Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
With clammy hands, I unfolded the paper and glanced down at the address. It was the name of a bar in Las Vegas. “A bar?”
“Yeah. Your mother works there.” Alec stared at a point above my head.
I wondered if I’d ever manage to turn my face into a mask void of emotion. He’d perfected the art. But I’d glimpsed behind the mask, through the cracks of his strong appearance. I knew that hadn’t all been fake.
“How did you find this? Did she stay in contact with the FEA?”
Alec smiled bitterly. “No. I knew the bar. It’s a place I’ve been before. I thought I might find someone there who could help me find your mother. I didn’t think I’d find her there, but I did.”
“What kind of bar is this?” Devon asked.
Alec’s eyes swiveled to him and his stoic mask slipped into one of anger and suspicion.
“A bar for our kind,” Alec said, then he met my eyes. “It’s not run by the FEA. The people who go there have no business with the FEA, no alliance to any organization. This is an underground scene that doesn’t choose sides.”
So they weren’t Abel’s Army either. But if Alec knew about the bar, there was a good chance that Major or Abel had figured it out too, and that they had spies there. But I had no choice. This was my only lead and the only way to get to my mother.
“Major will kill you for this,” I said.
“Do you really think I still care?” His voice was hollow.
I hesitated as I watched his face. I said my final goodbye in my head. It would have hurt me too much to say it out loud. I turned around and stalked back to the car.
“Get in,” I told Devon.
I didn’t have the strength to spare that last glance. I climbed into the truck, started the engine, and backed up from the limousine until I had enough room to maneuver onto the street. I hit the accelerator, and in passing, my eyes were drawn to the rearview mirror, to Alec and the way he was frozen in place, his gaze on me. I knew that look in his eyes would haunt me for a long time, but even so, there was no going back.
“Are you okay? Maybe I should drive?” Devon said carefully.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, hating how the tears trailing over my cheeks betrayed me.
“Do you want to drive all the way to Las Vegas? That’ll take an entire day.”
“We don’t have another choice. We can’t take a plane. Major will know if we check in anywhere or board a plane. And it’ll take too long to organize a fake ID for you. I could always just steal one and turn into the person I’ve stolen it from, but you can’t.” I didn’t mean to sound so reproachful. I was glad for Devon’s company, but I was making him sound like a liability. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“No, you’re right. Would you rather go on without me?”
“No!” I said hastily. “Please stay.”
Devon just nodded. “If we take turns driving, we can take turns resting while the other one drives, and we’ll be faster. “
“That’s a good idea,” I said, casually wiping my eyes with the hem of my sweater.
Devon looked thoughtful for a moment. “I need to call my parents. They’ll be worried sick by now. And Major has probably told them even more lies.”
“We’ll have to fuel up anyway. Once we’ve brought some distance between us and Detroit.” And Alec, I added in my head. “… we’ll look for a rest stop. I think we both could use something to eat and a few minutes to take a rest after everything that’s happened today.” I glanced at his blood-covered sweatshirt. “And you need to change. You can’t walk around looking like that.”
When we finally pulled into a rest stop, my back and legs ached from driving, but at least I’d calmed down. And as long as I kept Alec’s face from popping up in my mind , it would hopefully stay that way.
“I’ll get you a new shirt,” I told Devon as I jumped out and walked around to the truck bed where the bags with our clothes were stored. I snatched up the first sweater my fingers brushed and gave it to Devon before I positioned myself in front of the passenger window so the people mingling about in the parking lot wouldn’t see him change. As he pulled the sweatshirt over his head, my eyes were drawn to his shoulder and the now unblemished skin.
After Devon had put on the new shirt, we filled the tank with gas before parking at the end of the parking lot, far away from curious eyes. Devon went to the public phone to call his parents, and I watched how his shoulders slumped after a while. He shook his head.