The signs we passed were mostly in Romanian, although some of the words looked familiar so I could probably guess at the names. At least numbers were the same, which made speed restrictions easy to maintain. I glanced down at the scrunched note again, running my eyes over the map. Judging by the distances Louis had jotted around this village, we were getting close to our destination.

“I’m not mad at you, Jessa babe.”

Note forgotten, I swung around again. I was sure my blue eyes were a little desperate as they bore into the vampire. Maximus was my rock, I couldn’t stand the stress of his ire. “But I need you to promise that you won’t keep any more secrets from us.” I knew us was Jacob and Tyson, his fey and wizard brothers. “How can we properly protect you when we don’t have all the facts?”

Braxton interrupted then: “Jonathon was worried that when we joined together and received our calling, we might be dragon marked hunters also. He warned Jessa. Her caution is in part to do with orders from her alpha.”

Braxton had been pretty quiet since the battle-of-wills with his brother over who would drive. It was nice to hear his low husky voice. I’d also like to see the dimples that graced his chiseled face, but that level of happiness seemed to be a little out of reach at the moment.

Maximus growled, low from his chest; it rumbled through the small space. “For fuck’s – are you telling me your father actually entertained the concept that we might hunt you?”

I shook out my black hair, heavy and silky against my neck. “I don’t think he actually believed it, but the warning was clear.”

Maximus continued muttering under his breath while he shot dark glares around, but I knew they weren’t aimed at any of us in particular. I glanced out to the side mirror, confirming as I had been for the past few hours that the second black Porsche was still following us. I noticed Braxton frequently checking as well.

Buildings thinned as we left the town and made our way further into the mountains. There was a steep drop off one side of the narrow path, and Braxton had to slow as the snowy, treacherous roads really began to hinder our progress. Though his hands remained relaxed on the wheel, so I didn’t think he was too worried.