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I jerked forward as the car skidded to a halt on the dirt path.
"What the fuck, man!" Theo yelped, staring at Luca. "What are you doing?"
Luca was gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. When he turned, Theo and I both shrank back. The expression on his face was terrifying: lips curled back, teeth clenched, a vein standing out on his forehead. His eyes flashed scarlet and a trace of what looked like smoke curled faintly off his skin.
"Never," he snarled.
"Okay." Theo reached forward cautiously and put a hand on Luca's arm. "Okay. Not in the book, got it. Sorry. Just—just be people again, okay?"
With what looked like a massive effort, Luca closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Slowly, he released the steering wheel. When he opened them again, his eyes were green.
"I am sorry," he said quietly.
Theo withdrew his hand. His face was pale, but his jaw was set. "Message received," he said. "You okay?"
Luca nodded once, not meeting Theo's gaze.
"Okay to drive?" Theo asked.
Another nod.
"Right," Theo said. "Let's get to Julian." Under his breath, he added, "The sooner the better."
I kept a close eye on Luca for the remainder of the trip up the mountain. Was that what happened to me when I disappeared? Did I, too, lose myself in rage? Theo had said I was just sleepwalking, but what would have happened if he'd triggered Lilin's fury? Could I have hurt him? I had no idea what she was capable of. And from what Julian had said, I wasn't sure she did, either.
For a moment, I allowed myself to sympathize, just a little. Trapped in a book, unable to escape, to move—I shuddered. Did time pass for her the way it did for me? Did she feel every second of those five hundred years? Had she been counting down the days until she could wreak her revenge?
What kind of love it must have been, to sacrifice everything she knew, to become something else entirely.
"Do you think she hates him?" I said.
Theo turned around in his seat, and Luca's eyes lifted to the rearview mirror. "Who?" Theo asked.
"Lilin," I said. "Do you think she hates Julian?"
Theo raised his eyebrows. "Wouldn't you?"
I looked away. "I don't know," I said. "For trapping me, yes…but he gave her what she wanted, didn't he?"
Theo made a choking sound. "Five centuries stuck between cabbage recipes?"
I didn't laugh. "No," I said softly. "The chance to be with the one she loved."
"Don't do that," Luca said.
Theo and I both looked at him. "Do what?" I said.
Luca's expression was dark as he pulled the car into the field in front of Julian's stream. "Sympathize with her," he said. "Get into her head. Don't."
"I was just—" I started to say, but he cut me off.
"I meant it, River," he said. Although he'd turned the engine off, he kept both hands on the wheel, as though holding on to steady himself. He kept his green gaze forward, looking toward Julian's cabin. "When I said I care for you."
Theo startled slightly at Luca's words, but the expression on his face was pure curiosity—not defensiveness, not jealousy. He threw a quick glance in my direction, as though trying to gauge my reaction.
I kept my eyes on Luca. "You never said that."
"Didn't I?" His lips curved slightly in an ironic smile. "Ah, but I do."
