Chapter 19

"Shh," Leo hissed through clenched teeth. "Damn it, woman, do you want to draw them right to us?"

The girl stopped squirming in his arms, looking up at him with shock in those big, dark eyes. Once he was sure she wasn't going to scream her head off, he peeled his hand away from her mouth.

They were on the ground behind a parked car, crouched on gravel and dirt in the shadow of a few tropical trees he'd never learned to identify. Xavier was at the opposite end of the car, peering around the curve of the bumper, watching for Nash or security guards.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ruby demanded in a sharp whisper, her eyes flashing with that fire he'd come to appreciate from her. "You scared the crap out of me! Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he replied, watching her carefully. "You were supposed to go straight to the Consular Agency this morning." He'd almost lost it when he saw her running up the hill. She was supposed to be gone - and safe. Instead, she'd falle