Trent laughed, low and soft. “Well, thank you.”
“Even if it was your stupid idea that put us in there in the first place.”
“Well, that’s less nice. But you have to admit, this is a pretty good ride.” Trent glanced around. From the roof of the Popeye, the view of the scenery was completely unimpeded by the doors and window frames inside the boat. And the fresh air wasn’t too bad either.
Nor was the view of Zina, as she took off her big floppy hat, running her fingers through her short hair – she must’ve cut it during her escape, to make herself less recognizable. Trent had thought she looked great before, but short hair suited her as well: she had such a striking face, with her large eyes, strong, high cheekbones and cute pointed chin that she’d look amazing no matter what she did with her hair.
But I can’t really just get caught up in the view,Trent thought, forcing himself to remember that no matter what, he’d come here to help Zina. And for that, he had to know what was really going on with her.
“You never did get a chance to tell me exactly why you’re on the run –andexactly what’s in that bag of yours,” he said.
Zina bit her lip, swallowing. “No, I guess I didn’t. And I guess I better tell you now, in case this is the last moment of relative peace we get.”
Trent nodded. “Honestly? Yeah.”
Still biting her lip, Zina reached into her bag, pulling out the sturdy box she’d tried to pass off to Trent earlier. It looked pretty high-tech, now that he had a chance to look at it properly – and he was proved correct a moment later, when Zina ran her thumb over a hidden sensor on the front, and Trent heard a slightbeepandwhiras the box unlocked.
“So how was I supposed to open that, if I didn’t have your thumbprint?” he asked, as Zina unfastened the latches.
“I would have given you a spare. I made a copy of my fingerprints with a 3D printer,” she said, as if this was normal. “Though hopefullysomeoneat your organization would have been able to hack in eventually.”
Trent felt that deserved some kind of sassy retort, but whatever words he might have said died abruptly as Zina opened the lid, lifted up a foam covering, andfinallyshowed him what was inside the box.
Trent stared. He’d never seen anything like it before – three stunningly beautiful iridescent oval-shaped objects. Two were a deep, dark cobalt blue, speckled with silver and gold. The third was a deep green, so dark it was almost black.
Trent hadn’tseenanything like them before – but he’d definitely heard about it. But still, were thesereallywhat Trent thought they were?
Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.
Swallowing, he dragged his eyes away from the beautiful objects, to find Zina watching him closely.
“Are – are those –” he began to say, before she cut him off with a nod.
“Yes,” she said. “They’re eggs.”
Chapter 5
What am I doing. What am I doing. What am I doing.
Zina couldn’t say this was thefirsttime this refrain had beat through her head ever since she’d decided to grab the eggs and go on the run – but it certainly was the most persistent time.
She was sitting at a back table of the diner they’d stopped at, staring down at her hands where they sat folded in front of her. The bag with the case containing the eggs was between her leg and the padding of the booth she sat in. No one would be able to get it without having to go through her – and Trent, presumably – first.
God. What have I done?
Zina swallowed heavily. They’d managed to make their way off the Popeye without being detected when it steered closer to the bank to check out some native foliage. Trent had pulled her close to his side again andjumped,landing easily on the bank, before the two of them had made their way swiftly through the brushlands and back to a road they could follow.
Trent had told her he couldn’t sense any danger – she’d guessed he was a shifter back in London, and the leap from the paddleboat had only confirmed what she already knew – so they’d set off. Trent had asked Zina where she wanted to go, and Zina had simply told him anywhere they could get some breathing space. Trent had nodded, and said they’d better get on a bus, then – nice and anonymous, and it’d get them out of the city.
Nothing that had happened today had been in her plans, Zina thought, as she stared down at her hands. Nothing had gone the way she’d thought it would.
I was ready to offload the eggs and let myself get caught, if that was what it took to keep them safe. I was going to use myself as a decoy and lead Hargreaves and whoever else is after me away. I was prepared for it. I always knew I’d get caught in the end–I’d just wanted to make sure the eggs were safe before I did.
None of that had happened.
Instead, she found herself… well,here. Wedged up the back of a booth in a small-town diner on the very outskirts of the suburbs, which was as far as the bus they’d jumped on would take them. After this, Trent had told her, there was only bushland.
There hadn’t been any chance for Zina to explain anything more to Trent on the bus – it had been crowded, and the last thing she needed was anyone overhearing what she had to say. But Trent hadn’t seemed to mind at all – he’d been content to wait, telling her they’d have time later.
