“Hey.” I pull back just enough to see her face, demanding her gaze. “Look at me.”
She does.
“I’m your family.”
She makes a sound that’s almost a laugh and also not, and her forehead drops against my shoulder with a heavy sigh. “Yeah. We always were.”
I pull her against me and hold her there, one hand at the back of her head. I don’t soften my hold until her breathing is deep and slow. “You wanna go?”
“We have to.”
Then I look over her shoulder at Jax and Elise. “We’re going back to The District.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
blesk
As we roll over the Brussman Bridge, I’m overwhelmed by its grandeur and height. This city is thriving, rich in wealth and... in gossip. I can see the streets of Moorup from above, streets that look like veins pulsing through skin— it’s a living city. The District.
When we roll into the visitor parking lot at the Trans-Moorup inter-district rail line, we devise a plan.
Elise and I stay in the car while Jaxon and Konnor go inside. They are going to get the lay of the land and then come back to see us before actually opening the locker. I highly doubt my father has managed to organise a kidnapping since speaking with me less than two hours ago. Nevertheless, we are all ready. My fingers search for something, anything, to fidget with as we anxiously wait.
This train station has several floors; the upper floors are for bus transportation and parking, and the lower floors are for trains. The locker could be on any level. Security at city stations of this size is usually second to none... or so I keep telling myself. The words from my father’s letter keep flashing in my mind. ‘It is all yours... You’ve earned it.’
What’s all mine?
Information?
Money? Ugh.
I don’t want his money, neither would Konnor. My mind drifts to him. To Konnor. To our fucked-up bucket list. To healing. I have joined his whirlwind now, and I don’t think I want the storm to end.
“What are you thinking about?”
I tear my gaze away from the window and come face to face with Elise’s sceptical gaze. “I love Konnor,” I blurt out before I even think it. I shrug. “I just had to say that aloud.”
She beams at me. “Good to hear. Tell him you should,” she says, knowingly.How does she know I haven’t?
We both jump to the sound of car doors swinging open. Konnor moves in behind the wheel and Jax slides in the passenger. The energy in the car drops. The boys glance at each other, their silence carrying a message. Guilt. That is the message and it may be silent, but it is not quiet.
What?“What have you two done?” I bounce my eyes between them. “Why are you looking at each other like that?”
“We just got some stuff for you,” Jaxon says, tone feigning indifference. Pulling a Pez out of his back pocket, he hands it to Elise. “I got you Daenerys Mother of Dragons Pez.” His lips curve into smug satisfaction when Elise’s eyes widen. She snatches it from him and holds it to her chest, exhaling slowly.
I don’t get it…“Explain.”
Elise sinks into her chair with the Pez clutched tightly to her heart, a big dopey smile stretching from ear to ear. “I told Jaxon and Konnor last time we went driving that I hadn’t been on a real road trip before. They were horrified. Anyway, there was no Pez when we got petrol, and Jaxon said it’sa must for road trips. So, also, Jaxon and I had lunch a few days ago, and he dared to presume I was girlie?—”
"He didn’t," Konnor cuts in.
Jaxon snorts. “I just said growing up without a masculine presence would have been hard. There is no wonder she is so... I dunno, little and quaint and shit.”
“And shit!” Konnor mocks. Then we all laugh, because Elise isn’t the least bit quaint.
Elise continues, “You did not say that. He said no wonder I was so fragile and girlie. He saidfragile and girlie. I said, having only mothers has made me fiercer than if I’d grown up with a father. Women are crazy protective and extremely resilient. We’ve been silenced for existence, only given a real voice in the last fifty years! I think people forget that. I said, look at what we have accomplished in that time. I told him that he wouldn’t want to see me mad because I am fiery.”
“Oh.” I exhale with realisation. “So he got you a Mother of Dragons Pez. Aw. That’s sweet.”
