Willow nodded and turned to the window.
“What?”
“I agree with you,” she whispered. “Though I still think you should run.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“I thought you were bringing her to him out of duty, and that bothered me. When you broke us out, you were so…”
“Foolish?” he grimaced. “Headstrong?”
“Brave,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“You know, we were going to kill ourselves,” she murmured, eyes following the horizon.
“What?”
“It was going to happen when we arrived at House Mantell, Dag and I had made a pact to drain each other’s life sources in tandem. It was bad enough that the elementalists owned us but being shipped out to the vampires to be tormented and abused… we didn’t want that for ourselves. If it weren’t for you, we would be dead.”
“I can’t believe…” he muttered, trailing off. “I’m so sorry.”
She turned to him and smiled. “We’re not, though, are we?”
“No,” he said. “Thank god for that.”
“Now I see that you’re bringing her to him because you care about her. I’m happy to see that.”
He gave a small smile.
“That’s your problem, Reykon Thraxos,” she said with light amusement.
“What’s that?”
“You care too much.”
He snuck another glance at Robin. “Of all the problems there are, I’m fine having that one.”
Willow smiled again, her green eyes lighting up with a sparkle.
Reykon returned it, continuing down the long highway in their stolen SUV, watching the numbers tick down as they drew closer to Corpus Christi.
Robin
She woke up in the car, only vaguely remembering dragging her sore body into the vehicle before passing out again. She hadn’t gotten drunk like that since her college days.
But of all the times to get drunk, now was a good one.
All that delayed gratification, all that careful planning, had kind of gone down the drain, hadn’t it?
Now, she was in a car, barreling closer and closer to her demise and enslavement. Honestly, it made her retirement contributions seem a little juvenile.
She shifted, sitting up in her seat with a groan. Dag was still out cold; that was probably better for him, seeing as he’d downed even more rum than she had.
“Where are we?” she croaked, squinting up to the front seat.
“An hour from the ocean,” Willow said, handing her a travel mug of something.
“Thanks,” she mumbled, taking a long swig. It tasted like hibiscus, and whatever was in it had already started to work wonders for Robin’s headache. “Wow,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
Willow laughed softly. “It’s an old recipe.”
Robin looked up to Reykon, at the driver’s seat. His eyes were intent on the road, so different from the first day of their trip, when he casually surveyed the landscape, as though he’d seen it a thousand times. It had irritated her so much, that flagrant boredom while she was ripping her hair out over the traumatic situation.
But now, she wanted to see it again.
As crazy as it sounded, her chest ached for those hours, the first ones, where she and Reykon were sailing through Utah under the sunbaked rocks, looking at rickety RVs and blasting old time rock songs.
In the rearview mirror, Reykon’s eyes flicked to hers. She held them there, not looking away quickly, not bothering to conceal her stare. A small smile raised her lips. A smile of understanding, and forgiveness.
He was the first to look away.
After being around Reykon for days and days, she’d come to the conclusion that he didn’t like to be looked at. Glanced at, that was fine. Checked out, that was even better.
But truly, deeply looked at? No.
She wasn’t sure what it was, whether he didn’t like people looking at him in general, or if he didn’t like her looking at him, or if he liked it but didn’t want her to look at him.
Either way, it made her sad inside. Reykon deserved to be looked at with more than just fleeting anger or desire. To be appreciated.
Robin contemplated this, settling back into the seat and putting her hand against the side window, feeling its warmth.
Texas was a hot state.
She’d never been there, before yesterday. And this wasn’t exactly a sightseeing trip. She thought that maybe, she’d like to come back, and then remembered the elephant in the room. There would be no more trips after this. Just… what had Reykon said in New Mexico? A short fall from a tall cliff.
After another few moments, Robin decided that thinking wasn’t giving her the best results.
She wanted to turn her brain off for the next few hours. Robin rested her head on the window and stared out, counting each passing car, looking inside and trying to guess what that person’s story was, what their dog was named, where they’d come from. Passing the time, which seemed to tick faster and faster.
Lucidia
Lucidia let out a long breath after explaining the entire situation to Seldon, the crazy woman, and the child sorcerer. A rather sprightly audience. She was anticipating any order of responses, from indifference to indignance, but the first question posed had not been on her radar.
“Is she the girl they’re talking about?” the boy asked with an intense curiosity.
“Huh?” Lucidia asked.
“The casters, they talk. I can access their communication channels.”
“Sorry, you can what?That would have been nice to lead with.”
The woman pushed him back a little, leaning in front of him. She had a thin face, with tense features and even tenser posture.
“Lola,” Seldon said calmly.
She didn’t relax. “I get that she’s trying to help her sister and all, but he’s got
