by Abby Tyson
"I was leaning against the boulder," he said, "listening to Nissa and waiting to alter, and then I heard you on the other side and realized it was already night. When I stood up and let go of the rock, I started to shift. I touched the boulder again, and it stopped. After everyone left, I let go and changed."
"You mean..." Marley began, still trying to comprehend, "you didn't agree to save the world?"
Savi's heart gave a painful twist, but she closed herself off from it. "They want to resurrect Anwi, the moon goddess," she protested. "Does that sound sane to you? They wouldn't even tell me what I would have to do. It could involve human sacrifice, for all I know."
Nissa scoffed loudly.
"Besides," Savi continued, "I need to make sure my mom is safe before I commit to any world-saving quests. If Berto even caught a whiff of my involvement with the rescue operation, she could go from being in danger to being in pain, and I can't let that happen."
Marley appeared unconvinced, but Savi turned away from him. "I'm sorry they won't help you, Nissa. I really am. You've been through a lot and you deserve to be with your soulmate, but I can't help you. Marley and Ren can."
Nissa remained outside.
"I don't know what else to say," said Savi, getting into the van and glaring out the window.
Wordlessly, Nissa climbed in. Savi didn't look back until she heard her taking the spot beside Glenn. Automatically turning in surprise to Marley, she saw him standing outside, staring at the empty seat beside Savi. He glanced up at her, then took the front passenger's seat.
Savi told herself it was inevitable. Almost losing Marley had nearly convinced her that he'd been right, that the two of them stood a chance, that nothing she said or did could push him away. But it had only been a matter of time. She wasn't perfect. Now he knew it too.
Chapter Seventeen
"I've got enough real worries without having to worry if you're okay because you don't bother to call your mother!"
Savi cringed. She was sitting in the back of the van with the hatch open, watching the cars go past on the main strip that ran beside the motel they had checked into to get cleaned up.
"I know, Mom. Like I said, I'm really sorry. I lost track of time. I didn't want to wake you."
"Wake me? I was up half the night anyway. What exactly were you and your boyfriend doing that so absorbed you both?"
"Nothing, honest," said Savi with a laugh. "Marley wasn't even with me, just Nissa. We were outside, watching the sky."
"Mm-hmm," her mom hummed with suspicion.
"Today we're going back up north to Roanoke to visit a friend of Ren's."
As if she had beckoned him, Ren appeared and stood beside the van, bringing the scent of soap and disapproval with him. Savi quickly covered the phone and mouthed, "Everything okay?"
Ren nodded. His hair was already completely dry from his shower, even though he'd gone after Savi. She touched her own hair -- wet. Would she ever have be completely dry again in this detestable humidity?
"Call me before six, okay?" Chloe said.
"Why?" asked Savi.
"Dave has a special night planned, apparently." Chloe's voice lowered, although she'd already said Dave wasn't in their cottage. "It's really hard acting like everything is fine and dandy around him. He's definitely suspicious and keeps asking what's wrong. I want to tell him why I'm really here, but what good would it do?"
"It would make you feel better."
"That's not a good enough reason," Chloe said. She gave a long sigh, and Savi wished she could erase the pain in it.
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you, sweetheart. Don't lose yourself out there on the road, okay? We don't need anything else to worry about."
"I'm right here. I'll talk to you tonight."
"Bye, Savannah."
Hanging up, she asked, "What's up? Is everyone ready?"
Ren continued staring at the steady traffic. "Marley's finishing up in the shower," he said.
Savi waited for him to continue. When he didn't, she said, "Oooh-kay. I'll go get my bag, I guess." She hopped off the van.
"Wait," Ren said, lifting a hand up as if to stop her but not actually blocking her way past. For the first time since Savi had known him, he actually seemed flustered. He was staring over her head, as if searching the cars driving past for something. Savi wasn't sure whether to be concerned or amused.
"Am I getting voted out of the van?" asked Savi, only half joking. She gave herself a sniff. "Did you get the short straw to come out and tell me I still stink?"
"No," he said, unamused.
"Alright..." Savi gave him another few seconds, but he just kept frowning. "So why do I need to wait?"
He crossed his arms. "You already know that I heard what you said last night."
That's what this is about?
Bracing herself for a lecture about how selfish and cowardly she was being, Savi crossed her arms as well. "Yes," she said.
"Nissa told me that rock keeps you from altering, and that there are only a handful of them all over the world." He went back to watching the traffic.
"Uh-huh," Savi said impatiently, mentally preparing her tirade about how her conversation with Tumo wasn't any of his business.
"When you said no to helping the torra, I was... I couldn't believe you did that."
"Believe what you want. I don't need to defend my decision to you. It's my life and it's my choice."
Ren gave her a confused look, then jerked his head up towards the motel. Marley was stepping out of the motel room, his chest bare and his shirt slung over his shoulder. He paused when he saw the two of them together, then started walking over. Ren, his ears turning red, took a quick step backwards, away from Savi.
"Am I interrupting?" asked Marley, his face a mixture of curiosity and mischief.
"No," Ren said. "I'll get our bags."
Savi and Marley watched him go back into the room.
