“Ray’s still got that blown tire,” Noah said, getting on his phone. “If we can wait half an hour—”

“I can’t wait that long.” The need I felt to be by her side, to support her through this, nearly wrecked me. I got on my phone, too, checking both the Uber and Lyft apps. There were no cars available because of this festival. There was a lump in my throat, but I refused to cry. I had to be strong, to see what the doctor said. “There’s no ride-share cars, either. What are we going to do?”

Determined, he took my hand. “Come with me. I’m going to get you there.”

“How?”

He took me by the shoulders, looking deep into my eyes. I could see how much he meant what he said next. “Trust me. You’re my battle buddy. I’ve got your back, and I promise that I’m going to get you safely to Shelby’s side.”

Some detached part of my brain wanted to ask him what a battle buddy was, but he pulled me after him and I followed. We ran down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator and hurried through the lobby. When we got to the half-circle driveway out front, there were no taxis that I could see, but there was a young woman about to get into her car.

Noah rushed over to her. “Hi. Weird question—are you a Duel of the Fae fan?”

It took a second for her to register who he was, but her mouth dropped open and I understood all too well when she temporarily lost her ability to speak. “You’re . . . you’re . . .”

But he was too impatient to wait for her to get there. “Yes, I play Malec Shadowfire. I’m Noah. What’s your name?”

“I’m Nicole. Wow, it’s so great to meet you!” Her eyes flickered to mine, but she seemed to mentally dismiss me.

He shook her hand. “Is there any chance I could get you to drive me and my friend to the hospital? I could pay you.”

“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes big. I noticed she didn’t ask if I was okay. To be fair, she probably didn’t care.

“I’m fine. There’s someone there we have to see right away.”

“Of course. I’d love to drive you. And don’t worry about the money. Just having the chance to talk to you would be payment enough!”

She got into her car, and he turned to me. “I’ll sit up front and chat with her.”

It occurred to me as I climbed into the back seat that this woman could be a complete psycho and kidnap us and tie Noah up in her basement while making him read lines from Duel of the Fae. But there was no time to worry.