“What are we doing?” he panted.
“Running!”
It seemed good enough for him. Arthur stumbled down the street beside her. Adrenaline pumped through Eva. There was nowhere to hide. The only reason they’d gotten this far was the lateness of the hour, but even this late on a Saturday night there were usually a few stragglers in the streets, leaving Dawson’s Bar on wobbly feet.
Fear slithered up her body. They had to hide!
Arthur tugged her hand, pulling them into a narrow alley wedgedbetween two worn-out buildings. Eva wanted to protest. They didn’t have time to stop, time to think!
“Breathe,” Arthur demanded. He walked her deeper into the shadows, looking every bit the fugitive she’d just made them both into. Dirt-smudged. Guilty. Panicked.
Well, maybe not as panicked as her. Eva pulled the end of her braid, every breath coming faster, harder,faster,harder.
“Arthur,” she whispered in disbelief. “I think I just broke you out of jail.”
To her surprise, he laughed—a short, humorless sound. “You sure did, bee girl.”
What had she been thinking? Eva’s chest fluttered, and dark spots constellated her vision. She wanted to be angry with him, not whatever this was. Her insides buzzed with furious and protective feelings as her gaze landed on the cut on his eyebrow again.
They hadn’t even cleaned it.
Eva felt a little faint, the rush of the jailbreak crowding into her thoughts. She didn’t know what to do next, hadn’t thought this through. She didn’t break rules.
“Ev?”
Shouts came from somewhere down the street. People were flocking to the jail, people who soon would be looking for them. For her.
She couldn’t breathe.
“Ev.” Arthur’s voice came as though from underwater. Eva blinked fast but failed to bring him into focus. “Ev, I think you’re having a panic attack.”
She couldn’t get enough air. It hurt to try.
“Shh.” Arthur gingerly cupped the back of her head and held her to his chest. His voice was an anchor she didn’t expect. An oldtether. It pulled at something deep inside her that Eva wanted to keep buried. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Be here. Be now.
Arthur’s thumb skated over the back of her skull. “Take a breath with me?”
Together, they inhaled. They exhaled.
“Remember the storm clouds,” Arthur whispered, turning his face into her hair. “The rain comes and goes, but you,youare the whole sky, Ev.”
Eva couldn’t believe he remembered her telling him that.
They had to go. Eva felt the pressure of impending consequences, but Arthur didn’t hurry. With every exhale, his breath warmed the skin behind her ear. As Eva’s panic eased away, she became more and more aware of how wrong his delicate touch was. They weren’t like this anymore. They weren’t anything close to okay, much less… tender.
She sucked in a hard breath and stepped out of his embrace. If Arthur was affected by the distance she put between them, he didn’t show it on his face. “Tell me again what you saw that night.”
She had to help Dad, before it was too late.
Arthur’s eyes flicked down the alley. “Now?”
Eva jerked a nod. They didn’t have time to waste. Arthur had to get away from these mountains, and as far from Audrey as he could. But she couldn’t let him go until she knew what he’d witnessed. “Tell me.”
Arthur pursed his lips. “I think his tree started growing that night.”
Eva sucked in a breath.