"What was that about?" asked Marley, sitting on the floor of the van as Savi had when she was talking to her mom.
Savi glared at the closed motel room door. "Your brother thought it prudent to tell me he disapproves of my decision not to be the origins' savior."
"Really?"
"Not in so many words," she said with a shrug, "but it was pretty obvious." Though her knees went a little weak at seeing so much of Marley's skin, she was still on the offensive from her conversation with Ren. "I don't have to explain myself to everyone. It's up to me whether I risk my life and my mom's life to participate in some fantastical, mysterious scheme that may or may not bring back a mythical goddess who may or may not save the world."
Marley raised his hands in surrender and smiled. "I didn't say anything."
Savi scowled. "You were thinking it."
He bit his lip, then shrugged. "I don't get it," he confessed. "If someone told me that I could save the world, I would jump at the chance."
"But what does saving the world really mean?" demanded Savi. "That's too ambiguous. Of course everyone wants to save the world -- it's the how that no one can agree on. One person's paradise is another person's hell on earth. Am I really going to be the one who forces my -- not even my -- the origins' paradise, whatever that may be, on the world?"
Marley didn't raise his voice, looking sad rather than angry. Biting his lip in thought, he stared at the traffic behind her, reminding her of when Ren had done the same. "This world sucks for a lot of people," he said, "myself included. If I thought there was a way to improve it, to make things better for those barely getting by, then I'd say the people who have been living in paradise have enjoyed it long enough."
Savi's anger seeped out of her. "Does your world really suck?"
Marley shrugged, then reached out and pulled her towards him. "But that doesn't mean I want you risking your life," he said, running his fingers through her now lopsided hair. "Losing you would really make this hell on earth for me."
His touch sent the usual shocks of pleasure running throu
gh her body, but it was her own sense of relief that made her smile: Marley hadn't lost all respect for her. He still liked her. Maybe now was the time to tell him...
Ren came out of the motel, carrying her suitcase. He stuffed it in the back of the van and said, "We're almost ready."
As he walked back to the motel, Savi said, "I need to tell you something." She looked down at Marley's hands intertwined with hers. "Whenever we get close -- physically -- I get anxious... as you already know."
This was it. Now was her moment to tell him about Eric. Now that she'd started, however, she was second-guessing herself. What did it really matter, anyway? There was nothing he could do about it. He'd simply get angry at Eric, whom he'd never met and would probably never meet, and maybe even mad at Savi for not telling him already. Would telling him change anything for the better?
"I think that's because..."
She met his worried eyes and knew she didn't want to burden him. Besides, it would only make her seem even more vulnerable, even more of a fragile contrast to his superhero strength. But she had to say something, and it had to be true.
"...we really don't know each other that well."
Relief flooded his face. The motel room door opened, and the rest of their troupe filed into the parking lot.
"You act like we're meant to be together," she said quietly, "but I don't even know your full name."
He grinned and jumped out of the van. Bowing deeply to her, he said, "Mr. Marlais Thomas Bolden, at your service, Miss Savannah...?"
Savi smiled and curtsied. "Savannah Arcene Claudie. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Arcene?" He brought her hand to his lips.
"It's French; some family name, I guess. My mom has it, and so did her mom."
She reached up and started to close the van hatch, but Marley swatted her hand away and did it instead. He followed her as she climbed into the van, but when she reached behind her to close the side door, Marley was there, getting in behind her.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Is this seat taken?" He gestured to the bench seat that Nissa had once again passed up to sit in the back.
"Don't you have to navigate?" Savi sat down, trying not to let her eagerness show. The connection to Marley that she'd felt at the Refuge was returning. She didn't let it grow too much, but a hope kindled within her that maybe someday she wouldn't need her defenses at all.
Still shirtless, Marley sat beside her and buckled up. Meeting Ren's flat gaze, he said, "Ren doesn't need me for anything, do you brother?"
Without waiting for an answer, Marley turned to Savi and took her hand off her knee and put it on his. Keeping his hand on hers, he asked, "What else do you want to know?"
The ride to Roanoke took over six hours, but it was nowhere near long enough for Marley. He and Savi talked the entire way. They didn't delve too deeply, mindful that there were three pairs of ears listening, but he told her about how he had only left Massachusetts three times in his life: hunting the silver wolf in New York and Connecticut, and this road trip. He also told her that his dad had been married until two years ago, although he didn't go into why she left -- there was no good way to tell that story.
In turn, he learned that Savi's mom was adopted, and that in eighth grade Savi had been convinced that she herself was adopted, until she found a picture of her dad. She told him about her middle school librarian, who in sixth grade persuaded her to take home the complete volume of Edgar Allen Poe's poetry, and how it had simultaneously terrified and electrified her; and she admitted her mom's influence on her musical tastes, ranging from John Denver to Igor Stravinsky.
"I generally prefer instrumental music," she said as they drove through downtown Roanoke. "I like how the same piece can mean something different depending on your frame of mind at the time."
"No, you need the lyrics," countered Marley. "How else are you supposed to know what the song is about?"
"It's about whatever you --"
"We've passed that Post Office three times," Nissa shouted from the back. "Where are we going?"
