She should probably regret keeping the pack. It made her look weak—taking the time to dig through her truck, while she was being hunted, just to save a ratty pink backpack. But she didn’t care if it made her look weak. And she didn’t care if she should feel regret. Because she didn’t.
A deep sigh came from beside her. Allai didn’t turn. She knew the sigh belonged to Drake, and she knew he was sitting very, very close to her, and that he was staring right at her. When he hadn’t been shooting uncomfortable glances at her backpack, he’d been shamelessly staring at her. She was beginning to wonder if he’d gotten a concussion.
“Can’t you drive with both hands?” Drake muttered.
He sounded like he was in pain, which he probably was. No, definitely was. But most of her pity for him had faded away in the past five hours of driving. The entire time, he’d stayed unnervingly quiet, just staring at her. His gaze intense, his golden eyes boring into her. Couldn’t he stare at something else? Like the road, or the radio. Even if he would monitor the speedometer, like Shieldak always did, it would be better than this one-sided staring contest.
Allai clutched at the backpack tighter. She need to get his eyes off her. Immediately.
“We have no clothes,” she blurted.
Drake scoffed. “Are you wishing out loud? Or are you suggesting we make that happen?”
“No! No, I mean…” She took a deep breath. “I mean we don’t have any extra clothes. Or any of the other stuff we need. I think you lost that duffle bag.”
“Well excuse me for that. I was a little preoccupied saving your life.”
She sighed. “I’m not blaming you, Drake. I’m just saying. We have no clothes—extra clothes, I mean—or food, or money for any of that stuff. I put Luke’s credit card in that duffle bag.”
“It’s not a problem,” Drake said.
That could only mean one thing. She almost laughed as relief bubbled up inside her, and for the first time in days—weeks?—a grin worked its way onto her lips. “So then we’re not travelling far? The Chimeras are close?”
He smirked. Her grin faded.
“Little Nox,” Drake said, “I wasn’t kidding when I said we’re taking a road trip. We’re going to Idaho.”
“What?”
“Yeah. The Chimeras live as far away from the Sentinel and the Keepers as possible. Can’t blame them for it, either.”
Her heart beat a little faster, and she tried to take a deep breath. “But that’s days away! How can we get there? We have nothing, Drake.”
“We have this truck. And you. But you’d probably go for more. I hear human trafficking is big in Cleveland.”
She took her eyes off the road to glare at him. That was definitely breaking another one of those road-rules. And she really didn’t give a shit.
He raised his eyebrow. It was the one with the piercing, and somehow it made him look a little threatening, despite the benign nature of the gesture. “That was a joke, little Nox.”
“It was not funny.”
He scoffed. She wished he’d stop doing that and actually laugh. “You just lack a sense of humor,” he said.
She almost laughed at that. Almost. The general situation killed most of the humor. But, still, it was amusing. Drake Rhaize, the guy who couldn’t even smile correctly, critiquing her sense of humor?
Then it struck her. She actually knew Drake well enough to know his smile. And she let out a little sigh of relief at that. Because maybe all those years of fearing him hadn’t done as much damage as she’d thought. Maybe they could still be friends, or whatever they’d been back then.
The lockgem felt heavy around her neck, and she let go of the backpack just for a moment. Just so that she could reach up and touch it. It was strange to think that this simple stone could kill Drake in an instant.
And it was even stranger to think about how much that idea completely abhorred her.
She looked back to the road, watching as the cracked pavement sped past. It was dark, and her headlights only illuminated a small portion of the road. She wished Drake was driving. She hated driving in the dark. But Drake was injured, so she couldn’t ask him to drive. And, besides, there weren’t any other cars on the road, so it wasn’t that bad. Just dark and gloomy and a little scary.
Allai wondered if that was normal. Should she feel scared? She was a Caedes, after all. And she still remembered what Shieldak had once told her about the other three Caedes Mages: ‘Flacks and Corinth are fearless, Allai. The only thing that scares them is losing their magic. As for Matthias, the third Caedes Mage… He’s beyond fearless, and that’s what makes him so dangerous.’
