All Chapters of His Wicked Games series: Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

BOOK FIVE: TAKE YOU AWAY- WARD - I never thought I'd be so happy to see a fucking gas station.At first I think my brain's just screwing with me. After all, we've been in the car for fifteen hours straight and I've downed so many energy drinks that I'm shocked I haven't started hallucinating yet. We've seen nothing but empty highway for almost sixty miles. And my gas gauge has been on empty for the last fifteen. We passed a single rest stop a while back, but that's it. I was beginning to think we'd be stranded out here until that neon light lit up the sky, like a damned angel with diesel prices dangling out of her ass.Ol' Stella just barely makes it up the off ramp. There are funny noises coming from beneath her hood as I roll into the station, and she's sputtering by the time we're at the pump."There, girl," I say quietly, patting the dashboard and yanking out my keys. "You did it."I glance over at the passenger's seat. Addison - Louisa - is curled up, her head resting agai

- LILY - Calder hasn't said anything in three hours.I've tried all of my usual tricks. Poured him a glass of wine. Slipped on my skimpiest lingerie. Wrapped my arms around his neck and sucked his earlobe into my mouth. But though those last two stunts definitely got some reaction out of him, he still won't talk to me about what's going on in his head.Not that I don't have a few very good guesses about the matter.Yesterday, he found out his sister was working at their family's former estate. This morning, when we drove out to the grounds to bring her back, Louisa took one look at him and ran. We spent the better part of the day searching for her, but she's long gone. We have no idea where she is. And we're not the only ones who want to find out - Edward Carolson, the estate's new owner, plans to hold her accountable for all the destruction she caused. I'm not sure whether he intends to have her arrested or sued for damages or - God forbid - both, but I know better than to ask Ca

- LOUISA -The water is cold. I stand just within its reach, right where the waves can lap at my feet and drag broken bits of shell around my toes as they attack and retreat. I don't move. I let the ocean shift the sand beneath me. It leaves thick, off-white bubbles of sea foam clinging to my skin when it draws back.I'd forgotten just how much I love the ocean.I abandoned my shoes somewhere up on the dunes, and I've rolled my jeans up to my knees. I really, really wish I had my bathing suit right now. I'd love to dive headfirst into the waves.Ward doesn't have that problem. All he had to do was strip down to his boxers. He's already in up to his thighs, and he seems to have forgotten everything but the expanse of dark blue-green water in front of him. I watch him from my place at the edge of the surf. He's standing right where the waves are breaking, and he doesn't even appear to mind that they're splashing him well past his waist. If anything, that appears to be his goal - to g

- LOUISA -We decide to get one of those giant road atlases of the United States they sell at gas stations. We have to dig through three layers of racy magazines to find one on the shelf at the place we stop, but I'm just grateful they still sell these things at all. Most people would just pull up an application on their phone or something. But my cell is back at the estate with the rest of my things, and Ward's phone is several years old - he can't do much but make calls and send text messages.We prop the atlas up against the dash of Ward's car and flip through it page by page. Each map is a web of roads, a tapestry of colored lines. There's a page for every state, as well as close-ups of all the major cities. There's also a larger map of the entire continental United States. When I look at that page, when I see how everything connects, it really does feel like we could go anywhere.I've always loved maps. But I haven't held an atlas in my hands for years. My father gave me one on

- LOUISA -"Your pick," I say, nudging the atlas in Ward's direction.We're sitting in the car, our book of maps propped up against the dashboard. Ward rubs his chin as he studies the network of roads on the page."I say we follow the highway into Delaware," he says. "Then New Jersey. We'll hit Pennsylvania on the way to New York."We crossed over into Maryland this morning. We decided to skirt Washington D.C. - given the state of my face, it seemed like a good idea to avoid large cities. Ward's purchases last night also included some makeup and a pair of over-sized sunglasses for me, but neither is particularly successful at hiding the fact that the entire left side of my face is black and blue."Sounds like a plan to me," I say, sliding the sunglasses up onto the top of my head and studying the map. "They don't look that far apart. Think we can hit them all today?"He nods. "Honestly, I'm guessing it's probably only about four hours from here to New York City. But that's assumi