Page 36

The forest was quiet except for the crunch of damp leaves underfoot.

Grace followed me, sticking close as we navigated through the trees.

When we finally reached the car, I pulled back the tarp that was covering it, and she hesitated, looking at the rusted exterior with a mixture of doubt and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a bit of fear.

I tapped the hood and smirked in hopes of making light of this. “It’s reliable... most of the time.”

She frowned.

Guess, I failed.

“How did you ever learn in this thing?”

“By trial and error... I had Silas as my instructor.”

She frowned... again and pried open the car door before sliding into the passenger seat, tightly gripping her coat.

I couldn’t help but notice how her hands flexed, fidgeting as she tapped her fingers against her knee.

I could tell she was starting to regret coming with me, and if anything, I didn’t want her accompanying me this weekend when it involved being near Riftkeeper’s.

After a few minutes of silence, I glanced over at her. “Do you want to go back?”

She took a deep breath and then shook her head. “No, I don’t.” Her eyes snapped in my direction, the hint of sunset brightening her doe eyes. “Marnie is with Brandon and Silas covering for us, so that means I’m going with you, even if that means I’m risking my life by being in this god-awful car.”

I smirked to myself, turning the engine on.

“You’re going to be fine, Bambi. Nothing’s going to happen to you.

” I looked at her as I placed the car into first gear.

“You’re tougher than you look. Though with those eyes of yours, you’d likely have half the world ready to step in before anyone even tried to hurt you. Including this car.”

She raised a brow at me, but the hint of a smile softened her expression just as I stepped on the gas.

The tires screeched as the old Nissan Micra lurched forward like it had just awakened from the dead.

Grace let out a noise—somewhere between a gasp and a strangled scream—as she clutched the dashboard. “Hunter! What the hell!”

I grinned, shifting into second gear. “Relax, Bambi. I know what I’m doing.”

“That’s exactly what someone says before something bad happens!”

She barely had time to finish her sentence before we hit a small ditch, sending her bouncing in her seat. Her head smacked against the roof with an audible thud, and she whirled toward me, brown eyes wide with pure, unfiltered horror.

I grimaced.

Shit.

“Sorry—”

“Just drive slower!”

My grip tightened around the wheel as we took a sharp turn onto a dirt road, and I listened to her, slowing down at a pace she was comfortable with.

The second we hit a slightly smoother road; she exhaled a breath so deep it was like she had just survived a plane crash. Dramatic, but fair.

“I swear,” she muttered, fixing me with a deadpan stare, “if I ever agree to get in a car with you again, just assume I’m under duress.”

I chuckled, stretching one arm lazily over the steering wheel. “Maybe one day you’ll be the one driving instead.”

She hummed skeptically, staring out the window and for a while, we drove in complete silence. I tried not to look at her as the hum of the engine and swish of wet tires made their way through country roads but that was proving to be difficult.

“Do you ever wonder what it’d be like if things were... different?” she asked after a while, her voice soft but thoughtful as I glanced at her. She was still looking out the window, fascinated by just... trees.

“Different how?”

“Like if you weren’t tied to Celestia and all the rules.” She shrugged. “I know you were born an Ascendant, and I just happened to be raised by an angel, but... I just wonder what it would be like to not know this side of the world.”

I let out a low chuckle, shaking my head. “It’s a question that I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

She hummed, having hoped for another answer. Truthfully, I thought about it a lot, but I also knew that it was a life I was not given.

“So,” she asked, changing subjects. “When did you start sneaking out like this?”

“Long enough to know the shortcuts.” I reached a long, narrow road. “It feels good to break the rules sometimes.”

“Some angel-to-be you are.”

I chuckled, but it fell flat when I took in that word. Angel.

Shaking away the oncoming thoughts, I reached into my pocket and took out a packet of skittles. “Here. I don’t want you dying from starvation while on the road.”

“Gee, thanks,” she mumbled, but there was a pause after she grabbed it off me and opened the packet.

“There’s only the green ones in here?”

I slid a glance her way before focusing on the road again. “They’re the only ones you eat.”

“Did you... did you eat the others or did you pick out all the other colors just so I was left with the green ones?”

I hadn’t eaten any skittles since I was five years old.

Regrettably, I looked over at her and saw she was smiling with a certain warmth and amusement in her eyes.

I huffed out a deep breath, not liking how that made me feel. “Don’t give me that look.”

She popped a skittle into her mouth. “What look?” she teased.

I shifted against the seat and swore under my breath. When she reached for another skittle, I said, “How can you even like that flavor?”

“What?” She said around a mouthful of skittles. “I like apple-flavored stuff. If you ever want to get on my good side? Just hand me anything apple-related, like apple pie or apple muffins. That’s a good one. What about you? What flavor do you like?”

I shrugged. “None of them.”

“Well, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine?”

I felt my lips hitch into a smile as I looked at the rearview mirror.

“To be honest, you’re probably the type to not even have a favorite color,” she went on, and I couldn’t help but glance her way again. She was an intoxicating sight, and it wasn’t helping the discomfort I felt right now.

“What’s yours?” I asked her.

