Page 56 of Puck

Temple nodded. “Dr. Emilia wiped it, somehow.”

“Are you sure you shouldn’t toss it, just in case?” Layla said.

“The circuitry was cooked with an electromagnetic pulse.” Ivar put in. “Fried, dead. No chance of it being reactivated.”

“So now we’re finally going home?” This was Kyrie.

“That is the plan, yes,” Ivar said.

“Well, if the tracker is fried, then we should be able to get away without a problem, right?” I asked.

Ivar nodded. “I never make any assumptions. Anything is possible.” He waved a hand in a vague gesture. “They would have traced us here to Prague. If they assume you are trying to return home to the States, there are only so many places where airplanes large enough for a transatlantic flight to take off from. We are not out of the woods yet, as they say.”

* * *

Ididn’t see much moreof Prague except nearly identical roads and buildings. But then, you couldn’t really experience a city properly unless you had at least three days to get out, get lost, and immerse yourself. Thirty minutes in and out didn’t really count as visiting, so I’d still have to leave Prague on my list of places to visit. The airfield we were going to was another two-and-a-half-hour drive outside of Prague, which left a lot of time to think.

But, me being me, that’s exactly what I wouldn’t do. If I started thinking, I’d start overthinking, and then I’d upset myself, and then all the emotional reactions I’ve been suppressing would start springing out and, as Ivar had said, we weren’t out of the woods yet, and I couldn’t afford to give in to thinking or reacting until I was somewhere truly safe.

No thinking.

So I turned to Puck for distraction.

“Do you have a favorite place?” I asked. “Like, a retreat or a secret getaway?”

He wasn’t fazed by the abruptness of the question. He thought for a moment, and then shot me a wink and a grin. “The back seat of that airplane.”

I huffed. “For real, Puck.”

He patted my leg. “Teasin’, babe. My cabin has always been my favorite getaway. Although now that Cain’s people know about it, I’m probably gonna sell it.” He tapped his kneecap with the muzzle of the submachine gun he still had strapped around his chest. “No point to a secret hideaway if Cain’s aware of it.”

“That sucks, huh?”

He sighed. “Yeah, it kinda does. It’s been in my family for going on two hundred years. That was where I went when I needed to get away from everything, you know? Plus, it’s really all I have to remember my family by. I mean, I didn’t have much to begin with, but now I ain’t got shit.”

I frowned at him. “You have no family? None?”

He shook his head. “Nah. Mom’s dead, Dad’s dead, never had brothers or sisters, or aunts or uncles. I think Pops had a brother and a sister at one point, but if they’re still alive, I don’t even know their names. His folks were gone before I was born, and Mom’s folks both passed a while back, and I never met ’em anyway, on account of the fact that when Mom married Pops, her folks disowned her. Said Pops was a no-account gambler, a drifter, and a piece of shit. They weren’t wrong about him, but that didn’t mean they should’ve disowned her.”

“And your mom was an only child too?” I asked.

He shrugged again. “Dunno, and there ain’t no point to finding out. What good is blood family if they’re total strangers? I’m almost fuckin’ forty, and I’ve gotten along fine without ’em so far, so there ain’t no point in digging up them bones.” His southern drawl was strong, for some reason; he didn’t like this topic, I supposed. He glanced at me. “What about you?”

“Favorite place? Or family?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you know about my family—same as you, I don’t have any.” I shrugged. “Only time it really makes a difference is around the holidays. That time of the year gets lonely.”

“Word,” Puck said. “If I’m not on an op, then I’m flat-out wasted during the holidays. I have a tradition, I rent a penthouse in Vegas, order up a shitload of booze, and I stay my ass in that penthouse getting shitfaced until the holidays are over.”

“And you probably also hire company, I’m guessing?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow at him.

He nodded. “Been known to a time or two, yes. Like you said, it gets lonely.”

“But is hired company really any kind of comfort?”

He bobbed his head to one side. “You’d be surprised. Most of those girls don’t have much family themselves, so spending the holidays getting paid to hang out with someone? Not a bad gig.”