“One night, Pax. We’ll be at her dad’s place by morning.”
“You just killed one of Myrddin’s men in a room full of witnesses, and you want to stop for a nap?”
“I want to stop, because if I don’t, I’ll pass out behind the wheel and kill us both, and that feels counterproductive to the whole saving-our-lives thing.”
He sighs. “Cash only. Don’t use your real name. Keep your phone on.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“I’m not joking, Lance.”
“I know.” My voice drops. “Thank you.”
“Your dog says hi.” He hangs up.
I take the next exit off the highway, following signs toward a town I’ve never heard of. The main strip is two blocks long.There’s a gas station, a hardware store that looks like it hasn’t been updated since the seventies, and at the end, tucked behind a row of bare trees, a motel, the Avalon Inn.
It’s exactly the kind of place I need. The kind of place that takes cash and doesn’t ask questions and has a parking lot full enough that no one will notice a truck with Connecticut plates and two people who look like they’ve been through a war.
I pull in and kill the engine.
Genevieve stirs, blinking awake like she’s surfacing from deep water.
“Where are we?” Her voice is thick with sleep, and she rubs her eyes with the heel of her hand.
“Middle of nowhere, Massachusetts.” I nod toward the motel.
She follows my gaze, taking in the faded wood siding, the vacancy sign buzzing in the window, the empty lot.
“Charming,” she murmurs.
“You want charming, or you want invisible?”
“Invisible works.”
I nod and climb out, and she follows, stretching her arms above her head with a groan that does something to me it shouldn’t, given the circumstances. The hem of her hoodie rises up—myhoodie, the one she’s always wearing—exposing a strip of bare stomach, and I step in close before I can think about it. My hands find her waist like it’s second nature.
My thumbs graze that sliver of skin and she grins, eyes flicking up to mine.
“You look good in my clothes, Half-Pint,” I say.
She shifts closer. Tilts her head, running her fingers downthe front of my shirt. “That’s funny, I thought you’d prefer to see me out of it.”
Her hand reaches my waistband, fingers dipping just beneath it, and I suck in a breath.
“That’s true.”
She smiles wide, rising on her toes and pressing a kiss to the bottom of my jaw. “We’ll see how long it stays on, then.”
I catch her wrist before she can pull away. Hold her there, close enough to feel her heartbeat against my chest.
The early-morning light catches in her hair, turning the copper into something that hurts to look at. Her eyes are bright with mischief even though there are shadows under them and blood on her sleeve and we’re standing in a motel parking lot in a town neither of us could find on a map.
I’ve never seen anyone wear chaos so beautifully.
I kiss her forehead and breathe her in.
“You make me happy.”
