“For fuck’s sake,” Sinclair grits out. “Yes, you were an ass. Yes, you should have restored my memorieslongbefore you deigned to do so. But despite all the pain Zoe and I have endured, we are together. We survived. Stop blaming yourself so we can all move on.”
I am about to tell him I willneverescape my guilt when Zoe says his name.
“Sin, we got addresses for the other two DNA matches. One of them isn’t far from McCook, Nebraska. The other one is in the middle of nowhere, Arkansas.“
I check the train schedule tacked to the wall next to the door. “We will not reach McCook until after dinner. Willow, how strong is the Blade’s call?”
She rubs her hands up and down her arms. I woke to find her shivering against me this morning, and no amount of coffee or blankets have been able to warm her.
“Very. But…it changed this morning. Like it’s actually in pain now.” The stress in her voice worsens every hour. “Or…maybe that’s just me.” Tears shimmer in the corners of her eyes.
The air in the room stirs, and her whisper floats through the wall to hover in front of her.
“She feels it too.”
“Arkansas is much further away, yes?” My knowledge of the geography of the United States is minimal, at best.
“About a thousand miles,” Zoe says. “A little more than the distance from where you are now to San Francisco.”
“I can’t take much more of this.” Willow shudders, and a single tear tumbles down her pale cheek. “It can’t be all the way in Arkansas. It just…can’t be.”
“Then Nebraska it is. We will disembark there.“ Scanning the schedule, I nod. “The vampires should be awake by then. You and Zoe will meet us there?”
“We are one stop ahead of you at the moment,” Sinclair says. “We’ll keep that pace. Update Mad, Killian, and Kunchin. Zoe needs to eat, and I see a diner up ahead. Stay safe.”
Willow
Gabriel tucks his phone back into his pocket, turns, and arches a brow at my whisper. “She is freezing. Move so I can hold her.”
She does, floating to the window and peering out at the snowy landscape. We’re headed high into the mountains today, and though the sun is so bright, it hurts my eyes, the temperature isn’t much above freezing.
Sinking down next to me, Gabriel settles back against the cushions. “Come here. Please?”
I let him wrap his arm around me and arrange the blanket over my lap.
“Something isn’t right,” I say, my head tucked under his chin. “When I woke up this morning, it wasn’t this…painful. But right before breakfast, it changed.”
“How?” He rubs slow circles over my back and presses kisses to my hair.
I shrug, too tired—and confused—to find the right words.
“I have been told that ‘talking it out’ can often help solve difficult problems,deliciae.Try?”
His fingers move to my neck, kneading gently. Well, I guess if he’s going to give me a massage…
“After the grimoire gave me its oh-so-generous magical gift, I could…hearthe Blade. Have you ever had an earworm?” I ask, peering up at him.
His eyes widen, a look of disgust twisting his features. “Are they common? If so, how do I avoid them? Forever.”
My snort kicks off a laughing fit. Tears roll down my cheeks, and I struggle to catch my breath. “Oh, my God. You’re hopeless, you know that? An earworm isn’t anactualworm. It’s a song that gets stuck in your head. You can’t help singing it or humming it or justhearingit over and over and over again. Nothing you do makes it go away.”
“And this is what the Blade’s call was like?” he asks, the furrow between his brows easing.
“Yes. It was part of me. Mine. As much as my heartbeat or the sound of my own voice. It got louder when I didn’t immediately leave to find it. Sadder too. But still comforting. Like a flute or maybe a violin.”
“I wish I could have heard it through your ears,” he murmurs. “Or taken this burden from you entirely.”
Regret roughens his tone, but he heaves a deep breath and returns his fingers to my neck.
