Seconds pass, though they fill the space with silence, as if hours have gone by.
“You can talk to me about it—it might be better to let it out–”
“I said I’m fine, Ezra!” Conin seethes.
“Okay,” I say and zip my mouth shut.
The only lights we can see are the Chrysler’s, limiting our view ahead. The rest of the world around us is draped with the light of the moon enshrouded by stubborn clouds. A maintenance icon flashes on the car’s dashboard. I ignore it and maintain a steady 80 miles per hour. The interstate remains relatively isolated and scarce. My heart leaps every time a vehicle passes, or a pair of headlights warns us of their presence.
“Sorry,” Conin says.
“Don’t be sorry,” I whisper. “This situation is fucked. I’m so sorry you had to leave your mom behind.”
He didn’t need to apologize. Better not to rehash our argument from earlier, so I keep to myself.
“She’ll be okay,” he says, more to himself than to me. He wants to believe this. I do as well.
“We should try to make as much distance as we can. Who knows if anyone else is following,” Conin mentions.
I nod and check the rearview mirror. Headlights from a vehicle, probably miles away, blink back. I press on the acceleration, barreling us into the unknown.
Chapter 18
Callum
Callum’s consciousness pieced itself together little by little. His back and shoulder blades ached tremendously, and the skin of his hands was inflamed, cuts and scrapes oozing coagulated blood. He blinked death from his eyelids and opened them to a searing pain that made him want to close them right back up. Callum forced his eyes wide open. When he did, he was met by two pairs of boots on the dimly lit asphalt.
“The disappointment awakens,” came the voice of a woman he vaguely recognized.
The second set of boots rushed forward while Callum recoiled from the blow that was likely to follow. Instead, he was hoisted up and slammed against the glass window of the bus stop. The air was knocked right out of Callum, who had already been struggling to breathe since he awakened from the hellish nightmare he was forced into by those damned kids. He blinked and found the face of his younger brother glaring back.
“I’m always picking up after you,” Levi said vehemently. Callum didn’t like his brother. He didn’t like his brother at all. He loathed him with a fiery passion that could rival Levi’s fire abilities.
“Where’d the boys go?” Mara asked Callum, but Callum didn’t want to listen to her either.
“They got away,” he rebutted sarcastically.
“No shit, Sherlock. Levi, kick some sense into your older brother.”
Levi must’ve rearranged some organs with the aftershock his kick left roiling in Callum’s stomach. He bunched over and spit phlegm into the grass. On second thought, he hated them both.
“Remember now?”
“Of course, I don’t, bitch!”
Another swift kick to Callum’s midsection knocked every last dreg of air from his system.
“Do not . . . talk to her that way. Do you hear me, Cal?”
He nodded if only to get Levi off his back long enough for him to collect himself. Levi stood, ignoring Callum in favor of a silent discussion with Mara. Callum desperately wanted the night to end, so he glared disdainfully at the asphalt and didn’t utter another word.
“My guess is they’re heading for the Nevada border now that they think they’ve outsmarted us. I’ll start moving that way. You take this pathetic bastard home,” Mara said. Her boots stomped away.
Callum was lifted once again and shoved into the backseat of the car. Levi slammed the door shut and rounded his vehicle to the driver’s side. Callum didn’t want to face Angela’s wrath, but he was too tired and too defeated to make himself care what punishment was sure to follow his failure tonight. The car’s ignition roared to life, and they pulled out of the desolateparking lot. When the vehicle hit a particularly large bump in the road, something big and cold was tossed Callum’s way.
He craned his neck to find what had shifted on him and saw Tommy’s unconscious body sag next to his. He shoved the boy away in disgust. Tommy’s head smacked the glass and slumped down, folding over his chest. Levi laughed from the front seat, delighted in Callum’s displeasure.
“Don’t damage the merchandise,” he chuckled.
