Dire(27)
“That’s not true.” He moved our hands to my leg. “You’re right here with me.”
I shook my head. “No. I’m not. How can I make you understand that?”
“You like the name Firefly. You fill me with such intense feelings it’s hard to breathe sometimes, and we have a connection. We have the connection.”
“The connection?” I glanced out at the dimly lit road. There was still snow piled up on the sides.
“Yeah. Can’t you feel it?”
“No.” I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about.
“You will.” He glanced in his rearview mirror.
“If you say so.”
Chapter Ten
Hunter
Leaving at four a.m. wasn’t ideal, but at least we’d gotten moving before trouble came. I didn’t mind driving in the dark, and it was even better with Mary Anne curled up in the seat next to me. She seemed so content and comfortable in my presence¸ exactly the way it needed to be.
“Hunter?” She said my name softly.
“Yes?”
“Are you the one making me sleepy?”
“Making you sleepy?”
“I feel like I went from wide awake to tired out of nowhere. You don’t have any weird powers like that, do you?”
“What do you think?” I could play around with her even though I was doing absolutely nothing.
“I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like I don’t know which way is up anymore.” She closed her eyes again, and eventually her breathing evened out.
After I was sure she was sleeping, and I wouldn’t wake her up, I placed a call to Chet. We hadn’t had a chance to talk much about our plan, and I knew it was always better to be prepared.
Chet answered right away. “Having fun?”
“I do have good company.”
He laughed. “I bet. What’s the plan? Where are we stopping?”
“I need to get some documents from Isaac and Jocelyn in Chattanooga.”
“Ok. We stop there then.”
“You up for another stretch?”
“I’m up for whatever, boss.” His words sounded off. He was hiding something.
“What aren’t you saying?”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“Yes.” He was horrible at hiding his true feelings.
“The kid did what we all wanted to do.”
“He was sloppy. We weren’t going to have to move for another few months.”
“And a few months would have changed things?” His skepticism was clear in his voice.
“He could have exposed us all.”
“But he didn’t. And he got the leader. Jerry’s gone.”
“We have to keep him in line.” Even I had to admit I was impressed with how easily Gage had taken her out. Jerry was powerful, and he was completely untrained.
“I agree.”
“How is he? Do you think he’s going to shift again?” I wished I had more experience dealing with new Dires. I only had one other example to compare him with, and that guy had taken months to settle down.
“No. He’s calm.”
“I want Marni to stay with him around the clock. She keeps him calm.”
Chet mumbled something unintelligible.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. We’ll stop in Chattanooga.”
Chet knew when to push things and when to listen. “Relay that to Semi.”
“I will. Don’t enjoy your company too much.”
“She’s sleeping.”
“You getting her to save her energy for later?” he laughed.
“Something like that. She just doesn’t know it yet.” I was most able to joke with Chet. He was my second in command for a reason. He’d be a good leader if the time came that he needed to be one.
“Talk to you later.” He hung up.
I replaced my phone in my pocket and focused on the sleeping girl beside me. Maybe she didn’t remember anything from the dreams, but it was her. I knew it in every grain of my body, and whether she understood it consciously or not, she knew it too.
Chapter Eleven
Gage
The drive was monotonous. I sat in the backseat of the SUV, stuck in the middle between Marni and some guy I’d never met before. He hadn’t even looked at me yet, and I wasn’t too keen on starting a conversation either. Instead I put my head back and took a nap. My dreams were hazy and full of violence. Screams, fire, and blood all swirled together until I woke up, relieved that at least for the time being things were calm.
“What were you dreaming about?” Marni asked when I opened my eyes.
“Nothing worth repeating.”
“You were mumbling in your sleep.”
“Oh yeah? What was I mumbling?”