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TWO
Asha
Trees stream past my window, their foliage a verdant blur off the shoulder of the county road. Each night, we settle down at another crap shack that transforms for a few hours into our love nest. Each morning, we pack up our bliss and continue the hunt. It’s almost like living two separate lives. The more hours I spend riding shotgun while Max transports us to the next site, the hazier the previous night becomes, until I lose it entirely to the mission.
I need to finish this. I can’t keep living astride the line dividing vengeful Asha from loving Asha. I must put the former to bed so the latter may thrive.
Still, so many things haunt me. Like the image of Rich. The man had survived the attack on my people and had spent years alone, rebuilding the town, only for my brother to come back and kill him. Brutally. He left a note pinned through him with a knife, telling us about the party he would be attending at North Rapids compound. There, my brother intends to kill the last of the Blood Mages, and probably any other innocents who get in his way.
Another event that might haunt me.
My brother is twisted now. Even if I might be responsible for what happened to him, for thinking I was applying to a college and bringing our enemies down on us and for leaving him during the attack, I can’t suffer forever for those mistakes. Nor can I allow him to keep suffering just because of my guilt.
“New information,” Max says beside me.
I startle, glancing away from the window to see Max putting his phone down.
Apparently, Max had ended a call I wasn’t even aware he was having because he’s so concise and focused when he’s in mission mode. Every time it goes the same way. He picks up a call, listens, says a word or two, and then we’re informed of some new key piece of information in our search for my brother. This time, he hadn’t even said a word. But then, I guess we actually know where Simon is heading this time, so things are a little different.
Enforcers are a pile of fun.
“What did they say?” Orson asks from the backseat.
“Probably nothing useful,” Braxton mutters from near him.
Max casts me a glance, almost as if he’s hoping I’ll shut them up.
I shrug. “I’m with Braxton.”
He shakes his head, but doesn’t crack a smile. Not when he’s in Enforcer mode. “Enforcers have secured a place for us to stay in Royal Creek where the North Rapids compound is located. Over the coming days, they plan to trickle a small force into the region, but for now they’re told to hang back until we learn more about this party.” Max glances in the rearview and meets Orson’s reflected gaze. “Check the magic signature map, and tell me Simon’s last known whereabouts. We need to keep a closer eye on him.”
“Sure thing,” says Orson, shifting Trouble’s head off his lap. The golden retriever rises and pads in a circle on the backseat before resettling beside Braxton. Orson retrieves his laptop from its bag and opens it on his thighs. Nimble fingers dance over the keyboard and in seconds he’s accessed the signature map. “There’s a splotch of activity in a city up ahead,” he reports.
Max turns to me. “Seems to confirm your brother’s message. Our trajectory is pointing in the direction of the North Rapids area.”
In the backseat, Braxton leans closer to Orson’s computer screen to peek at the map. “We should probably stop there,” he says. “Investigate his use of magic. Like we’ve seen, the bigger the magical signature he leaves, the more shit he’s done in that location.”
“A reasonable idea,” Orson agrees, tossing his long blond hair a little as he smiles at Braxton.
“Any opportunity to better understand the mind of the enemy,” says Braxton, stretching a tattooed arm along the backseat.
I’d never really thought much of tattoos in the past, but now I’m definitely in the camp of them being sexy. Maybe it’s just because anything would look good on Braxton, or maybe because I’ve licked those tattoos a few times. Who knows?
“I agree,” says Max, drawing me back from my thoughts, and the tone of his words shows that he’s the definitive opinion on the matter. He reaches over the center console and takes my hand in his. My wolf rouses, I can feel her tail sweeping back and forth with excitement at his tenderness. Max is an affectionate man, but not when he’s in Enforcer mode. Not unless he thinks I need his attention. “How are you doing with all this?” he asks me.
How am I doing with all of this? Love and lust are two emotions I never thought I’d feel again, or at least like this. They definitely beat out the guilt, fear, and anger that have surrounded me since the day my village was attacked. But how am I really?
The truth? So much better than before. So much better that I don’t want to think about my brother, or my pack, or before, because I’m scared that remembering the darkness will pull me back into it. Scared that the darkness is always just in the back of my mind, waiting to be noticed and spring back to life once more.
But I don’t say those words aloud. Saying them aloud would make them feel too real, so I decide to focus on what he’s really talking about. My brother. What I have to do. And if I can do it.
I rub my thumb over his and sigh. Though Max asked the question, I’m aware of the backseat’s interest in my answer, subtly leaning in. Even Trouble perks his ears up, intuiting that something important is about to be said. “Much better than before,” I admit. “It’s been a difficult journey, but I think I’ve finally arrived at a healthy place.” I scoff. “Which feels counterintuitive when talking about the murder of my own brother, but I guess the point is I don’t see it that way anymore. When that…thing dies, it’ll set Simon free. He’s no more than a puppet at this point, totally controlled by that malevolent force.” I take a deep breath and release it. As the air streams through my lips, I feel a weight lift. “It’s like a burden’s been taken off my shoulders. I had to come to grips with the loss of my brother in order to accept the necessity of his destruction.”
Max gives my hand a squeeze and he flashes me a loving smile. Sympathy gleams in his eyes. “We’ll make this next part as quick and painless as possible.”
Quick and painless? Is that even possible?
“I get it. I feel the same way about my shit,” Braxton pipes up from the backseat.
