AUGUST:Why are YOU up soearly?
I looked out at the glittery expanse peeking behind my drawncurtains.
ME:Justworried.
AUGUST:Everything’s going to befine.
I sighed, wishing I could be so optimistic, but life had thrown me one too many curveballs. Still, I texted:I know.There was no point in infecting others with myskepticism.
AUGUST:Getdressed.
ME:Why?
AUGUST:Because I can sense your stress all the way through thephone.
AUGUST:And wear comfortableshoes.
I sat up in bed, fully awake now. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I tugged on black leggings, a black hoodie, and my sneakers, then went out to the kitchen and wrote Jeb a note in case he woke up and noticed my bed was empty. As I placed the paper on the dining table, I hesitated to text August that he didn’t have to take care of me when he should be taking care of his mom, but a message popped onto myscreen.
AUGUST:I’mdownstairs.
I tied my hair up into a quick ponytail, grabbed my phone and keys, and left quietly so as not to wake up myuncle.
August looked pale, which was a feat considering his mixed origins. Then again, it could’ve been the effect of the light bouncing off hisdashboard.
He smiled at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I think we’re the two only people up in the whole ofBoulder.”
It was 4:30. My street was completely deserted, and every window we drove by wasdark.
“Where are we going?” I asked as I strapped myselfin.
“You’llsee.”
I wasn’t the sort of person who liked tosee, but I trusted August. As we drove, I played with the music, swapping his preferred jazz station with something a little more upbeat. And then I closed my eyes to rest them and drummed my fingers to the tempo of themusic.
Up and up the mountain road we went. Finally, he pulled to a stop, grabbed a pack from the backseat, slung it over his shoulder, and we got out. We walked down a wooded trail that led to the sharp ridges of the Flatirons. The sight transported me back to the first trial, but I didn’t tell August. Not even when some pebbles came loose under my feet and adrenaline spiked through my veins. I drove back my fear of the mountain raining down on me. The rockslide had been manmade—or rathereldermade—just another part of thetrials.
We came to a stop a couple yards from the lip of the steep cliff. I didn’t have vertigo, but still, I didn’t lookdown.
“You okay?” he asked as he unzipped hisbackpack.
“Yeah.Great.”
He kept his gaze locked on mine as he tugged a blanket out of his pack, as though he didn’t quite believe me. Could he sense my nerves through the link? He shook out the blanket and spread it onto the moon-bleached rock. “Want to tell me aboutit?”
I didn’t, but at the same time I didn’t want him to pin my nervousness on anything else. So I reminded him about the race, about the landslide. His entire body stiffened. He reached down and picked up the blanket, but I stepped onit.
“August, it’s fine. I promise. Besides, like Mom used to say, best way to chase away a bad memory is to make a newone.”
When he still hadn’t let go of the blanket, I pried the edge out of his clenched fingers and let it flutter back to the stone floor. And then I sat, gathering my knees againstme.
“I bet the sunrise is spectacular from here,” I said, looking out at the ultraviolet darkness that stretched aroundus.
It took a while for August to shake off the tension in his body, but finally, he sat beside me. “Best in Boulder.” He took a thermos out of his pack. “Here.” When I raised an eyebrow, he said, “Coffee.”
I twisted the top open, then took a sip of the scalding, bitter beverage before handing it back. “I didn’t even think about bringing water. If I wasn’t a shifter, and I was lost in the wilderness, I’d probably not make it out alive.” I tucked my chin onto my knees. “You know, that show,Naked and Afraid?” I’d been watching a lot of TV recently. “They’d probably give me a survival rating of one-point-two.”
August chuckled softly. “That’s very specific. And incorrect, I’msure.”
