; the first days are so important for the bond.” Meadow pats him on his shoulder and while I completely agree with her, I see no possible way to test it if no one is going to drive it into the fog. Maybe we should rely on me keeping the fog out until we get beyond its perimeter after all, because I don’t want to take any chances at all.
“I’ll do it!” The voice startles me from behind us and we both turn in unison, surprised by the invasive statement, to see Carmen standing there on the gravel in front of the main stairways. She’s watching us with interest and no hint of hesitation on her face at all now she’s fully dressed and out in the sunlight to start a new day. “I can drive out there, to the main entrance, and if the fog gets me and I end up like them, you don’t lose anything except a burden. If it works, then you’ll know.” Deadpan, emotionless tone as she shrugs nonchalantly, and I can sense she really does not care if it puts her in danger.
I open my mouth to argue with her but Meadow cuts in instead and silences me.
“Sacrifice isn’t admirable, nor smart. And we don’t take burdens along for the ride.? If I didn’t think you were worth coming along, you wouldn’t be. Don’t flatter yourself.” It’s harsh even for her but given how they always used to snap at each other, I think it’s the closest to niceness I think she’ll get verbally. Meadow and Carmen had issues long before I came along and looking at the way Carmen stiffens up and that fire of anger shows instantly, I wonder if maybe Meadow knows how to deal with her better than I do.
“Look, it needs tested, you said so! I’ll drive only enough to get the hood into the fog, if it starts leaching in, I’ll reverse. It can’t cross the runes, so it won’t be something that gets to me if I pay attention and keep the wheel behind the runes.” Again, with that shrug of indifference and I squint at her, trying to get a read on her emotional state and still find nothing but emptiness. She isn’t afraid of what’s out there, she doesn’t care about dying it seems. That’s never good.
“Actually, that’s a pretty smart idea, thanks.” Meadow doesn’t wait, she turns and much to my despair, hops into the truck and revs up the engine with every intention of doing it herself before either of us can protest. Carmen blanches and I call out in utter panic, fear gripping my soul as my voice rasps in my throat painfully.
“Meadow, NO! What if it doesn’t work, or you can’t reverse in time?” I raise my hands to use my gifts to haul the truck back or lift its wheels so it can’t progress, but Carmen catches me and tugs them to her instead. Stopping me from interfering and shakes her head at me vigorously, daring to tell ME how to react. I’m too shocked by this bold maneuver to initially react. She just detained her Luna and stopped her from doing what she felt she had to do.
Who gave her the right?
Meadow isn’t listening, instead she crunches gears of the stick shift and moves off before I can do or say anything about it. Stuck in Carmen’s strong grip, wriggling against her, cursing, and hating on her with a fury as I bare down on her face with fire in my eyes. Carmen completely blanks me and looks at the road ahead instead, waiting to see if the truck survives. That crunch of tires on gravel has me spin back to her and the blood turns cold in my veins as all sense of fight dissolves.
“Meadow!” I start to freak out, panic rising in my throat, along with bile, as terror grips me, and I’m near hysteria as she moves away from me. Dragging my focus back to her departing image. I know fine well that if I lose Meadow too, I’ll crumble and break. I can’t do this without her. I need her. She’s keeping me sane, my head above water, and a sense of confidence that I can do this in the absence of the Alpha. Without her, we’re doomed.
I lift my hands, yanking them free from Carmen’s now looser grip while she was distracted, ready to push the fog back and drag the truck backwards but my wrists are grabbed from the side. I’m yanked away for a second time with an almighty sigh, sending a surge of energy out towards the tree line as they quiver with the force. I round on Carmen, tears biting my eyes as she holds me steady once more and tugs me hard as if shaking sense into me.
“Pull yourself together. Meadow’s not stupid. We need to know the spell works, because if it doesn’t, we need another plan.” Carmen’s biting tone, angry scowl, and raspy scold silence me momentarily for a second. I really want to punch her in throat for talking to me like that, yet all I can do is blink at her in stupefied quiet. That she would even dare address me this way, manhandle me, and turn when I hear the crunch of brakes and the skid of the truck stopping at the perimeter.
Meadow inches it forward slowly, carefully, edging out to test, and I’m glued to the spot as I watch it at a distance. It seems to crawl onward, more and more, my nails biting into my own flesh, cutting skin as I watch in frozen fear. Carmen still holding my hands taut, and we realize Meadow is not stopping.
“What’s she doing?” I utter shakily as the truck moves out further into the fog with no hint of stalling, being swallowed into the green mist at an alarming rate, and my breath catches in my throat.
“Either… it works and she’s making sure, or …” she swallows loudly, and I stare at the red lights of the rear hazards as they dull out mistily and the worst-case scenario floods my mind.
“She’s been taken and isn’t stopping!” I verbalize the fear but then sigh with relief as the truck halts noisily, brakes, making the wheels whine and she thrusts it into reverse at speed and comes all the way back, no hesitation, and moves right to the spot she left us at with precise speed.
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