“Or a short drive.” I point to the car keys.
Cillian picks them up and turns them over. “Where does he park this?”
“I don’t know. But it’s worth looking for, tonight. Then if we can’t find it, you need to leave the next night. If we stay much longer, we won’t have enough water.”
A frown creases his forehead. “I don’t like the idea of leaving you.”
“You don’t have to like it to do it.”
He puts his hand over mine. “No, but I like you.”
I snort and look away. “Please. A day ago, I had a gun aimed at your chest.”
He smiles. “True, but we’ve made a pretty good team.”
“The bad guy took your necklace and we’re stranded.” I’d hardly call that a success. I should’ve been quicker to turn and shoot. If I had been, I’d have killed them both.
“We’re alive, when he expected us to fail.”
I nod. We’re alive for a few more days, anyway. “We have four days of water. If we don’t find the car tonight, you have to leave.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Cillian…” I try to find a convincing argument. But nothing forms. I don’t want to be left. “How will we carry what we need? Where will we rest?”
“We can plan that if we don’t find the car.” He picks up the mug of soup and takes a drink. “Got some more of this?”
“Yeah.” We drink soup and eat crackers. And for a little while we pretend that everything is fine, and it’s normal to live in a one room cave house with an outdoor toilet.
Cillian checks out the clothing and changes his shirt. His back muscles ripple, but my gaze is drawn to the tattoos on his back.
“What do they mean?”
“That I killed a fae. It’s a warning to all.”
“Even after you’ve served your sentence?”
He pulls the clean shirt over his head. “Yes.”
“The fae don’t forgive and forget?”
He laughs. “Never. Grudges are held, and memories are long. It’s why I’ve been in no rush to return.”
“That and the kidnapping of a woman…”
He considered me for a moment. “I wouldn’t kidnap, I am not my brother. I would ask if she were interested in coming to faery.”
“And you’d warn her about your past and the troubles you’d face.”
“Yes. I have nothing to hide.” He picks up a knife and tests the weight. “Come on, before it gets dark.”
In the dusk the desert is beautiful. The air is crisp and clear, and the sky is deepening to pink and purple. A smile forms until I remember that there are fae beasts out there. “Shall we do a lap of this outcrop?”
“Yeah. I didn’t see anything this morning when I was up that side.” He points and I glance up.
We move slowly around the rocks. The dusk deepening as we search for signs of the car and listen for the monsters. My leg throbs with every step, but I keep my mouth shut. How am I going to walk out of here, if I can’t even make it around the block?
We reach the other side and I see the split that must go all the way through. Cillian quickens his pace.
