“I think you’ve gotten worse at driving—and the car’s even sentient!”
I grimace as I jerk the car to the left to avoid a jaywalking pixie. We’re not far from the bunker at this point, so I’d think she would stop teasing me about my driving. I’m not even that bad. “I’d like to see you do better.”
I feel her eyes on me, and I grow hot as I sense a string of words rising from within her. I could sit in your lap and show you just how well I can drive.
My brain fuzzes and I catch myself before I hit a curb, clearing my throat.
She busts out laughing, the atmosphere up-ticking with crackling, nervous energy as pink dusts her cheeks. “I’m kidding. Don’t get too excited. Gotta put a ring on it before you see anything like that.”
My skin is on fire and I can’t get my pulse to slow. “What? What are you…?” I shake my head, barely hearing how loud her heart’s beating over my own. “What do you take me for, some kind of animal?”
She chuckles, that teasy persona inside her fighting to be released. “Admit it, you think I’m the cat’s meow.”
I lift my eyebrow.
“The dog’s bow-wow. The butter to your… biscuits, I don’t know.”
I stifle a chuckle and hide my smirk with my hand.
“But you told me you needed me.” She turns to the window and crosses her arms, and I notice a flush to her ears. “You forgave me, and protected me, and you’ve done so much for me. I would think we’re best friends forever, but…”
The world grows uncomfortably warm as the topic we’ve brought up and avoided so many times arrives once more.
Emerald stares back at me suddenly, as I realize I was staring before I return my attention to the street.
“I don’t believe you and I were meant to be just friends.” She leans in closer as we come to a red light, and I can’t help myself when I turn to face her.
“You say a lot of stuff like that.” My voice comes out huskier than expected and is like a whisper over the quiet music and the hum of Vaporface. “Like you believe God orchestrated all of this.”
A soft smile appears on her lips. “And what if it was? What if we were meant to cross paths and walk together for the rest of our lives?”
My heartrate spikes further at her words. “And what about free will? Don’t you believe in that?”
“I do,” she whispers, her voice mirroring mine, and her face so, so close to mine. “I believe they work hand-in-hand. We choose from several paths laid out before us, and the ones we chose led here. You could have never jumped in that ring. You could have walked away with your friends and ended up with Cayla and had a normal zombie life. But you didn’t. And here we are.”
She holds my gaze.
“I…”
She smirks and brushes her knuckles against my jaw, her touch sending a wave of longing for more through me. Unintentionally, I find myself leaning into it before straightening.
“It’s okay,” she whispers, dropping her hand as wonder dapples her irises. “One day you’ll drop that wall and you won’t be afraid of vulnerability, and I’ll be on the other side, waiting to embrace you.”
She leans back in her seat, a gloss of disappointment across her features. She drops her eyes, and, with the ghost of a grin, she says, “The light’s green.”
I rocket back to earth and press the gas pedal when a car behind me honks. I loosen my tight grip around the wheel as thoughts knead my brain into mush.
Mikey says nothing else, and she doesn’t touch me at all, waiting for me to meet her in the middle.
But…
Something’s holding me back.
And I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to meet her there.
Wood explodes against the wall as the chair impacts, fury heating Rick’s bunker a thousand degrees.
I’ve never seen him lose it like this.
I cross my arms and tap my thumb against my chin in thought.. Ein was his best friend, right? And everything with Aurora… I don’t know how he held in all of his anger for this long.
Maverick’s hair is as wild as his eyes, both the new and old recruits keeping their distance from the old vamp. He’d recently returned from the bunker at one of the moving shelters, tucking away the last of the Mindless in our area. It’s been a long day of searching; even Sonny helped us. He’s all out of energy and is passed out in one of the spare bedrooms. His teleportation magic was so much help, considering.
I have to say something, Mikey tells me, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she keeps the tears welling on her lashes from falling.
Maverick straightens his back as his claws retract. He was doing fine when he came in, but the moment I mentioned Aurora and what I saw in New Olympus, he erupted like a volcano.
He releases a large breath and turns back to us. Mikey takes a hesitant step forward, and I swear I see her knees trembling.
“Mav…”
Maverick runs a shaking hand over his pale face, his gaze distant. “Sorry,” he says loud enough for the room to hear. It’s deathly silent. When I first met Maverick, I thought he was the last person capable of violence. But now that his history is being peeled back layer by layer… I can’t see him any other way. He’s been putting on a show for everyone, including himself, it seems. He’s been hiding from his sins and now he’s having to atone. He seems to be spiraling, losing grip of reality and the life he’s built for himself. It’s like he’s been thrust into another era, slipping into the familiarity of the past instead of the uncertainty of the future.
I wonder if Ein knew the real him, or if they both exposed simply what was necessary.
He clenches his jaw, like he wants to say something. Could he be holding back because he feels like this is his fight, not ours? Does he not want to get Mikey involved, the girl he sees as a daughter?
Does he see us as children?
He turns to look over his shoulder. Down a hallway is a collection of rooms with various beds and supplies. Ari’s been comatose in one of them, taking up most of Maverick’s time. He doesn’t hover around either of us anymore, and I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t admit to never leaving Mikey’s side if she was in the same predicament, but I can’t deny it. After all… we haven’t even talked about what’s happened between us.
“I’m gonna go check on Ari,” he breathes, that Scottish accent appearing once more as he ducks beneath the façade. “I’ll clean this up later.”
He turns on his heel with a brisk wave and disappears, heading toward Ari’s room. Mikey makes a move to follow him.
