The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that my shoulder didn’t ache as much. I stretched, wineing slightly, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. The healing wi working faster than I had expected. It had been a fome. exhausting few days, but at least now I could move without feeling the my entire arm was about to fall off.
outside.
wide, Tetting g the crisp morning fill my lungs. The forest around us was qület, only the I took a deep breath and steppeil
ccasional rustling of leaves and chirping of birds breaking the silence. It was peaceful–for now. But that peace was temporary, and we all knew it.
As I walked down the steps of the small two story motel, I noticed my mates standing together, huddled around something. My bre furrowed as I got closer. They were surrounding what looked like a small, old, heat–op cat.
and the cracked windshield.
“What the hell is this?” Lasked, crossing my arms as I took in the rited, dented frame an
Austin grinned, looking far too
o proud of himself. “It’s called a cat, sitermi. People use it to drive places,”
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously, I meant, where the hell did you get it?”
Austin clapped his hands together, as if he had just struck the greatest deal in history. “I got it from the local dump. It’s a classic, a
real beauty”.
“It’s a piece of junk,” Alex muttered, kicking one of the tires, which let out a depressing wheeze.
“It may look beat–up, Austin continued, undeterred, “but it runs. And it’ll get u
get us to where we need to go.”
I gave him a skeptical look, but Isaiah just sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s the only option we had. Anything better would have drawn too much attention.”
I exhaled sharply, knowing they were right. We had to keep a low profile. A sleek, enchanted car like the one Elra had given us before would have been ideal, but that was long gone.
Eira.
My chest tightened at the thought of her and Savannah. I swallowed hard, the ache in my heart resurfacing as the weight of their deaths pressed down on me. Savannah had always been kind to me, even back in school when others had whispered behind my back and spread rumors. She had never once treated me differently. And now she was gone.
How was I supposed to tell her family? If they didn’t already know, how was I supposed to look into their eyes and tell them that their daughter had died saving me?
1 absently reached for the necklace around my neck–the one that had belonged to Mariah. My fingers traced its familiar shape, the cool metal grounding me for a moment. I then opened my bag and pulled out the scarf I always carried. It was worn, but it still carried the faint scent of home.
Nobody deserved to lose a loved one.
Elijahs had lost his parents, and i still couldn’t understand why he had chosen the side of those responsible for that pain. Why had he given Mother the map? What could she have possibly offered him to make him betray us all?
I clenched my fists, pushing the thought away. We had a long journey ahead, and I couldn’t afford to let my emotions consume me
now.
We drove for hours, the car sputtering and groaning every few miles What should have been a simple day’s journey stretched into a miserable day and a half as we constantly had to stop to fix something or push the car when it refused to start.
1/2
Chapter 180
Lost count of how many times we had In get out and push.
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