Fire and Fantasy: a Limited Edition Collection of Epic and Urban Fantasy Page 35

  “Do I have to pay for your food, too?” I asked, almost playfully.

  “As long as you’re offering,” he teased.

  “Oh, I’m not offering,” I told him with a smile. “Just wondering if it was part of the deal.”

  “Nah, you’re good,” he said with a wave of his hand.

  I found my way inside and to the bathroom. By the time I emerged, Noah was already headed across the parking lot toward the building. I began strolling the aisles in search of something that would satisfy my hunger, but nothing jumped out at me. After stuffing myself with cookies earlier, chips and candy didn’t sound that great. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found fruit tucked away in the corner. I grabbed two apples and headed to the cash register. I’d just set the apples on the counter when Noah caught my attention.

  “Really?” he asked. “That’s all you’re going to have for dinner?”

  I shrugged. “I had a big lunch.” I probably shouldn’t have eaten so many cookies at once.

  He raised his brows as if he doubted that before turning away to find his own dinner.

  Back in the car, I resituated myself in the passenger seat. It wasn’t long before Noah returned. When he did, he dropped a bag of trail mix into my lap.

  “What’s this for?” I asked him curiously, holding it up.

  “In case you get hungry.” He handed me my change from gas and then reached for his seat belt.

  “I think I can handle myself, thank you very much.”

  He turned the key in the ignition and shifted the car into drive. “Really? Then why’d you beg me for help?”

  Shock must have entered my expression. “I did not beg you. Okay, maybe I did, but that’s different. I didn’t have any other means of transportation. By the way, are you going to need me to drive at any point?”

  He twisted his lips like he had to think about it. “I guess it’s either that or we stop for the night. Hotel’s on you.”

  “Ha ha,” I said sarcastically. “I can drive.”

  He raised a single brow and glanced over at me for a moment. “You sure? Driving these highways isn’t the same as driving in town back home.”

  “You say that like I’ve never driven over thirty-five miles per hour before.”

  “Well, what else am I supposed to think? It’s not like you got out of Sea Haven much.”

  I shrugged. He was right. “Well, my friend’s grandparents lived a couple miles out of town. The speed limit on their road is fifty-five.”

  “And these roads are faster,” he stated simply.

  “I’ll be fine. I do have my driver’s license,” I added liked that proved something.

  Silence stretched between us for a beat, but Noah kept his eyes on the road. “You know, I just thought of something. How far do you think the council would let you go without magic? Do you think it’s just something they do for people who leave long-term?”

  “Whadyamean?” I asked as I chewed on my apple.

  “Well, you said your friend’s grandparents live a couple miles out of town. I knew a couple of people just on the outside of town, too. So, clearly the council is fine with that, but where do they draw the line? At the next town over? What if you want to go on vacation, just leave for a week or something? And what if you didn’t tell them you were leaving? Would they even know?”

  I swallowed my bite of apple. “You ask all this like you think I have an answer.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “It’s just something to ponder.”

  “I don’t know. I was kind of wondering the same thing about the guy who drove me to the airport. Like, did they make him give up his magic before he left, too? And I know my dad has gone on trips before. I don’t know if he had to give up his magic for those, either.” Before I knew what was happening, tears began to well in my eyes. I took another bite of apple and let my brown hair conceal my face so Noah wouldn’t notice.

  It didn’t work.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice full of concern.

  “N—nothing.” I hated myself in that moment.

  “No. It’s something.”

  “No, really,” I insisted with a shake of my head. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine.” He lifted his hand off the steering wheel momentarily as if he was going to touch me for comfort, but he replaced it almost as quickly, perhaps realizing that wasn’t the best idea since we were still basically strangers. “Remember, we’re in this together. You can tell me anything, especially if it’s going to help us get your magic back.”

  “Our magic,” I corrected him.

  “Right.” He nodded. “Except I don’t have to steal my magic.”

  I swallowed deeply, and I didn’t even have any apple in my mouth this time. I realized almost immediately what he was saying. He didn’t have to do this, any of it. He could go back and ask for his magic back without a problem, without anyone suspecting he was involved with my issues. That meant he was doing this all for me. I couldn’t find the words to say anything on that topic.

  “Maybe that’s the key to all this,” I said as if I’d just had a brilliant idea, only I wasn’t sure it was a good one.

  “Huh?” He opened his bag of chips and began digging into them, one hand still on the wheel.

  “If you could just walk in and get your magic back, maybe you could snatch mine up along with yours or something. Maybe that’s how we get it back.”

  He narrowed his eyes in thought and then popped another chip in his mouth. Yuck. Barbecue potato chips. “Maybe. But how would I know which one is yours?”

  “They have to label them or something. Is it okay if I throw this out the window?” I asked, holding up my apple core.

  “Go ahead.”

  I rolled my window down a crack and then tossed my apple core into the darkness.

  “Besides,” he pointed out, “who’s to say they’ll take me to the room where they hold the vials?”

  “You saw the room, too, then?”

  “They didn’t try very hard to hide it. Anyway, they could just go get mine and bring it back to me.”