Maybe that’s how she should feel: Fearless. She was born a Caedes Mage, and nothing should scare her.
So then why did she still feel so terrified?
“So,” Allai slowly said out-loud. She needed to concentrate on something else other than her fears. And quickly. “How are we really going to get to Idaho?”
“Don’t you have a solution?” Drake asked. “I’ve already saved you twice today. You’re welcome to repay me a little.”
“I saved you, too,” she snapped. She instantly regretted saying it. Because mentioning their encounter with the Trident made her remember it. Really remember it. She’d been trying to push it away for the past few hours; she’d just let the numb adrenaline take over. But now that adrenaline was fading, and the memories were staring to creep back. The scent of blood, and the warmth of it, and its slickness on her palm. The Trident’s cry of pain grating against her ears. The terror.
Allai had always heard Sentinel Warriors boasting about the excited rush they got before killing an enemy. Either they were insane, or they were liars. Because she’d felt nothing but terror as she’d plunged that knife into the Trident. She’d never felt that kind of fear before.
“Watch the road, little Nox,” Drake said gently. It was odd hearing him speak so soft. Like he knew what she was thinking, and didn’t want to scare her even more.
She shook her head and little and focused on the road. “How do you do it?” she asked.
“Do what?”
“Just fight people. You killed Silas, and you would have done the same to Shieldak and Conrad if you got the chance.”
“Silas was emotionless,” Drake said. “He wasn’t a true person.”
“And the others? Don’t you feel at all guilty?”
Drake went silent. Then he let out a long breath. “I have more guilt than you could imagine, little Nox.”
He sounded so defeated. She’d never heard him sound like that. Even when he’d been in the Sentinel’s dungeon, and even when he’d been sure he was about to die, Drake had been strong.
She reached out and took his hand. It was easy enough to find, even with her eyes on the road and in the darkness. He sat close to her, and his hand was just inches from hers. Allai slipped her fingers between his.
Instantly, she felt small and vulnerable. She could feel the tendons in his fingers nervously tensing and constricting around her hand. Why was it she always forgot that he didn’t like being touched? And how strong he was? Even in his human form, he was practically crushing her bones. But she just took a deep breath and refused to show any pain.
And he relaxed. His hand stopped crushing hers, and he just let his fingers rest there, interlaced with hers. After a moment, he let out a small sigh.
“See?” Allai said. “Not so bad, is it?”
He didn’t reply. Or at least not verbally. But his index finger started tracing little patterns on the back of her hand, so lightly that she almost didn’t feel it.
Allai stopped breathing. For a moment, she thought she was panicking, but then she felt the fluttery feeling in her stomach. She wanted to laugh, because Drake wasn’t supposed to have that effect on her. But she didn’t laugh, because Drake’s gentle touch made her feel so secure, something she hadn’t felt in weeks. And she wasn’t about to ruin the moment.
Drake ended up being the one who bro
ke the silence. “I’m still curious,” he said quietly. “How do you plan on getting us to Idaho?”
Not that question again. She didn’t want to think about their lack of food, clothes, money, everything. She just wanted to sit there, her hand in Drake’s, and soak up his quiet presence.
But she knew she had to answer. “We could… steal something?” she suggested. “And then sell it? That’d give us money.”
Drake scoffed, but it sounded much closer to a laugh this time. “Shieldak’s daughter, turning to a life of crime? I’m not going to let that happen, little Nox. That viper of yours would never let me live peacefully, if I did.”
She was about to agree with him, and ask just what he would suggest, when she heard him rustling around the glovebox with his free hand. A moment later, something landed in her lap. She took her eyes off the road long enough to glance down at it. A wallet. A very full wallet, with the edges of cash sticking out.
