Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Timothy fully shifted around so he could look back at me, an arrogant smile pulled onto his face. “O ye of little faith. How could you have ever doubted us? Our beautiful Dani here is not the only badass around—our whole crew obviously has mad skills.”
Then he sobered as he glanced between the three of us. “A good fucking team is what we are.”
I caught Aria’s eye as she reached over and threaded her fingers through mine, and she locked sight with Dani through the rearview mirror before she turned her attention to Timothy and gave him a nod of agreement.
“Yeah,” I added. “We’re a good fucking team.”
We had to be.
Because it was one we were staking all our lives upon.
Chapter Forty-One
Aria
We’d been driving for more than five hours.
We’d crossed into Idaho and the scenery had become the most desolate stretch of road that we had traveled since Pax and I had first come together, and we’d spent more hours than I could count driving roads where it felt as if we might be the only ones on them. The houses and small towns that had been sporadically placed along our routes.
The rare cars and trucks we encountered during that time had made it feel as if we’d been secluded from the rest of the world.
Maybe lifted and elevated above it.
For a few moments, given a reprieve from the dangerous force that had tracked us for weeks.
This was an entirely different sensation, though, driving toward the danger we could feel compelling us forward. A danger that grew thicker and more menacing with each mile that passed.
The few moments of levity we’d found when we sped out of Portland had quickly evaporated.
In their place was something ominous.
A foreboding that crowded overhead as the terrain blurred by through the windows we each warily watched from. A river had followed us nearly the entire way, weaving along the side of the highway as we cut through the low range of mountains that appeared more like hills than anything else.
The knolls and rises nearly void of trees.
A landscape of snow-covered fields that had rolled on forever, the same as the heavens seemed to roll overhead. Laden with heavy clouds that hung low from the sky.
For a hundred miles or so outside Portland, the clouds had at least been pale gray, rimmed in fiery whites from the sun, which struggled to shine from behind them.
Though now, that light had lapsed.
The clouds growing denser the farther we got from the city. Every ounce of the sun obstructed as a storm had gathered from every direction, sitting heavy on the horizon.
Amassing as the clouds thickened.
Their bellies bloated and bulging, sending darkness curling over the earth.
Dimming the air in an omen we could taste.
It felt as if my spirit was being crushed by it. Flattened and mangled by the ugly, unbearable weight. Though something within me flailed to break out from under it, urging me toward the destination where we were being called.
I glanced down at my phone, warring before I tapped out another message to my mom. I’d texted her that morning to make sure they were fine and encouraged her to stay inside for the day without giving any real details.
She’d promised they would.
But I still couldn’t settle.
Me: Is everyone inside and safe?
It took a second for a return message to blip through.
Mom: Yeah, we’re all here. Locked inside. Except for your father. I did text him and asked him to lay low as well.
I could feel her love for him amid the wounds my father had carved deep inside her.
Me: That’s good. I’m glad you did. Is it . . .
I hesitated before I finished the thought.
Me: Do things feel normal there?
Mom: I wouldn’t call it normal. We turned on the news. A ton of tragic things are happening. I mean, there always seem to be a ton of horrible things happening. But this is entirely different.
A moment passed before another text came through. I didn’t need to hear her voice to feel her terror.
Mom: What is going on, Aria?
Pax peered my way, his concern patent as I wavered with what to give my mother. I didn’t want to freak her out or scare her unnecessarily. But this was too urgent to tiptoe around. I glanced at him, my chest compressing in the love that I had for them all.
With this hope I couldn’t let go of, no matter how much it felt as if we were traveling toward destruction.
I turned back to my phone, fingers trembling as I gave the only answer I could.
Me: This battle we’ve been fighting has become something greater than any of us have ever known. We are trying to stop it, but I have no idea what is going to happen today. So please be careful. Stay inside for as long as possible. And know how much I love you and I’m fighting for you. For all of you.