  “That is a problem…” I sighed heavily. “I just have no idea if this is going to work. How are we going to get into the room? What do we do once we have our magic back? Do we just pop open the top and hope it returns to our bodies? Or do we need Dr. Voodoo to chant something and return it to us?”

  Noah sighed right back at me. “You ask those questions like you expect me to have an answer.”

  I had the sudden urge to slap him for pitting my own words against me—in a playful manner, of course.

  “And what if we get caught?” I continued. I hated this long drive. It gave me too much time to think.

  Both his brows shot up. “Weren’t you the one who toilet papered the gymnasium during spirit week a few years ago? And you’re worried about getting caught?”

  “What?” I practically squeaked, sitting up straighter in my chair. “How did you know about that?”

  He let out a genuine laugh. “Please. Everyone knew.”

  I stared down at my hands shamefully. “It was a harmless prank, and I wasn’t the only one in on it. Besides, spirit week was dumb anyway. It’s not like we had any rival schools.”

  “Do you ever feel like you missed out on that?” he asked softly.

  “You mean that we didn’t play any other schools? I guess. Kind of. But I mean, we all understand. It’s one of the prices we have to pay to keep our secrets from the rest of the world. It’s not like we didn’t get to play sports. We just played against each other.”

  “Yeah, but scrimmages are lame,” he complained before balling the top of his potato chip bag together and setting it beside him in the middle console. He licked his fingers clean.

  “It never really bothered me, I guess,” I admitted.

  “Did you even play sports?” That questioning eyebrow of his rose again.

  “I swam. Does that count?”

  “Pft. Everyone in Sea Haven
swam.”

  The car quieted as if the reminder of water had left both of our hearts broken.

  “I—I better get another couple hours of sleep if I’m going to be driving through the night,” I finally said. “Wake me when you’re too tired to keep driving, okay?”

  “Yeah. Mind if I listen to some music? I’ll keep it quiet.”

  “That’s fine. It might actually help me sleep.” I leaned to my bag and pulled out one of the t-shirts I’d packed, balled it up, and placed it between my head and the window to use as a pillow. Sleep didn’t come as easily to me this time, but eventually, I drifted off.

  Fifteen

  “Noah!” I cried into the darkness. My feet dangled below me as I gripped onto the edge of the cliff. I made the mistake of glancing to the waters below me. The ocean waves crashed against the rock violently. Water sprayed in my direction as if the waves were the teeth of a sea beast ready to swallow me whole. “Noah!” I cried again. I didn’t know how I knew it, but I knew he was at the top of the cliff somewhere.

  “It’s okay,” Noah said softly as he peeked his head over the edge of the cliff.

  I locked my watering eyes on his face, not wanting to look down toward the raging water again. “Help me! I’m slipping.”

  He lay on his belly and reached out toward me over the edge of the cliff. The closer his fingers reached toward mine, the farther away they seemed.

  “I can’t fall. I won’t be able to breathe!” Not to mention that the waves and rock would probably crush me.

  “Reach out to me!” he called back over the roaring wind.

  “I can’t!” Tears streamed down my face, and my fingers grew weak with each passing moment.

  “Just reach up and grab my hand. Trust me. It will be okay.”

  I could hardly see him past the tears, but the sincerity in his voice made it easier to trust him. Sniffling one last time, I released my right-hand grip on the rock and used the last of my energy to pull up with my left fingers, just far enough to reach Noah’s outstretched hand. He pulled. I was surprised at how light I felt. Before I could truly process it, I was lying on solid ground. Noah’s face hovered above mine, and he panted softly.

  “See?” he asked, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. “I told you you could trust me.”

  I woke with a start. It took me a moment to realize where I was. When my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I realized I was still seated in Noah’s passenger seat. Checking the time on the clock, I noticed I’d already been out for several hours. Noah glanced my way. My cheeks heated under his gaze, though I wasn’t sure why.

  A long yawn escaped his lungs when he spoke. “You’re awake.”

  I couldn’t help but yawn along with him. “I guess I am now. You need me to drive?” I noticed his eyes were drooping.

  “Only if you’re up for it. If you need more sleep, you can—”

  “I’ll drive,” I interrupted. He seemed like he could use the sleep much more than I could.

  “I’ll stop at the next exit, then,” he offered.

  We didn’t say much else. Eventually, I settled into the driver’s seat while Noah reclined the passenger seat. I noticed the change in his breathing rate. It slowed within minutes, indicating he’d fallen asleep.

  Noah was right when he’d said driving on these roads was different from driving back home. I felt like I was going too fast, but every time I checked the speedometer, I realized I was driving below the speed limit. After fumbling around in search of his cruise control and how to use it, I eventually found it and settled in for a long ride.

  The stretch of road in front of me and the quietness that filled the car allowed me too much time to think. What was I doing? Was this even real life? Why was Noah helping me? Why didn’t he have more questions? Why didn’t he pester me to tell him more about what happened? Why hadn’t I told him?

  I didn’t like to think. It hurt my head. Instead, I took a chance at turning on the radio. It was quiet at first, but I turned it up enough that it helped drown out my thoughts but not enough that it would wake Noah. I glanced over at him to check. The slow rise and fall of his chest told me the music hadn’t woken him.

