Amalgamate

Chapter 6

His car was right where he'd left it out in front of the emergency room entrance. Rowan was beyond distracted though. She'd almost walked right past his car and into the parking lot. He'd held her elbow and guided her into the car. He'd even buckled her in.

Neither of them spoke for miles. Ian kept the music off, knowing quiet was better for her when she got like this.

Sitting quietly, staring out the window into the darkness beyond, she appeared to be deep in thought. She was either trying to make sense of the images she'd mentioned seeing, or trying to determine her next steps. Rowan wasn't a talker during these times. She processed everything internally. So, either way, she wouldn't be sharing whatever it was that was on her mind until she had it all figured out. And to top all of that, she was a girl who had some real issues with making mistakes, and thus she held herself to a nearly unattainable, and highly unrealistic, standard.

Ian wanted to drop Rowan off at her house so he could go check in with his team... and Deisha. Watching her now he was more convinced than ever that she was the woman they'd been looking for, and considering the elder vamps they ran into tonight he was afraid someone else might be narrowing in on her, too.

He pulled onto her gravel road driveway and hit the high beams. It was pitch black and he couldn't see shit out here in the country. Parking as closely to her home as he could, he didn't want to take any chances if someone did happen to be out there. He killed the engine, but Rowan didn't budge. She seemed to be displaced, still off in her own world somewhere, unable to attend to the events of her reality. It was like she was walking in a fog, unable to find the clearing.

He exited the car and walked around to her side, but even opening the door hadn't pulled her from her thoughts, "Rowan? Let's get you inside." He put his arm around her, protecting her, all the while his eyes roved the perimeter for any signs that they weren't alone. It wasn't a long walk to the front porch steps, but there was plenty of room for someone to hurt her if that was their intention.

The feel of his arm around her waist jarred her, "I'm okay Ian, really." It was as if she'd lost time, she couldn't recall how they'd gotten to her house. It seemed like only moments ago she was walking out of the hospital. Where had her mind gone? Whatever was happening to her was scaring her now, but she didn't want him to think she was losing her marbles. She put her arm around his waist, relishing in the opportunity to take advantage of the rarely seen, nurturing side of him. She'd never seen him like this before, and when his arm pulled her into his side he made her feel safe...and cared for. Was she starting to trust this man?

"I know you're okay. I'm just taking extra precautions. No more falls on my watch." He smiled at her, but his eyes were busy assessing the area around them as they reached her front door. He nudged her towards the door, placing her between the door and him until he heard the lock flip and then he entered first. He sensed nothing.

"Everything okay?" She watched him closely. He was acting odd, as though he knew something she didn't. And he was being strangely overprotective now. He'd never given her a personal escort to her door before.

"I'm just gonna do a walk through. I want you to wait here, okay?" He pulled her just inside the door, closed the door and locked it behind them. "Keep the lights off for now."

Now he was freaking her out a little. What had he seen that she missed? She watched him do a quick sweep of the lower level and then head up stairs. Ian was a big man but he moved with such grace and agility that he never made a sound, not even on the stairs.

He wasn't trying to scare her, but the elder vamps had to be a hunting party of some sort, and since he didn't have any idea about why they were in town he couldn't leave without doing a sweep. The vamps had been looking for someone... or maybe they'd found him? Maybe the person he and Rowan had been looking for was taken by the elders? Was the missing man they were tracking down earlier a vampire, too? It was the only explanation as to why his team couldn't sense them. But, he would've known. There would have been signs. The man they were looking for, Corbin O'Doul, was a cytologist at a research facility in Atlanta who was abducted nearly two months ago.