Southern Shifters: Werelock (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free Page B

arm was still around the back of her knees, she lifted hers and dead-dropped, driving the point of her elbow into the back of his neck. He grunted and collapsed to the paving slabs like a stone, sprawling to lie still on the driveway.
    Too still. Fear closed her throat. Shit. Had she hit him too hard and killed him? Even though she couldn’t afford the delay, she knelt next to him and pressed two fingers against his throat. Please say she hadn’t killed him. Even though he planned to take her back, he was only doing a job…
    A strong heartbeat pulsed under her fingers. Relief shuddered through her, leaving her in a ragged breath. He was okay. Ignoring her cat’s need to wrap around him and keep him warm until he woke, she patted him down and found keys and a wallet in his pockets. Snagging both, she raced to the driver’s side and unlocked the door. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline energizing her system. It couldn’t be this easy. Any moment he’d wake and fry her with a spell, stopping her escape before it had begun.
    He didn’t, lying unmoving even when she gunned the big car out of her neighbor’s drive, fishtailing the back end a little before she got it until control and roared down the road.
    She’d done it.
    She’d escaped.
    Again…

Chapter Three
     
    Werelion prides, as a rule, liked a lot of room to run and a fair amount of privacy which meant Renae had lived most of her life in the country. As such, driving big cars was no problem at all.
    She gunned the beast of a machine out of Deal’s Gap like the hounds of hell were on her ass and turned onto the road heading for the interstate. It was the most direct route out of the area. There was just one problem, the Tail of the Dragon was between her and her escape. The number one motorbike and sports car route in the U.S., it was three hundred and eighteen curves in eleven miles with a reputation for chewing up and spitting out unwary drivers.
    She grinned and put her foot down. As soon as she’d swung the big car into the first turn, she’d realized that while it might look like a well maintained classic model, the werelock had added some serious upgrades. Brakes, suspension… the whole kit and caboodle meant the thing handled like a dream.
    The perfect car to take on the Dragon.
    She kept her eye on the rearview all the time, although she didn’t know what she expected. The werelock couldn’t shift, that was the point. They sacrificed that ability to power their magic. It wasn’t like he was going to come racing after her in lion form. Especially out here. This might be the neutral zone, but most paranormals were careful around humans. Although it would be just her luck to get one that wasn’t…
    The road changed and she touched the brakes, her focus complete. The road was a perfect racetrack, but that didn’t mean she could go hell for leather. Precisely because it was popular with bikers and sports car owners meant that law enforcement had a high presence and there were radar points all along the route.
    Nearing the first one, she brought her speed down even more. Given it was a mid-week early evening, traffic wasn’t so bad, but she didn’t want to get picked up. It would be easy for the werelock to find her then. Especially as she was driving his car and the police would inform him she’d been pulled over.
    She reached the first radar point and a ping and shimmer on the dashboard of the car caught her attention. Frowning, she looked down, and her eyes widened. Small words shimmered in moss green across the speedometer.
    Cloak enchantment activated, road speed measurements negated.
    The car was speed-cloaked? Neat.
    Spotting a patrol car parked in a passing place just up ahead, she grit her teeth and put her foot down. In for a penny, in for a pound. She’d soon know if the spell was for real.
    The officer didn’t even look up as she sped by.
    “Fuck. Me.”
    With a whoop of elation, Renae kept her foot to the floor and took the