I growl my frustration, and when I speak, it's through my teeth.
"Fine." I rev the engine. "Walk, then."
I'm about to blaze down the road when I see the lights ahead. Not on the bypass yet, but farther to the east, on route this way. She'll never be able to make it before they find her.
"Shit."
I kick down the stand on my bike and hop off, jogging to catch up to her.
"Sorry about this, too," I growl before lifting her right off the road and tossing her over my shoulder, carrying her back to the bike.
"Atticus! Put me down!"
She kicks and I grunt as her knee connects with my sternum and her fists pound on my back.
I set her down next to the bike but grip her uninjured arm to keep her from pulling away. I take her chin in my fingers and steer her attention to the lights and sirens on their way here. "We don't have time for this. You can't be seen here."
She jerks her chin from my grip and only hesitates a second more before she silently gets on the bike, leaving space for me, jaw set and eyes hard.
I slide onto the seat in front of her. "You're going to want to hold on."
She doesn't move.
"Aurora."
She shoves her arms around me, locking them tight. As soon as I'm sure she isn't going to fly off, I gun it, getting us the hell out of here.
20
FIRST AID & FINE LINES
AURORA
Ipull my arms from around Atticus's chest as soon as we're in the clear. He slows the bike, turning onto more desolated streets as we weave our way back toward my apartment.
And either my adrenaline was so high that the cold didn't register before, or it dropped twenty degrees in the last fifteen minutes. Either way, I'm shivering when he turns onto my street.
He stops at the edge of the walk to my apartment, turning off the bike's ignition.
The silence is immediately deafening, and I mentally bat away the intrusive thoughts rushing in like a swarm of angry gnats. I slip off the bike, wrapping my arms around myself to rush for the door.
But before I get there, I hear the heavy thud of his footfalls behind me.
What the fuck?
I whirl around, seeing him coming up the walk behind me. "What are you doing?"
He stops, his expression hard. Unreadable. "We need to talk."
My chest squeezes, and I frown. "No. I'm done talking to you."
I can't do this with him. Not right now.
It's taking everything in me to look strong,calm, with the storm still raging in my bones.
"This." He gestures between himself and me. "It has to stop. We can't take down our enemy ifweare enemies."
Indignation burns in my chest, and I hate how my voice wobbles when I speak. "Yeah, well, then maybe?—"