“Go,” I say, sensing all attention on us as whispers and chatter grow around the room. Mikey gives me one last glance and a squeeze to my fingers before rushing after him.
I turn to face the crowd, anxiety suddenly filling my veins. It takes me a moment to ground myself.
“Everything’s okay,” I say, lifting my hands. “It’s been… an insane few days.”
They begin to disperse. I spot Cayla toward the back of the room, looking like a wounded animal as she watches me. I huff and turn away, bending down to start picking up the splinters.
“Your future father-in-law seems agitated.”
Raquel bends down and starts gathering remnants of the chair.
I let out a quiet bark of a laugh. “What?”
She gives a playful smirk as she grabs a leg. Ever since Mikey’s sudden death, she’s really seemed to soften, and I’m not sure if that’s for my sake or because her death really got to her. But she never really liked Mikey in the first place, so who knows?
“Nothing. You went to New Olympus?”
“On accident,” I respond, side-stepping what she’d said, even though it’s like a snag in a sweater as it echoes along the caverns of my brain. “Aurora was there.”
“Yeah, I heard that,” she sighs, climbing to her feet as she grabs the last splinter. I follow suit. “What do you think that means? Should we stop letting her be a part of this?”
I shrug, not wanting to flat out admit I’ve lost all trust in her. “She’s been a big help, but I wonder if she had other motives for getting us into Paws and Claws’ system. If she was a part of Mount Rook, why wouldn’t she already have it at her disposal? Unless she was trying to convince us she wasn’t, or Paws and Claws is operating separately from Mount Rook and she’s been tasked to keep them in line…” I purse my lips as I drop the pieces of chair into a pile next to some two-by-fours. “I’m sure there are a thousand explanations good or bad that I could come up with, but I’m not going to over-analyze it. Not right now at least. But we should probably keep our distance.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” she replies, letting her wood collide into mine. “I don’t trust anything artificial.”
I give a slow nod, losing myself in my thoughts.
“Have you spoken to that girl lately? What was her name, Cayla?” Raquel says, pulling me out.
“No, why?” I ask, instinctively glancing at Cayla across the way. She diverts her eyes and focuses on the straw she’s been nervously playing with.
“She’s had this look on her face like she wants to talk to you.” Raquel crosses her arms over her chest. “What’d she do to you?”
“Nothing,” is my automated response.
Raquel snorts. “Yeah right. I’ve treated you like garbage and you still give me the time of day. And who could forget what Mikey’s done to you, yet you’re so deeply in love with her, it’s sickening.”
She makes a face as heat explodes under my skin and I choke on my inhale. “I’m not—”
“Don’t deny it, I won’t believe you,” she says with a wave of her hand, cutting me off. “So what did she do?”
“Have you said anything to her?”
Raquel shakes her head. “Nah. I get the feeling I’ll hate her.” She pauses, watching me. “So spill the beans.”
I squint suspiciously. “Why have you been so nice to me lately? Ever since Mikey—”
“Because I finally understood what you were doing for the people I call family,” she interrupts. There’s a softness to her features I’ve never seen before—or at least not pointed in my direction. “You were saving your prey. You threw away everything you knew to help us.”
“I did what I could to survive.”
She grows quiet, chewing on my words. “I know. I know you weren’t at peace with how you were helping the world change, and that’s why I was so upset with you. But you still did it. And seeing Rick become a Bleeder again… I don’t know. It’s like it’s what he’s meant to be. I’ve never seen him so happy.” She shifts, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “And then Mikey was gone and I saw the grief on your face…”
Her nose scrunches as she drifts off, tensing her shoulders as she struggles to say more.
“I don’t know. All I know is you were hurting and the only person in the world who has ever offered to go to the ends of the world and back for you was gone, someone who I thought would be around to annoy the universe. Maverick was still around, but he looked at you like a project or something and I… well, I pitied you. And I may have had a small crush on you in the past, but that’s long gone, and I see you as a friend.” She adds the last part quickly before huffing out a long breath. “So I thought I’d give you a chance. And I’m glad I did.”
She reaches out and pats my back like an old friend. Everyone seems so sentimental lately… does that mean we’re reaching the end of this journey?
A comfortable silence stretches between us as I process her words. She hated me because my assistance wasn’t selfless but pitied me when she realized I was more than a shell. And she liked me at one point?
“So?”
I make a noise to question Raquel as I drift away mentally.
“The chick?”
I take a soft, deep breath. “She’s the one who turned me in to the authorities.”
Raquel winces, her inhale like a hiss. “Yikes. That’s her? Why is she here, then?”
“Because she used to be my best friend and I swore I was in love with her at one point.” I rock on my feet and turn to face away from Cayla. “I turned her human on accident and abandoned her out of guilt. She then, in a series of emotional events, slapped me, manipulated me, and kissed me. Long story short, she’s here because I don’t want to abandon anyone ever again.”
Raquel lifts her eyebrows and scratches her ear as she hides an amazed smirk. “Wow. I’m surprised she’s still breathing, with how protective Mikey is over you.”
“I’m not sure Mikey knows.”
Raquel’s cheeks expand like a chipmunk’s before she makes a popping sound with her lips. “She does now.”
I follow her gaze to the hallway as my pulse spikes. Mikey bores holes into us before turning to look at Cayla. Danger shifts in the air around her, and she clenches her fists. Her breath hitches and her jaw clenches.
Her eyes snap back to me as her blood comes to a simmer.
Come here, she says, and suddenly I’ve never been so afraid of this five-foot-four girl.