All so Dara could get some fresh fucking air. Goddamnit.
There was a short line of rental cars parked along the intersection of Main and Market Street; Noam chose the cheapest one, not even driverless, and fed cash into the machine—enough to pay for two hours, just in case. The car beeped benevolently as it unlocked.
“Get in,” Noam said, telekinesis tugging open the passenger-side door.
“I’d rather walk,” Dara said, still standing there on the sidewalk with both arms hugged around his narrow waist, weight shifting from foot to foot.
“I don’t care. Get in the fucking car.”
At least Dara looked somewhat contrite as he obeyed. When Noam got into the driver’s seat, Dara was rubbing his thumb against the fake leather upholstery beneath him like he’d never seen anything like it. He probably hadn’t.
“I couldn’t stand being in that apartment any longer,” Dara said quietly as Noam hit the button on the ignition and put the car in reverse. Noam could sense Dara’s gaze on the side of his face; he kept his own attention fixed on the rearview camera as he pulled out of the parking space. “It’s—you don’t understand what it’s like.”
“I grew up in a tenement apartment half the size of your old bedroom at Lehrer’s place,” Noam said. “So yeah, actually, I do.”
“At least you couldleave,” Dara insisted. “You weren’t locked up there. You could see people, you could—”
He broke off and went silent, presumably having seen the way Noam’s grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“We’re going back to your apartment,” Noam said in a low voice, switching the car into drive and starting off down the street, although he didn’t make it far before the light at the upcoming intersection switched to red. “And you willstay there, if I have to lock you in myself.”
He understood. Of course he did. Dara had spent days locked up in Lehrer’s apartment under suppressants—it couldn’t be easy to stay in that tiny claustrophobic room after something like that. But didn’t Dara get it? Coming out here like this ... he was gonna get himself shot. He was gonna get himself killed for real, and Noam—Noam couldn’t handle losing Dara a second time.
And goddamn it, his gun was digging into the small of his back, the grip twisted just enough to grind against Noam’s pelvis; he shifted in his seat, which only made it worse. Finally he swore under his breath and reached back, pulling the Beretta free and setting it on the center console between their seats.
“Why do you have a gun?”
Dara’s voice had gone tight. Noam glanced over, meeting his gaze—Dara had one hand braced against the dashboard, twisted fully around in his seat. The remorse of a moment ago was gone, replaced by flashing eyes and a thinned mouth.
“Buckle your seat belt,” Noam said.
“Why thefuckdo you have a gun, Álvaro?”
Noam inhaled a long breath, one meant to steady his anger. It had the opposite effect. And when he exhaled, all that frustration burst out of him with it.
“Because I have to kill that man,” Noam snapped at last, jerking around to face Dara properly. “Because I have to get those schematics for Claire, and I had to tell Lehrer what I was doing so he thinks I’m still honest. But now Lehrer wants them too. AndLehrerwants me to kill the Texan while I’m at it—so I have to, if I don’t want to fuck myself over. Only thenyoushow up, because of fucking course. And now I’ve lost track of the guy I’m supposed to be shooting. It’ll take me forever to find him—he might report back. Or he might ditch his phone and I lose him entirely—and then I’ll have to explain that one to Lehrer too. Good job. I hope you’re pleased with yourself.”
Dara stared at him with wide dark eyes, his shoulders rising and falling in quick, shallow rhythm. The light had changed back to green in Noam’s peripheral vision; he turned and pressed down on the gas pedal a little too hard, the car lurching forward into the intersection.
“What side are you even on?” Dara said at last. “You were really going to kill our only Texas contact, just to keep your cover with Lehrer?Really?”
“Yeah. Really.”
The words came out clipped. What else did Dara expect Noam to say? Lehrer would kill Noam if Noam slipped up, even for a second.
And besides, Noam was out of patience for this—for Dara’s complete obliviousness, hisselfishness. Which, really, where did Dara get off moralizing murder? He’d literally stopped the hearts of six people breaking Noam out of Sacha’s Faraday cage. He’d stabbed General Amessixteen times.
Dara somehow managed to hold so much fury against Noam in his heart, so much righteous anger, but the second Noam was angry with him in return, Dara shut down. It wasn’t fair.
Wasn’t fair that Noam had to risk losing Dara over and over again.
“Okay,” Dara said, “then I’ll ask again. Whose side are you on? Because at this point it seems like you’re equally committed.”
Another goddamn red light. Noam hit the brakes just in time, the car jerking to a stop halfway through the pedestrian crosswalk and the gun sliding forward along the console to bump against the gearshift. At least the streets were empty.
“I’m on our side,” he said. “But there’s a lot you don’t know, Dara. Like, do you knowwhyLehrer declared war on Texas?” He glanced sidelong, lifting a brow. “It’s because Texas got their hands on the vaccine. Lehrer figures it’s only a matter of time before they figure out how to weaponize it. It’s one short step from that to releasing biological weapons on Carolinian soil. We’d be left magic-less.”
“Oh, right. I can’t imagine what an abhorrent existence that would be.”
