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There was only one way left to get out.
The chain-link fence towered over the highest shelves. Scaling it would put him out in the open. That meant he had to go through it without being seen. Nox squeezed through a gap in the pallets to the fence. It wouldn’t even be an inconvenience to the Anubis, but cutting it meant letting the creature close to the surface again, and Nox didn’t want to risk losing control.
He gripped the chain-link fence near the bottom where the tension wire held it taut against the ground and pulled.
The wire creaked, then the looped ends of the chain link gave, creating a gap. Nox slid out, staying behind the outside pallets of fertilizer while he made his way around the building. He had to make it to the van. Leaving it in the parking lot would draw attention. Plus, he’d need it to get Luca out of town.
At least Nox had the habit of parking as far away as he could from the front of a store. One he’d developed after having an old man back into the side of the van.
Luca had convinced the guy the dent had already been there, and there was no need to file a police report. The van being old and beat up had helped.
More police cars came into the parking lot, popping curbs to go around people exiting into the road. Nox climbed in the van and forced himself to wait until the new group of police had made their way down to the store before pulling into the line of work trucks and family cars heading out.
Even after Nox hit the highway, he couldn’t stop watching the road behind him in the rearview mirror for fear of being followed.
* * *
Luca pressed the button on the remote, jumping from channel to channel. The TV worked great now that Nox had rigged up an antenna, but the channels it picked up were garbage.
He sighed and turned off the TV.
Jesus, wasn’t there anything on anymore? Or maybe it had seemed better when he’d been sick in bed and unable to go anywhere, left to stare at the four walls of his bedroom when not online playing video games.
Voice chat rooms had held Luca’s interest for a while, but he had tired of trying to explain why he hadn’t seen the latest movie, gone to whatever concert, or why he’d never been to the beach. Because when people realized he wasn’t kidding about being sick with cancer, the room always dropped into an uneasy silence.
Now Luca had seen more of the US than the average citizen. His only regret, not staying in place long enough to enjoy it.
The air thickened with the threat of a storm. But not of the kind where wind and lightning were the biggest threat.
This storm was pure flesh, bone, and violence.
The door to the motel room burst open. “We have to go.” Nox snatched up one of the duffle bags and started throwing things inside.
“What’s goin—” A blood flower with a hole in the middle stained the back of Nox’s shirt. “Who shot you?”
Nox rushed around the room, sweeping their belongings from the top of the dresser and into the duffle bag.
“Nox….”
His muscles jumped with every change in direction, like a reflex tightening its hold on what wanted to escape.
And Luca knew exactly what it was.
“Nox…” He grabbed Nox’s arm, only to have him pull away. “Nox, stop.”
Nox yanked the drawer out of the dresser. It hit the floor, spilling their clothes.
“Will you stop!” Luca got in front of Nox.
He rocked on his feet with his eyes clenched shut.
“Tell me what happened.”
“The men who showed up here.”
“About the repairs you were doing?”
“Yeah.” He ran a hand over his face. There was more blood with holes on the shoulder of his shirt and a smear on the front. “They sent a couple of guys to convince me to leave. They knocked me around.”