“I figured it’d be a long trip,” Drake said. “I didn’t plan on bringing you back to Idaho with me. But I knew the drive cross-country would take some cash.”
Her first reaction was annoyance. Drake had just been teasing her with his questions about how they’d get to Idaho. He already had the cash, and already knew they’d make it.
But then she realized he’d just admitted to something. That he’d ventured out to New York for something. Or maybe someone.
“What did you come to New York for?” she asked quietly.
He didn’t hesitate before answering. “For you, little Nox.”
She glanced over to him. Drake was still staring at her, but now he looked a little sheepish. His index finger continued tracing patterns across her hand, leaving hot trails of warmth across her skin. A small smile tugged at Drake’s lips, almost apologetic, but not quite.
“Why?” she asked, glancing at their entwined hands before looking back to the road.
“I’ve lived with the Chimeras for the past two years,” he said. “Ever since my fallout with Dad. Tanner, the leader of the Chimeras, took me in after that. He heard I was a Sano Mage, and accepted me into his organization.”
Drake paused, and Allai wondered where he was going with this. She was about to ask, when Drake continued.
“One of the Chimeras living at their headquarters sees the future. Her name’s Jada, and we… Well, we just don’t get along very well. Anyway, sometimes Jada also sees the future of people she’s distantly connected to. She came to me about two weeks ago and told me Silas was going to attack you. I guess she saw your future because you’re so closely connected to me.”
He pressed Allai’s hand a little tighter against his. “I couldn’t exactly call you up and warn you about Silas. Not to say I didn’t try. I’ve tried to contact you so many times over the years…” He trailed off and sighed. “So I ended up having to come here to save you. And I guess I was right on time.”
That was by far the most she’d ever heard him talk. She was almost more surprised by the length of his story than by the content. Almost. Because it was shocking to hear that after all those years, he still cared about her so much. She thought about what he always told her, how he always said he’d never let anyone hurt her. She looked down to hide a smile. Because he must not have considered that a short-term promise.
“So,” she said, more to herself than him. “It wasn’t coincidence? That you were there to save me, I mean.”
“Far from it.”
“But why, Drake? Why would you spend all that time and money to come save me? And risk your life?”
Drake’s index finger slowed, so the patterns he traced were more deliberate. “Because you’re all I have left.” His words were soft. Not desperate, not demanding or expecting. Just soft.
She didn’t know how to answer that. Silence settled over the truck, with only the rumbling engine to disturb it. Then Allai quietly said, “I’m not going to leave you, Drake.” She wasn’t really even sure if that was true. But it felt right to say.
“We’re getting close to Cleveland,” Drake said.
She smiled a little. Because of course she could count on him to dodge out of a sentimental moment. “Yeah,” she said. “We are. What do we do once we get there?”
He nodded to the wallet. “We buy supplies and get some gas. And then move on. It’s not safe to stop for the night.”
“No,” she said. “We should stop and get you some medical care. I don’t care what you say, Drake, you need it.”
“I’m almost better, little Nox.”
Allai laughed. It was just ridiculous for him to say that. She’d watched him get shredded, and still Drake insisted that he was okay.
She never would have laughed at that just a few days ago. But, right now, she felt a little dazed, and the remnants of the adrenaline were making her feel a little bubbly. Not like carbonation bubbles, that were all bouncy and energetic. But like those big laundry-detergent bubbles, that floated this way and that, meandering pointlessly, and then eventually popped into oblivion. That was how she felt: Like someone had just poked her life, and it’d popped.
Drake shot her a funny look, his eyebrow raising and his head tilting a little. Allai opened her mouth to apologize, but then just shook her head. She didn’t feel like explaining her little outburst.
Then she saw his chest. The lights on the dashboard illuminated it just a little, just enough so that she could vaguely see his injuries. He wasn’t wearing a shirt—she’d taken it off after the fight so she could apply the bandages—and the bandages only covered a portion of his ribs. The rest she expected to be covered in open gashes, like it had been earlier. It wasn’t. Instead of open wounds, there were only fresh pink scars.
