My eyes blink open. Thin shafts of light filter through dripping holes above me. A kaleidoscope of shapes and colors swirls outside. I’m jostled, my shoulder smashing against rough wood. The room spins. I need to vomit. I lay my head back, shut my eyes, and will the world to stop moving.
A car door slams as tires squeal.
Through the holes, I smell wet leaves and hot sea air, a burning forest of pine. Body odor, somewhere close. Something feral and feline. My stomach roils.
“What took you so long?” A girl. She’s angry. Worried.
“We’re busted.” I know this voice. A boy. Breathy and panicked.
“Maybe when you’re done complaining, you could get us out of here!” The stab of a memory. Lips pressed against my hair. The gagging sweetness of poison.Julio?
“Open the doors. Help me get them in the van.”Jack.
I open my eyes. Try to lift my head.
The walls shake and I sink back against them.
“Be careful with that!”Poppy?“If she has so much as a bruise when we open that crate, I swear to Gaia, I’m going to—”
The room sways and drops hard. Doors slam. Light dims.
“What’s he staring at? Is he high?” Julio. He’s mad. “Come on, Abbey Road! Get in the van!”
“Lay off! He hasn’t seen the sun in fifty years.”
More doors slamming. Voices arguing. An engine turns over, another squeal of tires. The momentum throws my body into the side of the box.
A box... I’m in a box.
I swallow. Shut my eyes again.
Please don’t be sick. Please don’t be sick. Please don’t be...
The van brakes hard. Accelerates. Swerves. Turns. Muffled voices filter through the holes in the crate. Through the holes in my consciousness.
“Barely got out... Professor Lyon... He said he’ll hold them off...”
A horn blares. The box slides, wood scraping metal.
“Slow down! We’re going to get pulled over.”
“You want to drive?”
“Can we please ditch the crows! They’ve been circling us for a mile.”
A burst of speed. A sharp turn to the right. “Relax, Jack. We’re almost to the bridge.”
“We need to get to the boat before low tide.”
Tires scream. The box rocks to the side. Pain explodes behind my eyes.
“Best shot... open sea... lose them in the dark...”
21
Adrift
FLEUR
