Copper Veins(48)

“Seriously, we’ll be fine without you,” I said for the umpteenth time. “Max is here.”

“Are the drugs fully out of your systems?” Jerome countered. It irritated me that he knew our main weakness, but at least he hadn’t told anyone. Well, not that I knew of.

I glanced at Max, who barely shook his head. “As I thought,” Jerome said. “Until you’re up to fighting strength, more protection is better than less.”

I scowled, mostly because he had a point, and stomped over to where Sadie knelt. She was beside a pool, rinsing out the socks and shirt she’d worn the day before. Since Jerome had made it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere, and there was absolutely no way I was getting naked in front of him, I laid flat on my stomach and dunked my head in the pool, swishing my hair back and forth in order to loosen whatever bits of grime I could. If I’d been missing the Clear Pool before, I was positively pining for it now.

After I’d squeezed most of the water from my hair and finger-combed it into something presentable, Max plopped down beside Sadie and me. “What I can’t figure out,” he murmured, “is which of you two Jerome there is desperate to see naked.”

“Maybe he’s waiting on you,” I smirked.

Max leaned back, buffing his knuckles on his shirt. “Can’t blame the man. My looks are legendary.” After Sadie and I stopped laughing, he continued, “Still, best to keep an eye on your boyfriend. I think he’s starting to get the wrong idea.”

I nodded, ignoring the joke Max had made at my expense. I’d been thinking the same thing. “Hopefully, we’ll get to that portal and get back to the Whispering Dell,” I murmured. “I bet Dad’s already there.”

“Or he’s still here, making some disruptions of his own,” Max said as he got to his feet. “Either way, let’s get this job done and move on.”

“Agreed,” Sadie grumbled. “If I don’t find a working shower soon, I might go crazy.” I laughed inwardly—a pissed-off Inheritor was just what we needed.

As we climbed up the slope toward the camp, I spied Aregonda speaking to Lopez. “What do you think of her?” I asked, jerking my chin toward the two.

“More than meets the eye,” Max replied. “My advice—steer clear of that one.”

“Which one?” Jerome asked, falling into step beside me.

“Oh, you know,” I demurred. “How are we getting to this rally? Portal?” I asked hopefully. Mainly because if we had a portal, we could return to the Otherworld and skip this nonsense altogether.

“We have a couple military-grade trucks,” Jerome replied. “We’ll drive in, right under the Peacekeepers’ noses.”

“You gonna drive the truck?” Max asked.

“No, I will,” Aregonda replied for Jerome, falling into step beside us. “Follow me. We’re ready to depart.”

Aregonda reached toward Sadie, who conveniently knelt down to retie her shoe. Aregonda frowned, the creases alongside her mouth deepening when Max also evaded her outstretched hand. There was my answer—Aregonda did work some kind of mojo via touch. I maneuvered myself so Jerome was between her and me, having finally found a good use for the big lunk.

We filed into the back of the truck, and Aregonda drove slowly and carefully toward the rally, so slowly and so carefully that I thought I was going to explode. Would it have killed her to speed up a little? I wanted to get this stupid expedition over with as soon as possible.

“Sis.”

I looked at Max, my raised eyebrows asking him what the heck he wanted. “Check it out,” he murmured. I followed his gaze to his hand, splayed flat against the metal seat. Then the metal wavered, and when he lifted his hand a perfect impression was left behind. I touched a finger to the center of the impression—a moment later, the bench was smooth again.

“Good things,” I whispered, then I looked up at Max and grinned. “Very good things.”

We fell silent and bounced along on our way to the rally. Since the back of the truck was fully enclosed, I had no idea what direction we were traveling in. I only knew that we were going toward Portland, and that Portland had a few static portals that could get me back to the Otherworld and home to Micah.

Eventually we arrived, though if I’d been driving we would have arrived about half an hour earlier. After Aregonda and Jerome had talked their way through a few checkpoints, the truck rolled to a stop, and all us Elementals dutifully filed out of the back. Once I’d climbed down from the bed, I looked around. We were parked in a field, and everyone was filing toward a set of gates, smiling and laughing as if there was a carnival on the other side.