Page 43 of Fake (The Scarab Beetle 3)

Ethan’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Where? I came to fix the tower. It informed me there was a power shortage or something.”

My heart thundered and my eyes widened. It was too soon for Doyle and Blake to have done anything for Ethan to make it over so quickly.

Which meant someone else had beaten us to it. My eyes flitted to the door and wondered where they were. Was that why they were still gone? Because someone was up there waiting to ambush Ethan, and instead they got two people interfering? If it wasn’t Alice, it might be Eddie.

If that might be the case, Blake and Doyle might survive. If it was Alice, then I had to get Ethan out of here before he was trapped, and we had no way to fix this. It would be hard to convince him his new bride wasn’t who he thought she was.

“Ethan,” I said quietly. “I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I need you to come with me.”

“Where?”

“For the moment, anywhere but here,” I said. I checked the church, not knowing the layout. “And we need to go out a door that will be discreet. We’ll need to make a run for it.”

Ethan’s face turned white. “Was someone following me?”

“Several people,” I said. “I don’t have time to explain. We just need to leave without being seen.”

Ethan turned toward the back door and then toward the altar. “There’s a small alcove just behind the confession booth,” he said, pointing. “And there’s a door behind it. A fire escape for the priests in the booth.”

Good enough. “Listen,” I said, focusing on his face. “I need you to follow me. No matter what happens. We can sort it out later. I just don’t want you getting killed.”

Ethan pressed his lips together, looking uneasy. “I don’t know.”

“Please,” I said. My body started to shake. I was tired. I was terrified. They were coming to put me in a trunk again, and this time I might not escape. “I know you don’t know me, but right now, there’s two groups of people chasing you, and people have died. They’ve got three of my friends, possibly more at this point. People are dying because of your experimental cell thing and it had nothing to do with me or my friends. We’ve been put in the middle and I just want my friends back. I’m sure you’d love to shake off whoever is chasing you before any more of your friends die for this.”

“I hadn’t realized they’d died because of it,” he said quietly. “It’s hard to believe...but then my own cell phone did go missing sometime last night.”

I smothered the guilt and tried to go with pleading. “Please? It’s just me. You’re bigger than I am. You can take me out easily.”

He smiled a little. “I should warn my wife.”

“She’s probably fine. It’s you they’re targeting. I’ve got reason to believe they shut off your tower to lure you...”

There was a crash at the door. I heard the priest say a greeting, but he was then cut off. Then there was a thud and a gurgling, pained cry.

I silently swore to kill them all later for harming an old priest. I grabbed Ethan, before he had time to look and ask. They weren’t waiting for him to leave. They were coming in after him.

Ethan stumbled behind me and then caught up. He took the lead after we got to the booths. He opened what looked like a simple wood panel, went in, and then pulled me inside.

The moment we entered, he closed the panel and hit a latch inside, which slid a safety bar into place. There were footsteps and some shouting behind us, but Ethan redirected me further into the narrow space.

I put a hand on his shoulder, and he led the way. It was a tight fit and dark. I wasn’t sure how he knew where to go.

At the far end, he hit another latch and a door opened up to the outside.

I took a moment outside to get my bearings. We were at the edge of a small graveyard on the far side of the church. Just great. Now we’d get zombies next.

I’d go back for the car, but I didn’t have a key, and if Blake and Doyle hadn’t been caught, they’d be able to use it to get away. Ethan was the key for us now, and it was most important for me to get him out for now.

“We need to get away from the church,” I said.

“Should we take my car?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “They’ll follow. We need to run somewhere else. Somewhere harder for them to follow. We can worry about a car later.”

Ethan pointed, directing to the street just beyond the graveyard. “That way,” he said. “It’s just a small neighborhood, but I know the area. Plenty of places to—”

There was a crash behind us, and the sound of splintering wood.

“Sounds good to me,” I said, and then started to run.

Ethan caught up. I lost one of my shoes in the escape, and then kicked off the other one when running became difficult. I tripped over a headstone, smashing one of my toes.

I felt horrible for leaving the guys now. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I had to swallow and focus on getting away. I could only hope Doyle and Blake could get away.

Ethan stayed in the lead, running. I did my best to keep up. Once we were out of the graveyard and across the street, he passed by two houses, took a left into the side yard of the third. As I followed, he slipped down a narrow alley where there were fences on either side and ducked around the back of a house. On he went, leading me on a maze through the neighborhood.

I got to the point where I was completely lost, thinking we were making a circle. When I couldn’t run any more, I reached out for Ethan, grabbing at his sleeve. “Wait!” I said, trying to catch my breath. “Are they still following?”

Ethan paused and then we both listened. We were in the backyard of some house. There was a swing set, with one broken swing and a slide that was crooked. The grass was around my ankles, and I was worried about snakes and spiders, but right then, I’d take on a snake to simply be able to breathe and listen for anyone chasing us.

Moments passed as we stood in the dark, and no one came. Wind swept through the trees around us, slicing through my clothes and freezing me. I wished I had Brandon’s sweatshirt. I wished I was back at the Sergeant Jasper.

Panting, Ethan, stepped closer, checking me out. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. I held on to my ribs, trying to ease a painful stitch, wheezing.

“You sound like you’re about to die,” he said with a chuckle. “Do you have asthma or something?”

I made a face, although in the dark, he probably didn’t see it. “I’m just not much of a runner.”

“What’s your name?” he asked.

I stood, trying to swallow and not wheeze so much. “Kayli,” I said, although it was on the tip of my tongue to lie. “I was simply too worn out and tired to come up with one. Kayli Winchester.”

“You do look so familiar,” he said. “You look exactly like my niece.”

“Angela,” I said.

There was an outline of a smile on his face. “You know her?”

“No,” I said quietly. “Not exactly. Last night, at your party...you...mistook me for her.”

He laughed at first, and then stopped short. “You’re serious?”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “But first, we need to get out of here.”

His head shifted from side to side, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to make of me. Slowly, he removed his heavy coat and angled to place it on my shoulders. “It’s freezing out here,” he said.

I was going to deny this, and tell him he was going to get cold, too. Part of me was overheated from running, but my legs were chilled and my arms were icy. It wouldn’t be long before I was simply chilled through. I accepted, nodding and put it on. He really was a nice guy. How did he get wrapped up in someone like Alice?

But then, Alice was tricky.

“Where do we go?” he asked. “What next?”

I didn’t really have a plan at this point, but I pulled out Mr. Anderson’s cell phone and lit it up. There was only one number I actually remembered by heart now.

; It took five rings this time, I was sure he was dead asleep. “Kayli?”

“Avery...I know you’re asleep but...”

“Where are you?” he asked quickly, and the sound of a crash on the other end. He groaned and then returned. “I’ll come get you. Give me a second to put some pants on.”

I blew out a breath in relief, grateful.