by Karina Halle
“Ada!” I cried out. “What is the other option?”
She put the phone down and smiled at me. She gestured to my window with her head.
“It’s outside.”
My legs felt like they were encased in cement. I stared at her, bewildered, my mind racing on about something I both did and did not want to think about.
“Go on,” she said more urgently.
I slowly got off my bed and eased my way over to the window. My heart thumped hard against my chest and the blood filtered out of my head.
Outside, across the street, a black Highlander was running, its exhaust floating in the night.
“How the…” I said, barely find the words.
She got up and joined me by the window. “Maximus went to bail him out earlier. He’s still a twat, of course, but at least Dex isn’t jail any more. It’s not like the charges were going to stick anyway.”
I took my eyes off of the sight of Dex’s car, my heart awkwardly tumbling over itself at the thought of him outside, and looked at her incredulously.
“How did you know? Did you plan for this to happen?”
She grinned. “Remember that whole sometimes hearing your thoughts thing we were just trying out? I already knew you were thinking of making a run for it. Dex doesn’t know, I just told him to come here right after Maximus got out. I have a feeling though, let’s call it a hunch, that he’s got a hard,” she paused, catching my eyes flashing, “er, soft spot for you too.”
I didn’t know what to think about that. Looking out at Dex’s car, and the answer she had given me, all I did know is that my life was – yet again - about to change in an incredibly messy way.