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But the look on Seung’s face said it all.
If Reese ran, Nash Kelli would die, which meant so could Luca.
And Reese had already failed Koda. If he failed Luca too, the threat of death meant nothing because Reese would have forfeited any reason to live.
Shouts echoed from beyond the wall of granite and traveled through the corrugated passage.
“Seung,” Johnathan said.
Seung held out her hand to Reese.
For Luca and Nash.
He took the offer and climbed into the truck.
The rich scent of Anubis rolled over Reese and lava boiled under the scar tissue on his shoulder.
His muscles gave out, and he fell against the seat.
“Dr. Dante.” Seung’s soothing touch chased back the pain. She helped him sit up. “Are you hurt?” She glanced up at the men in the front seat.
“No, no, it’s just—” Reese massaged his shoulder. “—I must have strained it earlier.”
The truck's engine revved, and Frost guided it deeper into the woods.
“Dr. Dante, if you’re hurt….”
The pain eased. “I’m okay. I am, it’s just….”
Johnathan made a sound from the passenger side, shifting in his seat enough to make it creak under his mass.
Frost’s azure stare reflected from the rearview. “You mind if I crack a window?” He glanced at Johnathan. “Or two?”
“It’s cold,” Seung said.
“It’s in the sixties.”
“Dr. Dante is already shivering.”
Reese clenched and unclenched his fists. Every time he spread his fingers, his hands trembled. A tremor that ran up and down his limbs, wrapping his spine in ice.
But he didn’t think it was the cold. At least not the kind Seung worried about.
“Fine, I’ll turn on the heat. But I’m cracking the windows.” Frost flipped a switch.
The vents in the back exhaled warmth. Automatic windows hummed, giving an inch of space for a streak of cool to caress Reese’s cheeks.
“Roll up the window, Frost,” Seung said.
“No, it’s fine, it’s...” Reese inhaled the momentary puffs of fresh air. “I get carsick.”
Seung sat back in her seat, and Reese concentrated on breathing air that didn’t smell like fertile ground.
“I have some water in the storage compartment if you’re thirsty?”
He shook his head.
The woods thickened, and they headed down a hill and into the maw of another concrete culvert. Vibrations of the tires against the corrugated pipe drowned out the motor.
