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“Hey.” I ran a hand through my messy hair. “What time is it?”
“A little past six in the morning,” she answered.
I had dozed off for a couple of hours.
I looked at Raika. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I needed to fix. I opened my mouth, but the words got stuck in my throat.
“Good morning!”
I startled and turned. Lily stood on the other side of the couch. She stared at us with a soft smile. “Did you sleep well? I hope the couch was comfortable enough.”
I rubbed at the back of neck. “I …”
“If you’re ready, I’m here to escort you back to the gate,” Lily said, her tone chipper.
I looked at Raika, but she avoided my gaze and stood to face the demon.
I frowned. “What about our bags?”
Lily didn’t move as she said, “Already packed and waiting for you.”
What … they had packed our stuff back in the bag. Not that I had really touched them, nor had Raika, but still, I didn’t like how comfortable and invasive this demon was. Or perhaps everyone in the underworld was like that.
I didn’t really care.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked Raika.
She nodded, still not looking at me. I sighed. “Yeah, okay, I guess we’re ready to go then.”
“Splendid! Please follow me.” Lily beckoned us toward the exit. We fell into step behind her. “You’ll have to excuse King Tanner and Princess Jasmin. They had planned on seeing you out, but the underworld never stops and they had an urgent meeting this morning.”
“It’s okay,” I said.
On the way out, Raika asked to have her bag and stop in a bathroom—she said she wanted to brush her teeth and wash her face before continuing the trip. That wasn’t a bad idea, so I did the same.
After, Lily took us to the palace’s front door, where Norah was waiting to escort us back to the farm.
She halted before the truck. “I hope you found the answers you were looking for.”
“We found some answers, and more questions.”
She scoffed. “Isn’t it always like that? Well, good luck with whatever you’re doing.”
“Thanks.” I turned to the truck, wanting to open the passenger door for Raika, but she beat me to it.
She muttered goodbye to Norah and hopped in the truck. I exhaled, trying to remain calm, and joined her inside the truck.
I opened my mouth to talk to her, but she promptly rested her head back on the seat and closed her eyes.
This was going to be one long drive.
* * *
The drive back was tense.
Raika settled on the passenger seat, turned on the music loud enough so it was hard to talk over, and turned to the window. She closed her eyes and either slept or pretended to sleep.
Several times, I opened my mouth, not really knowing what to say, but I wanted to. But when the beat of the music intensified, or when I glanced at Raika and saw her avoiding me, any words I had imagined saying fled my brain.
