Oh, I forgot, you can read my mind too,” Bella said, unable to completely strip the sarcasm from her voice. It was all just so bizarre.
“I get it, you don’t believe me. And, when I was in your shoes, I didn’t believe, either. But, after what just happened, I would think you’d be willing to hear my explanation, at the very least.”
“Who is your companion,” Bella asked, jerking her head toward the woman in the passenger seat of the car, stalling while she tried to make up her mind. She had just escaped one set of kidnappers; she didn’t want to trade them so quickly for another.
She glanced over her shoulder, angling her head to catch a view of those men through the glass doors. They’d edged forward, and were standing very near the entrance, glaring at her with such malice that it made her skin crawl. Lucien stood at the forefront of the group, looking very, very angry.
“He is very angry, Bella,” the woman said, her face pinched with worry. “I am glad that you have not yet honed the ability to hear his thoughts, for they frighten even me.”
Bella shuddered, imagining the kind of thoughts Lucien might be having about her right at that moment.
She looked at the men gathered at the door a moment longer, recalling the sense of creeping evil that had hung like a pall inside the room. She shuddered again, remembering that strange feeling of malice as it had crawled over her and the intensity of the fear that had invaded her mind. She realized that just like the thought that the stalker had sent, the fear had not been her own, either. She felt a chill of remembered horror cool her sweat‑slicked skin, and knew that her choice was easy to make.
Bella stepped closer to the car.
“Okay, I’ll hear your explanation, and I hope it’s good. I’ve been feeling as if I need to reserve a room for myself in Bellevue all day.”
The man opened the passenger door for her and Bella slid inside the car. He shut the door behind her and moved quickly around to get into the driver’s seat.
Bella turned once more to look at the entrance to the building. None of the people had ventured outside yet, but more had gathered behind the glass. They glared at her, and Bella could almost feel the weight of their collective stares.
She shuddered and turned her attention back to the man.
“Let’s start with who you are, and why you’ve been spying on me,” Bella said as he started the car, revved the engine, and backed quickly out of his parking space. “And, can we stop by my apartment? I’d like to get back there before Lucien does. I think I’ll grab a few things and spend a couple of nights in a hotel, just to be safe.”
The woman swiveled around in her seat, her expression pained.
“Well, that may present a bit of a problem,” she said.
“Oh?” Bella asked, warning bells sounding in her head.
“Well, yes . . .”
“Why is that?” Bella asked, trying to keep her tone light, but failing miserably.
What next? she thought. What else could possibly happen today?
She glanced at the door beside her seat. It remained unlocked. That was good. It meant that she could bail out if she needed to at the next stoplight.
“Well, dear, it is no longer your apartment,” the woman told her. “And your things are no longer there.”