He’d healed. In five hours.
“The road,” Drake said.
“Wha—”
“Watch the road, little Nox.”
She whipped her attention forward, and straightened the truck a bit. Drake scoffed, this time the sound closer to a chuckle, and then smoothed his thumb across the back of her hand. She got the message: He was laughing with her, not at her.
But she wasn’t laughing. She glanced at him in the corner of her eye and demanded, “How? How could you have healed that fast? It’s not possible.”
He shrugged, and his hand pulled from hers a little. She was surprised at the disappointment that rose up in her and pulled her lips into a frown. But then Drake stretched his fingers out and re-twined them through hers, pressing her hand closer to his. Relief replaced the disappointment, and her frown vanished.
“You’ve seen my blood,” Drake said. He sounded a little amused, and Allai guessed it wasn’t about the blood. He’d noticed her reaction.
She tried not to blush, and instead thought about what he’d said. His blood. It was so black; a deep, dark ebony. An unnatural color. A deadly one.
“Your family is really as powerful as they say,” she murmured.
Drake nodded. “More powerful than that.”
That should probably scare her. But it didn’t. Drake was finally in a relatively-good mood, and holding her hand, and he was sitting so close now. Somehow, it was a little comforting to hear him state how powerful he was. Because she knew he’d never use that power against her.
It seemed ridiculous that she’d feared him for two entire years. Two years wasted. Of course, it was partially Shieldak’s fault for convincing her that Drake had tried to kill her. But, mostly, she could only blame herself for not trusting in her memories of Drake. And that hurt.
“I need to make a call when we get to Cleveland,” Drake said, breaking into her thoughts.
He truly was a master of changing the topic. But she didn’t point that out, and instead just said, “Sure.”
“And you’ll have to lay low,” he continued. “Don’t draw any attention. Get the stuff you need, and then we’ll leave.”
She nodded. “Sounds good.” But it really didn’t sound good. It actually sounded scary, like some covert operation she hadn’t as
ked to be a part of.
Drake withdrew his hand from hers. This time he kept it away, and the disappointment came flooding back. She sighed without meaning to. Drake gave a slightly muffled scoff, like he was trying to hold back his amusement.
Then he moved closer. So close she could smell that earthy scent he had, like fresh rain and clover and any number of other forest things. There was another scent also clinging to him, something slightly smoky and minty. She recognized that as the scent of a Charger Demon, which was supposed to be just as alluring as their voices.
It was.
All he did was pluck his wallet from her lap. She waited for something more to happen, but that was it. For a moment, she felt like an idiot for expecting anything. What was ‘anything’, anyway? But then she realized that he could have just reached for the wallet; he never had to get that close, if he hadn’t wanted to.
Drake pulled a few bills from his wallet and placed them on top of the dashboard, right in front of her. “You can use this to buy stuff.”
His voice was a little overwhelming this close. It was huskier, now that he was in his human form, and the effect of it was intoxicating. It made her relax and want to just lean into him. The urge surprised her. After growing up hearing Chargers’ voices on a daily basis, she had thought she’d grown immune.
Allai struggled to focus. She tried to ignore his scent, his voice, his nearness; instead, she looked at the money in front of her. Her original doubts about the wallet popped back into her mind. She swallowed nervously, but decided to voice her question. “Is it, um, safe to use the money?”
“Safe?” He sounded genuinely confused, which was probably a good thing. But at the same time it wasn’t good, because his confusion made him sound all innocent and sweet. And that just made her want to lean in more.
“I mean…” She took a deep breath. “Where’d you get the money? Is it really okay to use it?”
Drake went quiet for a moment. He said nothing, and just silently stared out the window. Then he inched away from her. It was only an inch, but it felt like so much more. Drake’s expression turned stormy, and his hand that had held hers just moments ago balled into a fist.
Frost Fire (Tortured Elements) Page 14