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"They wanted us to finish our bond," I answered.
Auren made a humming sound as he dragged a chair over and bit into an apple. His thumb was flying across his phone screen; he’d obviously returned to work and was cleaning up whatever fires had started in his absence.
"Why such a hurry?” Johnny asked. “It's not like the bond is world-shattering. We know they're for making babies and whatnot."
He stole Marilyn's seat, plopping her into his lap when she squeaked.
"Actually, we don't know what they're for. We've just been guessing for thousands of years," Kiran chirped, ever cheerful, as he leaned over Auren’s shoulder to view whatever the man was doing.
"Kiyomasa has some friends coming to give us a ride home," Auren informed us all, then finished off his apple, relaxing marginally now that there was a solution to the current issue. I didn't know how he could stand to sit still with so much going on, but he was steadfast and calm as always.
Breakfast was mainly quiet after that. I couldn't help but laugh when we all filed outside to sit around the entrance of the building. Surely, someone working here was watching us like a hawk.
We had Auren and Johnny, who looked like a pair of greasers. Then there were the twins, your typical delinquents in ripped jeans and converse. The glowering Neo and Marily had to be added on top of that. There was no way someone, somewhere, had not sent up a red flag when they’d caught sight of our group wandering up the street to get our rooms.
"This one," Auren announced. He stood up straight from where he was leaning on the stone pillar protecting the drop-off area, and the back doors of a van that drove up slid open.
"It's going to be crowded," Zuzanna said, beaming at us. "Luckily, we're only a day away from home."
"I told you to send someone," Auren reprimanded instantly, sounding more annoyed than I'd ever heard him as he climbed into the back of the car.
Sariel was stone-still beside me, and when I looked up at him, he was taking a steadying breath.
It's just a car.
He whispered that to himself, and I rubbed his arm reassuringly as we filed in.
The nervous energy he was putting off must have been evident because Zuzanna switched to sit in the back with the rest of us, forcing Sariel up front with Kiyomasa. Auren was fuming in the corner, pinching the bridge of his nose as I shut the door and got settled into the van.
Obviously, the dynamic duo had decided that only they could be trusted to pick us up from the middle of nowhere.
Maybe I was just spoiled, but I had gotten used to just showing up wherever we were supposed to be.
Sariel chuckled, whereupon I realized that he had probably been listening in on my inner monologue about traffic and legroom.
Seriously, you'd think they could have come up with something better,I told him, feigning most of my annoyance, and his amusement leaked down the bond to me.
I'm sure they tried. I think Atlan and Kiran are the only ones who can portal like that in our ranks.
Well,thatwas insane, but it did make a twisted sort of sense. I remembered how Atlan had offered to go collect Michaelson, but nobody had seemed confident in the idea. I guess this exact scenario was probably why; he'd probably petitioned them for ages to try it and rescue us.
We should definitely find more people who can do that because this is awful. We don't even have snacks to keep us occupied—they're just bickering.
Auren had been invited to play 'I Spy' with Reese, and he’d promptly reminded her that his vision was not good enough for that game in the daylight. Neo had jumped to her defense as usual, only for her to snap at him about minding his own business.
Everyone but the two of them were snickering like kids about it all. Meanwhile, I just wanted to get out of the damn car already.
This is nothing,Sariel remarked.I'm surprised Johnny hasn't started demanding to DJ.
I wasn't positive why that would be as terrible as listening to the uncomfortable silence between my friend and her almost-boyfriend, but I would take Sariel's word for it.
We drove all day, with Kiran volunteering to drive after Kiyomasa commented on how old and achy his body was. It was well into the night before Marilyn finally snapped that we needed to stop and sleep, or else she would torch the car and everyone in it.
The hotel we pulled into was slightly less sketchy than the one we'd stayed in before, and Zuzanna paid for the accommodations this time. I wasn't even fully horizontal on the mattress before sleep overwhelmed me.
23
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
