Page 156 of Veil of Blood and Bone

I turn to Audra with a tight grin. “I asked you, didn't I? There’s always a choice.”

“Mom never gave us one.”

Neither did life.

"She sure did. It was prepare or perish," I correct.

"How did it work out for her?"

I hesitate. "Let's not do this now."

We'll wait until we're anywhere but Nightshade Hollow, with its proximity to Salem and Boston. With its grunting and groaning town council determined to put our slice of purgatory on the map.

With our myths and legends walking around on two legs. With runes dropping warnings like wisdom and strange power outages every other day.

“Did you even tell them?” she presses. “Did you tell them where we’re going?”

A deep, yawning canyon opens up inside me. “Absolutely not. And you better not have left them a note.”

“You didn’t give me enough time to leave a anything, not even a thank you,” she says. "They helped get me through my seizure. And we left all those books behind! Hel..."

“You get it, right? You understand.”

Audra smacks me in the boob with the gall to chuckle. Which isn’t fair. Boobs shots are not technically below the belt but metaphorically speaking— “Explain it to me, anyway.”

I frown. “It’s not my life I’m risking, getting involved with them. It’s not about me.”

“Don’t try to pin this on me, Helene.” Her elbow jabs me in the ribs now. “This isn’t something we can escape from. Running never solved anything for us before.”

“I refuse to risk you, kid. You don’t know how awful it was to watch those things take over and talk through your mouth.”

Audra has always been small for her age, even before the official diagnosis was handed down from a team of doctors wearing lab coats and superiority.

Multiple Sclerosis.

There's no way to fix her, to let her be anything other than damaged beauty, a ruined rose. Capable but tragic in the way most heroines from fairy tales can be.

“So you’re ready to run from your destiny?” she throws out.

Her lip pokes out with enough melodrama my frown borders on grimace.

The windshield wipers slap back and forth in a steady rhythm and smear moisture across the glass. I tighten my grip when the bald tires threaten to turn the road into an Olympic ice skating rink.

“I’m ready to do whatever it takes to protect you the way I always have. We’ve built our life on the premise of not looking for trouble,” I say. “That’s what we’ve sworn to do. We keep our heads down, and we take it day by day.”

“What they’re talking about is too important to run from.”

Does she remember? I glance at Audra, and a cloud of silence hangs heavy between us. It doesn't matter whether she remembers the fate weaver's words or not. What matters is fulfilling my promise, the one I made to her and the one I kept to myself.

Yes, I'd always be there for her. Yes, I'd go to extra martial arts training, extra hours at whatever archery range Mom found in whatever town we crawled into, and I'd wear a smile on my face.

As long as I'm strong, Audra has a shot at whatever life she wants.

“I made a promise to keep you safe, kid.” My voice shakes.

She studies me for a moment before shaking her head. "You don't have to worry about me.”

“Yes, I do. It is literally my job,” I say.