Page 146 of Cold-Blooded Creatures

“Who is meeting us?” Malaya fastened the button on her wool coat that had popped from the round curve of her belly. “Didn’t you say we’d go by car?”

“Yup. But neither of you knows how to drive, and I’m planning on letting loose, so I’m definitely not sitting behind the wheel on our way back. I cashed in a favor Greyn had owed me since I lived in their compound,” Jayla explained and gestured to the forest on our left. “They’re somewhere in that direction. But our pickup point is at the end of this road. As we’re keeping our journey a secret, I didn’t want anyone catching sight of Greyn or us leaving in his car. Better chances of success if others think we’re taking a little trip on foot.”

Gedeon and Zion were going to get what they deserved. I trusted Eislyn to keep her promise of not revealing this to anyone, especially as she was the one who’d come up with the idea of running off to Damia’s compound for a few days. Maybe a week.

This should teach them both how it felt to be forced to stay behind.

My boot vanished in a puddle. “Oh, shit!” I wiped off the dirty water off my leather pants Jayla had lent me. “Again, thanks for the clothes. I think I’m going to buy the exact same pair. It just saved my ass from getting soaked.”

“Why do you think I keep trying to talk you into getting them?” Jayla tightened the straps of her mottled brown backpack. “Now come on, we need to hurry.”

Fissured asphalt absorbed the blows of our boots as we strode in comforting silence besides Malaya asking a question here and now about the history of the three compounds. A dozen inquiries later, I tuned them both out as I lost myself in those inexplicable scents of rusted metal emanating from skeletons of lost in time vehicles, the crispness in the air the last daysof autumn carried, and the sweetness of shriveling vegetation peeking out of the cracks in the road.

It seemed endless, far from the streets in Ilasall, and I wondered what traveling had been like in the past. What it’d meant to be free, where you could have gone, seen, explored with only the open road ahead beckoning you.

A low hum grew louder, and I opened my mouth to ask, right as a beat-up car with huge wheels and no roof or windows lunged out of a side street and came to a screeching halt.

“Someone called for a ride?” A young woman behind the wheel clapped the shoulder of a blond man glaring at her. “This is Greyn, and I’m Nara. Now hop in before my mother finds out about me coming to get you and berates me for leaving home without letting her know.”

“Hey!” Beaming at Nara, Jayla nudged us toward the vehicle. “Our pickup is here.”

We squeezed into the backseat with our backpacks between our feet. Nara rammed the accelerator, and we lurched forward, the pressure gluing our backs to the seats.

“So, you’re the famous one. Kali, right?” Nara cast a quick glance at me and laughed at my bewilderment. She knew me? “I’ve been meaning to intr?—”

The car harshly swayed to the right to avoid the remnants of a car’s frame deteriorating on the side of the road.

“Watch where you go!” Greyn grabbed the wheel to steady the car.

Nara swatted his grip away and finished the maneuver smoothly. “Alright, calm your horses. I know how to drive. So be nice and sit quietly while I catch up with my guests.”

His scowl deepened as he cursed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll be nice to you too if you tell my motheryouwent to pick these up.” She pointed her thumb at our trio.

“I was going to get them, with or without you. You just tagged along because you caught me leaving,” Greyn grumbled, his blond hair flying in all directions in the wind. He twisted in his seat, an arm on the back of the driver’s backrest. “So what happened? Jayla said you needed to get out. Weren’t you getting along with Gedeon and Zion?”

Malaya giggled at Jayla’s snort.

“I want to kill them,” I deadpanned.

Nara’s head dropped back as the icy wind carried her boisterous laugh over to us. “Need any help? Say the word, and I’m there.” She collected her light brown hair to one side, revealing a shaved semicircle above her right ear. Linear patterns of a tattoo ran around the shell, down her neck, and snaked into her jacket, giving her appearance an edge, a warning to not mess with her or she would bite your head off.

I liked her.

Nara scanned us over, her gaze lingering on Malaya’s swollen belly. “You’re Malaya, right? Jayla mentioned you would join us.”

I was not leaving her back at the compound. She needed a break from everything and who knew, maybe she’d like it at Damia’s.

“Uh, yes.” Malaya chewed on her bottom lip. “I hope I don’t intrude or anything.”

“Nope. The more the better.” Nara flashed a grin at Greyn. “My mom is so going to flip out. She will give you so much shit for letting me drive. I can’t wait.”

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter from bubbling up. Nara was like a younger version of Jayla.

“So, tell me what’s new. I haven’t seen you in ages and I want to know”—Jayla roughly shook Nara’s seat—“everything.”

Greyn mumbled a few profanities. Nara elbowed him, shutting him up, and I left them to their conversation. Denseforest lined the road, but the sunlight couldn’t keep away the shadows crawling from the depths of the woods, furling around the bare branches so softly it was reminiscent of a caress. I reached toward the tree line and savored the freezing wind rushing past, imagining it carrying that comforting darkness over to me. Soon, the cold numbed my fingers, and I stuck my hands between my thighs. Winter was starting in a week.