“I understand,” I assured her. “We have to go.”
“I will see you soon, World Walker,” she said.
Kobal opened the door and ushered me out. “Ghosts.”
I smiled at the disgruntled tone of his voice. “I think you put them in their place, and they could be helpful.”
“Most of them are so selfish they probably won’t show up,” Corson said as he fell into step beside me.
“I think you’re wrong about that,” I replied.
He quirked an eyebrow at me as he grinned. “Ever the optimist, my queen. We shall see.”
“They could be useful,” Kobal murmured before stopping next to one of the skelleins. “Lix requested your help inside. You have exactly five minutes or we’re leaving without you.”
The skellein turned and gestured to the others before running for the diner as fast as their bony legs would carry them. Kobal leaned against the pickup as Raphael took to the sky and Caim shifted into his raven form. Kobal pulled me against his chest and held me there. Erin had given me the only spare shirt she had to replace my ruined, bloody one. Still, even without all the blood, I knew I stunk. Kobal didn’t show any sign of caring.
I inhaled the fiery scent of his flesh while I rested my fingers on his chest. His breath warmed my ear when he ran his tongue around it before nipping it.
“I can’t wait to get you somewhere we can be alone,” he said.
My toes curled in response to the promise behind his gravelly words. “Neither can I.”
The door to the diner opened and the skelleins exited, each of them carrying a crate. I smiled when I saw the clothing and accessories they’d uncovered and put on, most likely from one of the many boxes stacked in the warehouse.
Once again, they each wore something to differentiate themselves. Lix sported a pink shirt with flowers and birds on it and a straw hat. Some of the others were wearing T-shirts, necklaces, a yellow sunhat, and two had on baseball caps, though one wore his hat backward.
“We are good to go, my king,” Lix said when he stopped next to Kobal. Shax, Magnus, Corson, and Bale moved closer to us.
“What’s in the crates?” Bale inquired.
“Beer!” Lix declared and the other skelleins all clattered their teeth excitedly together.
“Of course,” Shax muttered.
“Won’t it be bad?” I asked.
“Who cares?” Lix replied.
With a finger, Magnus lifted the top of one to peer inside. “Where do you plan to put the crates?”
Lix pushed the lid of the crate back down and smiled at Magnus. “In the trucks of course. People can sit on them.” To prove his point, Lix stood on tiptoe to set his crate in the back of the truck. He swung himself over the side and settled on the box. Leaning against the cab, he crossed his legs and shook his foot back and forth in the air.
Before anyone could respond, Raphael landed beside me. “There are some humans following us. I saw them the other day, but thought they’d broken off to go another way. They’re back and on the road behind us.”
“Just humans?” Kobal asked.
“Yes.”
“How far behind?”
“About fifteen miles,” Raphael answered.
“Armed?”
“Yes.”
Kobal rubbed his jaw as he glanced at the road we’d traveled to get here. “Should we wait for them to catch up?” I asked.