"I'm looking for an alley," Ren said. "One next to a business with yellow writing on the window -- I think it was a plumber, or electrician maybe."
"If we don't find her soon we'll have to try again tomorrow," Marley said, eyeing the early evening sky.
Ren didn't respond, instead pulling down a one-way side street.
"There!" he cried out in triumph. "This is it."
He slowed to a stop in front of a two-story building with a dirty brick facade and four storefront windows, one of which featured a plumbing business in plain yellow letters. The right side of the building was attached to its brighter, recently painted brick neighbor. To the left was an alleyway, barely big enough for a car to fit through.
Ren crept the van forward until the entire length of the alley was visible. A battered white station wagon was parked halfway between the street they were on and the street that the alley led to. A car behind them honked.
"That's her," said Ren, pulling into a parking spot across from the mouth of the alley. They all started unbuckling their seat belts.
"I need to go alone," Ren said.
"Not even me?" Marley asked, his hand already on the door.
Ren shook his head. "She's paranoid, and doesn't like people."
Marley nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show.
"Then why does she live in a city?" asked Savi.
"Chinese food," Ren replied.
"You're sure you're good, brother?" asked Marley as Ren got out.
"Stay in the car, no matter what." Ren closed the door and jogged across the street.
"How did Ren meet this woman if you two have never been this far south?" asked Savi. "Why don't you know her?"
Marley kept his eyes on his brother, who was walking cautiously down the alley, and considered the best way to answer Savi's question. He couldn't tell her the whole story, not with Glenn and Nissa listening.
"A few years ago," he said, "Ren tried to hike the Appalachian Trail by himself. He said he found other coywolves along the way."
He couldn't keep the longing from his voice, and Savi picked up on it. "Haven't you ever met any other coywolves?" she asked.
"No," he said.
And I never will if Ren has his way.
Ren had reached the car, which was parked facing away from them. As he peered into the back windshield, a woman appeared, walking towards the alley. A plastic bag on her arm, and she was eating out of a white takeout container with chopsticks. She wore oversized grubby green fatigue pants with a baggy black t-shirt, but most notable was the purple pillbox hat, complete with a large fake sunflower head on top. Instead of keeping it perched on top of her head like the women Marley had seen wearing that type of hat, it was pulled down tight like a knit cap, coils of her slate gray hair popping out from under it.
The woman turned the corner and immediately recoiled, pressing her back against the brick wall. Ren, now squeezing his way past the long station wagon, hadn't seen her. The woman peered around the corner at Ren, then hid behind the wall again facing straight at the van.
"Get down!" whispered Savi, jerking on Marley's shirt and diving on the seat behind him. Nissa and Glenn ducked below the windows as well, but Marley couldn't resist glancing back at the woman first. Her eyes locked on his and narrowed, then she started running down the street, away from the alley.
"She's running," said Marley.
"No!" Nissa cried.
Marley slammed open the slider door. "I'll get her," he said, but then he hesitated, looking back at Savi. "I should stay with you. What if --"
"Go!" shouted both Savi and Nissa.
With one more glance at Savi, he jumped out, shouting, "Brother!" as he passed the alleyway, and raced down the street.
If the woman was afraid of detection, she didn't act like it, running at full speed down the sidewalk. Luckily there were more empty windows than full on this narrow
side street, and only an old man sitting in a parking lot booth saw them.
"Wait!" Marley called. "I'm like you! I need to talk to you!"
Within seconds the woman had reached the main road and disappeared around the corner. Marley was close behind her, but this street was busier, with people dining outside or emptying out from the business buildings. He could hardly run at all here -- not if he didn't want to get noticed. He headed in the same direction she had gone, but he didn't see her purple hat or anyone in camo. He'd lost her.
About halfway down the block he met Ren. "She disappeared," Marley said.
"Why did you get out?" demanded Ren. "I told you to stay in the van."
"She caught you snooping around her car, and then bolted when she saw us across the street. I thought we needed her, so I chased her."
Ren searched the street as Marley spoke. "She might not go back to her car. I told you she's paranoid about being discovered," he glared at Marley, "with good reason."
They walked back down the side street. "I'll check her car again," said Ren, "then --"
"Hey, you!"
The old man in the parking lot booth was waving at them. Marley's stomach sank. "He saw me running after her," he muttered, "fast."
"You two," the old man called, waving them over again.
Marley and Ren exchanged a glance and walked over. "You want us?" Ren asked as they walked up to the booth window.
"No," the old man said. "You want her."
The old man pointed with his thumb towards the floor as he leaned over and opened the side door for them from the inside. Curled in the fetal position at the old man's feet was the woman in the purple hat, her eyes clamped shut.
Ren nudged the woman's leg with his foot, then said, "Get up, you bastard, before I kick your teeth in."
Chapter Eighteen
Marley stared at his brother in shock. He had never heard Ren talk to anyone like that before -- even their dad.
With a smile creeping into his lips, Ren gently kicked the woman again. "Stop being such a waxer," he said. "Get up and talk to me, or I'll rip your arm off and give it to the China Wok. I bet it'll go well with fried rice."