“I don’t wanna.” I whine, all my senses on edge and now I’m the one freaking out with the insane animal behavior that almost made us crash.
“You come all this way to chicken out now? What kind of Luna are you?” Carmen smirks at me, seemingly much braver than I am, and throws the wheel to the right as she puts the pedal to the gas again, pushing us on to follow the dirt track. We start to bounce and sway over the uneven terrain as she crawls us slowly and the truck groans and crunches in protest at having to mount grass. She slows right down as we inch onto the overgrown road that might not be all that great for a heavy slow truck with crap suspension.
“It’s okay. We’re safe in here, remember. The rune symbols!” Meadow tries to ease my worry, catching my hand in hers and squeezing it reassuringly as I reach out and catch hold of the dash to steady myself, while I blanche at her.
“It’s HER spell, she wrote it! … I’m sure it doesn’t do shit when it’s up against her.” I point out sternly, fear lacing my tone with hostility, and even Carmen gawps at me this time. Her eyes widening before she moves to that familiar eye roll and exhales haughtily.
“For the love of god. Who arms themselves with magical safety nets that were sewn together by the person they are about to drop in on and might not be happy about it? … We do, that’s who. Masters of intelligence here! Why did I ever agree to this?” She scoffs, snorting at how stupid this plan seems to be as she slows down further to hit rough and rocky road under the overgrown grass, and the truck starts swaying so wildly that it’s impossible to hold on. Getting harder to inch forward at all as the wheels catch in ditches and spin before kicking us back out amid a spray of flying mud.
“I don’t want to be the one to say this but…” Carmen starts and Meadow finishes
“We have to go by foot. We can’t risk the truck getting stuck here. We have to go back at some point, so we need this.”
“Really?” I spin on her and raise my palms in shocked panic, my voice three decibels higher as my heart suffers a spasm of crazy beats. “Why can’t we go find a place to wait out the night. It’s getting dark! Who knows how far down this path we have to trek and then still find her and get back again? This doesn’t seem smart or brave, or needed…. or something Colton would ever approve of!” I practically wail it at her. I know I’m the Luna, but with all things tactical, then Meadow is the one I trust most to decide on a course of action. Colton made her his beta for a reason, but seriously though, right now, I wonder about the sanity of this Chica. I may have once killed a bear and trekked alone for weeks, but that was before I became tired, pampered, and scared of fog spells and lurking witches! Plus, I was always overly cautious!
“We can hyper speed, get as far as we can and if it looks like the birds are taking us further and it’s getting dark, we come back and call it off until morning. It’s not like we’re incapable of holding off a vamp or two. We are bad ass bitches, Chica. We can hold our own for a short stretch of running.” Meadow seems amused by my reluctance, talking to me as though I’m her child and continues to squeeze my hand as though coaxing a toddler. I glare at her and try so hard to remind myself that I am the one who’s meant to be in charge here. Braver, fiercer, and I need to stop wussing out.
“Ughhhhh, can we just go. Sitting here isn’t doing anything!” It’s Carmen this time, also looking at me like she’s disappointed in my fear, and I screw my eyes shut to calm my racing heart and nod.
“Okay…. But if it feels wrong, or it gets too dark…” I plead and Meadow nods before I finish my whispering, shaky demands.
“I know, okay. I don’t plan on being reckless. I plan on us getting home in one piece to break that damn curse. Stay alert. If it feels wrong, we come back. I promised Cole I would always protect you and I don’t plan on letting him down.” The softness in her eyes, the appearance of mist adding shine as emotion makes her voice tremble, almost ends me. My heart swelling with the mention of him and the genuine love I see in her face.
“Right. I’ll go first. It’s not like I have anything to go home for.” Carmen jumps out without hesitation, not waiting for my permission, like it even matters, and we follow using our own door. I feel like I’m dragging a dead weight after sitting for so many hours, and my apprehension isn’t exactly making me limber on my feet.
Meadow locks the truck with the keys Carmen hands off and we turn and stare at the trees where the birds seem to be patiently waiting on us. It’s unnerving and they are all quietly staring this way, all forty of them. Like miniature models of fake birds, with that one larger, especially jet black one, in the center and looking like maybe he’s the leader of the bird crew. That little asshole who scared us half to death. I have my eye on that one for sure.
“You ever seen that movie, Birds?” Carmen asks flippantly, before swiping up a long blade of grass and wandering ahead first as though this is a casual ramble in the woods between friends. She picks out a path to lead and we shift and walk behind her, intrigued by this sudden pop quiz of movies.
“No, what happens?” I ask innocently, aware Meadow is right behind me as we walk in a line and she’s checking behind us every few steps, on high alert and watching for any possible danger.
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