“Reed, that’s just hot,” I say, trying to suppress my smile.
“It is?” he asks me in surprise.
“Yeah…really hot,” I reply.
“Oh… well, good. I was beginning to think something was wrong with me,” he says, smiling at my reaction to his words.
“Nope. I do that too, sometimes. I think about what it’ll be like when I’ll be able to kiss you and not have any reason to stop,” I reply.
“You are right, that is hot,” he murmurs, touching my hair softly.
“Told you,” I reply.
“What else do you dream about?” he asks me in a soft tone. He’s definitely into this topic. I clear my throat and think about it for a second, “Hmm…let’s see, just this morning, when we had decided that we were going to make this trip, I might’ve let my mind wander a bit over how I would plan the sleeping arrangements, if given a choice.”
“You did?” he asks, raising his eyebrow in inquiry.
“Uh huh. And when I was packing for the trip, I kinda threw in a couple of articles of clothing, just in case you lift that ban on seduction.”
“It is unfathomable what you are capable of doing to me with just words,” he says, shaking his head. I smile because I feel powerful all of a sudden. Trying to hide my smile, I look out the window at the scenery going by us. We have gotten past all of the major cities in this area and are now just traveling from one small rural town to another in our journey toward Lake Michigan and the resort we plan to stay in. The fir trees around this two-lane road are dense and covered in a blanket of white that absorbs sound almost completely. It’s beautiful in the dusky twilight, as the colors of the night push down on the waning sun. It will get really dark here with no streetlights or city glow to illuminate the skyline. But, it doesn’t matter because I can now see awesomely in the dark with my angel vision. I probably won’t even need my headlights to drive the car, but I flip them on anyway so others can see me.
The phone in Reed’s pocket begins ringing. When he answers it, it is Zephyr indicating they have reached the point where they had planned to get gas for the cars. We pull into a gas station with an attached mini mart. I park the car next to a pump and see Buns and Zephyr get out of their car and walk over near our car, surveying the scenery around us. Leaning over the center console of the car, Reed kisses me, his lips touching mine like a whisper before he gets out of the car to fill the gas tank. I open my door, stepping out to stretch my legs.
“Sweetie, let’s go in and get some snacks.” Buns says, linking arms with me. “I’m in the mood for licorice, what about you?” she asks as we walk together a few feet.
Through the windows of the mini mart, the fluorescent lights flicker eerily, illuminating the aisles of snacks lining the interior. I stop in my tracks and pull hard against Buns’s arm, trying to get her to release me. Panic grips me as cold sweat breaks out all over my body.
“No…let go of me!” I whisper feebly, feeling Buns release me instantly. Panic makes my whole body shake as I back away from the doors in front of me.
“Sweetie, what’s wrong?” I vaguely hear Buns ask me, but my eyes are riveted on the doors ahead of me. At any moment they will swing open and I will be assailed by that vile odor; the one that makes me puke—and Gaspard will be inside waiting for me.
I can’t think rationally, as I turn and run from the gas station. I sprint as fast as my legs will carry me, with no thought as to where I’m going or who will observe me. I cross the street, narrowly avoiding a logging semi packed full of huge fir trees. The driver probably never saw me in the road, since I’m nearly invisible to him at the speed I’m traveling. I rush into the forest on the other side of the street. I ascend a steep hill, maneuvering between the trees so nimbly that not one branch strikes me as I dart between them. Vaulting over large rocks, I keep going, never stumbling, never tiring of the pace that I have set, but continuing as if I will never stop.
Distantly, I hear my name being called. I keep going, farther and faster. The deep drifts of snow are no problem. I pump my legs harder, passing through them with ease. Climbing the rocks ahead of me, I jump from ledge to ledge, never wavering in my conviction that my foot will land solidly exactly where I want it to land on the precarious terrain. Again, I hear my name from somewhere further behind me. I pause on a rocky ledge.
Where are you running? my mind whispers. Away from the Seven-Eleven…to Reed, my heart whispers back. I still. I can’t run away from it. It already happened. I had gone into the store with Alfred and I had changed Russell’s life forever—for eternity—and ended my uncle’s life. I did that and I cannot undo it, I think as something brutal twists inside of me. I hear my name being called again, this time closer. I turn knowing Reed is approaching.
Reed bursts through the trees with an alarmed expression on his face. He stops when he sees me standing just above him on a rocky ledge. I probably look wild because my jacket had torn apart and was left on the trail below me when my wings had sprouted. I still have on the light sweater that Buns had modified for me. It didn’t shred when my wings thrust out because the Velcro flap in the back just pulls away.
“Evie, where are you going?” Reed asks me in a gentle tone, approaching me with caution.
I look around me at the trees and snow because I don’t know how to tell him. “I was…running from the Seven-Eleven…looking for you.”
Reed is confused, and then I see him put it together. I hadn’t tried to run from Alfred once I knew he held Russell hostage and would kill; I had cooperated. Staring at me intensely, Reed’s jaw clenches as he strides the last few steps to me, pulling me into his arms. Reed digs in his pocket for his phone, depressing the speed dial button.
“I have her—she is okay—we will be back shortly. Wait for us by the road.” He closes the phone. Picking me up off of my feet, he carries me down the side of the steep hill we had just climbed, as if we are walking on a flat, sandy beach somewhere. I am quiet all the way back to the car, feeling several emotions all at once. Just before we leave the cover of the trees, Reed shrugs off his coat and drapes it over my shoulders to hide my wings from sight. Zephyr had moved our car to the shoulder of the road where it’s dark. Approaching the car, Reed places me in the passenger side. Zephyr is at his side instantly while Buns comes to my window.
“Sweetie—I didn’t realize—it was stupid of me to think you would want to go in there,” she says contritely, as she touches my arm through the open window.
“Buns, I don’t really understand what just happened, but it’s not your fault I freaked. I panicked and I had to…” I try to explain, but can’t.
“I went in the store after we heard you were all right and I got you some water and just about one of everything,” she says with a nervous smile, indicating the huge bag of snacks on the back seat of the car.
A real smile creeps across my face when I turn back to see the mountain of treats falling out of the bag. “Buns, I don’t deserve you,” I say.
“Are you kidding? Brownie will never forgive me if I let something happen to our girl,” she says, reaching in the window to give me a brief hug. “Are you ready to get back on the road now?”