  It didn’t take long for my thoughts to wander again. My hands gripped tightly around the steering wheel the more I thought about what happened to me over the past several days. It still hadn’t sunk in, not really. None of it seemed real. It all happened too fast. Except, I knew it had happened, and that sent my blood pressure too high for my own good.

  When the music shifted to a commercial, the change pulled me back to attention. I sighed, forcing myself to relax. It didn’t work very well; I wasn’t exactly the type of girl who would be winning any awards for her ability to control her emotions. When the music returned, I hummed along, trying to keep my mind off my wandering thoughts and the ones that were sure to spike my heart rate again.

  The following few hours continued like this. My anger would root itself in my thoughts before I realized what I was thinking. I’d then remind myself to relax, and I’d succeed for a few minutes until my wandering mind replayed the events of the previous few days.

  Eventually, the sun began to peek over the edge of the horizon behind us. Noah stirred in his seat.

  “What’s up, sleepy head?” I teased, reaching over to turn off the quiet tunes I had playing on the radio.

  Noah raised his eyebrows tiredly and yawned.

  “You know,” I said, “we could have stopped for the night.” I was only saying it to be kind, but I knew why we drove through the night. I wanted to get there as soon as possible, and I think Noah knew it, too. I’d even been driving probably a bit too much over the speed limit. I subtly hit the button on the steering wheel to lower the cruise control level before Noah noticed how fast I was going.

  He didn’t respond to my statement. Perhaps he was too tired. He situated his seat into the upright position and stared out the window at the dark sky that still stretched in front of us. Then he glanced over at me and to the middle console between us. A smile twitched at his lips. “I see you got hungry.”

  “Huh?” I followed his gaze to the open bag of trail mix between us. “Yeah, I did.”

  “I told you you needed more than the apples.”

  I shrugged. I couldn’t dare admit out loud that he was right.

  “How far away are we?” he asked.

  “Not sure,” I said with another shrug. “Hours.”

  “It is quite the drive, huh?”

  “Well, at least you’re awake now. It’s been a boring drive.”

  He nodded in agreement. “So, I’ve been thinking.”

  I raised my brows. “About?”

  “About how this is all going to work. You really do suck at making plans, don’t you?”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. No one knew how much I sucked at planning like I did. “You could say that.”

  “You’re awfully spontaneous. You don’t really think things through, do you?”

  What, now? Was he criticizing me? “If you’re going to be like that, I don’t know why I brought you along,” I snapped.

  He held his hands up in defense. “Hey. I’m only stating fact. Besides, didn’t you say I was your only option? You needed a car, didn’t you?” When I glanced over at him, he had one brow raised questioningly.

  I dropped my tense shoulders. “Yeah. You’re right. I do suck at making plans.”

  Noah burst out laughing, catching me off guard. My hands immediately tightened around the steering wheel. I gazed over at him with wide eyes as if he was crazy.

  “I’m sorry,” he said between laughs. “I just didn’t expect you to admit it.”

  I narrowed my eyes in his direction before fixing my gaze back on the road. “You think you know me so well.” I thought my voice came out strong and confident, but Noah’s soft laughter continued.

  “Let’s just say you’re easy to read,” he stated simply.

  My jaw dropped.

  “Please
,” he said as if begging me to cut the crap. “You think I thought those tears back in my apartment were real?”

  “They were!” I defended. And they were beginning to rise again. Why was he being so mean to me?

  “Oh, sure,” he agreed. “They were just a little exaggerated.”

  “You think this is a joke?” I almost shouted at him. “This is serious! They stole something from me, and I’m not stopping until I get that back—”

  “Whoa. Calm down, Bree.” His voice was so calm, so reassuring, that I couldn’t help but follow his orders. “I was just poking fun at you. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

  My face fell, the hot tears subsiding. “Well, it wasn’t very nice,” I muttered. “You don’t know me at all.”

  The leather of his seat squeaked as he resituated himself to face me. “Then maybe we should get to know each other.”

  “What?” I asked in shock.

  “Maybe we should get to know each other,” he repeated as if I was hard of hearing.

  I rolled my eyes at him. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to deal with his snark much longer. It was beginning to rival mine.

  “Fine,” I conceded. “What do you want to know?”

  He shrugged. “You’re an only child?”

  I nodded. “You?”

  “Yeah.”

  Well, there was another thing we had in common.

  “Sometimes I wished I had siblings, though, you know?” he asked.

  I twisted my face up. “I don’t know. My friend Liana has three brothers. It sounds awful.”

  Noah laughed again. The sound felt so strange to my ears. With everything that happened recently, it didn’t seem like we should be laughing. It felt like we should be screaming.

  “Oh, come on,” he pleaded, noticing my frown. “We have a lot of time to kill. Might as well enjoy it.”

  I didn’t think I could. One second, it almost felt like I could laugh along with him. The next, Carson crossed my mind, and all I wanted to do was punch the guy in the face. Or crotch.

  I raised a challenging eyebrow. “Okay. Tell me more about yourself.”

  “You have to play the game, too.”