“The doors are all open.”
“Maybe they close.”
“Maybe they don’t.”
The wolf dragged itself farther onto the platform and then sprang onto its four paws.
“On top, then!” I ripped my arm out of Remo’s hold, then took off toward the conductor car and swung myself inside.
Remo jumped in after me. He tried to shove the door closed but it was stuck. He punched the roof out of frustration.
“Up up up up!” I yelled, climbing out the window and pushing off the ledge to reach the top of the car.
Its rounded shape made scaling it a struggle, and I almost slipped right down onto the tracks where the rest of the pack had congregated, drooling and yapping. Finally, I managed to swing my leg over it. Remo’s head popped out the window and then his torso. He heaved himself out, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. Just as the massive white Alpha sprang into the carriage, Remo tucked his dangling legs up.
My heart rammed into my ribs again. I was about to set a Neverrian record and become the very first faerie to die of a heart attack.
Latching onto the chimney, I scrambled upright, then offered Remo a hand so he could stand too. I didn’t think the proud fae would take it, but his fingers gripped mine, and with my help, he heaved himself up.
The wolf’s huge head popped out of the window. It snarled and barked. When it realized it couldn’t reach us, it reared up. The carriage started to shake, and Remo, who’d been trying to keep some distance between us, circled his arms around the locomotive’s chimney, sandwiching me between the cool black metal and his overheated hard body. I didn’t push him away, because feeling like a burger patty exponentially diminished my chances of becoming one.
“I hatelupa,” Remo gritted between clenched teeth.
The train shook and rattled so hard I thought the wolf would manage to topple it. When everything else was stuck in this damn town, why did we have to pick the only thing that wasn’t? “You know what I don’t get?”
“No, what don’t you get, Trifecta?”
“Why you helped me get away from the wolves when you clearly hate my guts.”
His hot breaths pulsed against the shell of my ear a half dozen times before he finally answered, “I’ve been trained to protect fae. Even the abominable ones.”
Instead of my temper rising, it was my lips that did. I turned my head slightly, just enough for him to detect my mocking smile. “Is that why?”
His pupils spread, devouring their green backdrops. It hit me then that his eyes weren’t gold anymore. This world had stolen hislucionagamagic just like it had stolen mydiverseone.
I was about to say something about it in case he hadn’t realized he couldn’t transform into a firefly, when he asked, “Did you think I cared about you?”
“Cared about me?” I laughed, my chest shaking even though the carriage no longer did. “Oh no, Remo Farrow.” My hilarity petered out as swiftly as it had struck, and I leveled a hard dry look on the faerie guard. “I assumed you cared about my crown, and it sitting on top of your head someday.”
His lash line dipped, obscuring his eyes. “I don’t give a shit about your crown.”
Liar,I thought. “Then why did you agree to marry me?”
“To make my grandfather happy.”
“Aw. Aren’t you the sweetest?” My syrupy voice made him scowl. “You think you’ll ever start thinking for yourself, or will you always let your grandfather and mother dictate your opinions and steer your life?”
The vein in his temple, the one under his birthmark, throbbed. “I should’ve let you get mauled.”
Gratitude that he didn’t abated my virulence. I gave him a close-lipped smile before directing my attention toward the tracks. “I think they’re gone.”
Remo peered over my head, twisting it to the right and then to the left. Slowly, he peeled his body off mine but kept one palm on the chimney for support.
“I think you’re right, but considering they’re smart as fuck, they probably haven’t strayed too far. Did I mention how much I hatelupa?”
“A few times.” I wrinkled my nose. “I’ve decided I’m no longer a fan. At least, not of the Frontier Land breed.”
He snorted.
