A Sinner and A Saint

For a while, Lucas said nothing and just stared at Imani. He blinked several times, trying to fully digest what she just said. Then, he suddenly leaned forward a little bit and Imani sunk backward into the leather seat, dropping her phone onto her lap as he grabbed her hands.

It felt like he had just healed from a nasty wolfsbane-induced injury and it was a really, really good feeling.

"Imani, I... "He really wanted to say something to express gratitude but he knew words could not express how he felt right now and he let out a laugh. "I don't know what to say."

His face took on a different light, the spark in his eyes made him all the more handsome and Imani bit her lower lip. She looked away from him, trying to find something to distract her from his presence but she was very aware of the warm hands that were holding hers.

"You don't have to say anything," she said before he leaned closer and gently squeezed her hands, making a shiver run down her spine. He was close enough to her that she could feel the body heat coming off him in waves and it was almost like he sucked all the air out of the car.

Everything about him was hot, including the way he was making her feel right now.

"Imani... thank you."

His words sounded really genuine and Imani eyes darted back to him. She doubted he'd still be grateful if he found out she was the one who created the virus and she was still deliberating on if she should let him know that.

She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the buzzing of a phone. Lucas' eyes darted to the pocket of his jacket and back to her, wondering if it was a reporter calling, before he let go of one of her hands.

The phone stopped buzzing the moment he pulled it out and he knitted his brows when he saw that it was Kyle Stevens that had called him. His phone buzzed with a message from the man almost immediately.

KYLE STEVENS, 8:53AM: We're at Wolfborn now and we don't see you.

"You said you have a lab in Wolfborn," Imani said, drawing his attention to her and he nodded as he dropped his phone on the small table in the middle of the car. "Can we go there... now?"

------

Even though they just left the parking lot a couple of minutes ago, the silence that filled the car was beginning to get awkward.

Imani drummed her fingers on her thigh as she noticed him staring at her like he was trying to figure her out. The intensity in his eyes was suffocating and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but not from fear. Now she wasn't so sure if being in the same car with him was a good idea.

She made it clear that she didn't want him to pay her just before they left the underground parking lot because that wasn't the reason for which she decided to help and yesterday, she had wanted him to let the government know about the virus killing his people so he was trying to figure out what made her change her mind within a short period of time.

"Your friend sent me an invitation to an unveiling party that's on Friday," Lucas stated and Imani stopped drumming her fingers on her thighs. "Would she be angry if I didn't show up?"

She pressed her lips together because she knew Lola would pester her to call him if he didn't show up on time. "She won't be," she replied and he let out an 'hmm'.

She wanted to ask him a couple of questions related to how the virus was affecting his kind but the way he was staring at her was messing with her head.

His phone began to buzz on the table and she glanced at it to see 'Kyle Stevens' flash across the screen before he declined the call. His intense gaze flicked to her again and she swallowed, looking away from him.

Neither of them spoke until they were on a freeway with trees lining either side of the road. After a couple of minutes, the car suddenly made three consecutive buzzing sounds as the neon lights in its interior changed from blue to red.

"Warning, warning. Heading into werewolf territory," a female voice filled the car and Imani furrowed her brows in confusion while Lucas let out an exasperated sigh. "Warning, warning, Heading into werewolf territory... Parking."

"Huh?" Imani frowned as the car came to a stop before the neon lights winked out.

"It's a feature," he stated when he saw confusion evident on her face. "Sutton cars do that whenever they're close to any town that belongs to my kind."

She blinked repeatedly in surprise and Lucas cocked his head at her. "That's uh... odd. Sutton."

The car beeped and the neon lights came on, a blue colour. "Yes, Imani."

"Drive to Bostel, Wolfborn." Bostel was the name of the lab they had in Wolfborn, according to Lucas.

"Destination, Bostel, Wolfborn. Calibrating... Calibrating... Werewolf territory. Proceed?"

She furrowed her brows again and Lucas shrugged. "Uh, yes. Proceed."

"Driving to Wolfborn," the voice said.

"Imani," Lucas called out with a small frown on his face after the car began to move and she slightly raised her brows at him. "There's something I'd like to ask you."

'He knows,' was the first thing that popped up in Imani's mind and she began to take in slow, deep breaths. 'Wait, he doesn't. He definitely doesn't... Does he?'

"Yes?" she asked. Her voice came out squeaky and she instantly cleared her throat.

"You never responded to my e-mails for weeks... Can I ask why?"

She almost sighed in relief when the question wasn't related to what she had been thinking of and folded her hands in her lap. "That's because I never got them, Lucas."