She mulled it over, her eyes skimming the trees that passed us before she smiled. “Yellow... like sunflowers.”

Another smile tugged at my lips as I focused back on the road, letting her favorite color sink in.

When Silas first asked mine years ago, I didn’t have one—I hadn’t really thought about it even before then.

But when she told me hers, with that smile she always wore, her light brown eyes glinting, I thought, yeah, I do have a favorite color. Her.

Her rose-colored lips.

The color of her warm olive skin.

The hint of caramel that ran through her dark curls.

Her eyes.

My smile faded as I realized just how much trouble I was getting myself into.

Her brows drew together. “What’s wrong?”

Everything. “ Nothing.”

She smiled, taking a deep breath. “We’ll find your brother, Hunter; I know we will. If not today, then someday soon. Trust me on it.”

It wasn’t that, that I was thinking about.

“I’m holding you to that,” I muttered instead.

Half an hour later, we’d finally reached the nearest town away from Celestia.

I parked near a side street and led Grace through the winding roads until we found a small cafe in the corner of an alleyway.

Inside, it was quiet and dim, with the smell of coffee and baked goods filling the air.

She looked more relaxed now, sliding into a booth by the window as she watched the drizzle outside.

A waitress came by and asked us what we’d like. When Grace said she wasn’t hungry, I dismissed that after her stomach grumbled, and I ordered us both a fry-up.

She blew one of her curls out of her face and sank her back into the booth. “I’d rather not have had a full stomach before we went in search of Riftkeeper’s.”

‘Those few skittles you had weren’t enough. Besides, nothing wrong with a good old fry-up.”

She rolled her eyes just as the waitress approached us with two plates and coke cans.

Grace eyed her food with undeterred hunger, and before I could say a word, she was already digging in, ravaging her sausages and beans.

I chuckled. “Slow down there, Bambi. Don’t want you getting sick in my car afterwards.”

She glared at me and took a sip of coke. “That car isn’t even a car. It’s a death machine that rattles. I don’t understand how you haven’t been caught when you don’t even have a license.”

I bit into my toast. “It also got us here in one piece, so you’re welcome.”

“Shocker.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “I get it. You’re jealous I can drive. It’s okay, Grace. You can admit it. This is a safe space.”

“Why would I be jealous? I’d like to see you drive a real car. One that doesn’t sound like it’s going to fall apart every time you take a turn.”

That’s the plan... someday. I doubt it would happen, though. “Who knows, maybe I’ll own a 67 Mustang and use it to drive away from here.”

Her brows drew together at that. “You want to leave? But—”

I’d said too much. “You should hurry up and eat the rest of your food before it gets cold.” My walls were back in place, and she could clearly see that.

It disappointed her.

She shook her head and sighed. A few minutes of silence passed by as we ate our fry-ups before, she decided to speak up again. “So, what’s the plan then? Head to the abandoned lots here and scout each one for strange activity?”

If only it were that easy. “If it’s a place run by Riftkeeper’s, they won’t just let anyone in.”

“What if we snuck in?”

“Won’t work.”

She crossed her arms and huffed. This was another reason why I didn’t want her to come with me. My idea to get into any place where Riftkeeper’s hang out wasn’t strictly orthodox. “Then what do we do?”

“I’ll tell you once you finish your food.”

Begrudgingly, she picked apart at her bacon before she continued eating until there was nothing left on that plate. When we left the cafe, the rain picked up as we walked through a nearby park that was empty except for the quiet shuffle of our footsteps.

I still hadn’t answered her question, and I felt it was because she no longer wanted to know.

She shivered slightly.

I frowned and shrugged off my jacket before handing it to her.

She pouted. “I don’t need this.”

“Cool. Then consider it a fashion statement.”

Rolling her eyes, she tossed me my jacket back. “I can handle being cold. In fact, I can handle anything, including you.”

I stopped and looked around the empty park. Holding my hand up, I said, “Alright, then. Show me what you’ve got.”

She looked at me, mouth agape. “You’re serious?”

“Come on, you said you can handle anything.”

Her eyes narrowed, a playful glint flashing as she brought her fists up, mirroring the stance I’d taught her the past week. She surprised me by making the first move, her steps light on the rain-soaked grass.

I laughed, and her teeth clenched as she lunged towards me once more. She’d retained some of the basics, and I could tell she was trying everything possible to get to me, but whenever she thought she’d pinned me down, I slipped out of reach.

She launched her fist towards my face, but I managed to catch it just in time. She was getting better, and her frustration only gave way to her fierce determination since day one.

I looked down at her, unable to stop myself from smiling.

“Close,” I said and chuckled when she tried to free her hand from my hold.

Just as I was about to release my grip, I caught a glimpse of a figure moving across the park.

A man in a dark coat, hood hanging low over his face, but the length of his sleeves was pulled back ever so slightly, revealing the edges of a mark.

Grace followed my gaze, her body tensing when she saw the man disappear into the trees. “Is he—”

“Most likely,” I murmured. “Come on, there’s a place we can stay at in the meantime.”

Grace nodded, already matching my pace as we crossed the park and onto another road with barely a shop in sight and only a rundown motel in the distance.