Peter smirked.
“Don’t let it go to your head. I’ll be in touch, once I figure out how to manage it.”
His eyebrows went up. “And the scary thing is, I think I almost look forward to a call from family.”
He offered a salute, then joined Ainsley in hobbling out and under the bridge.
“That pairing is not going to work out,” Paige said. “I know I should watch out for statements that could turn out to be lies, but I’m… ninety nine percent positive.”
“I agree,” Rose said. “Just don’t tell him those numbers. He’ll make it work out of sheer stubbornness. Maybe the failure will be good for both of them.”
“Maybe,” Paige said.
“You only stayed because you’re keeping an eye on him, right? You’re probably itching to check on Isadora.”
“I am. But that’s not the only reason I stayed. I just wanted to say good work.”
“Good work?”
“Not for all of this, but for making it through. All my life, I wanted to rise above the Thorburn stuff. Family drama. I kept getting dragged back down. I didn’t realize that anyone else was fighting as hard as I was.”
“We were friends once, before Blake and I were separated into two individuals,” Rose said. “Close, you, me, and Molly.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I wish I remembered.”
“Like I said to Peter, I’ll try to keep in touch.”
“Yeah,” Paige said. She glanced at those who remained. The vestige kids, Evan, Green Eyes, and me. “You okay like this?”
“I think so,” Rose said.
“You said you were better than okay when Peter asked,” Paige said.
“Entirely different questions,” Rose said.
“I suppose that’s true. You did a good job, Rose. You too, Blake, if you can hear me like that.”
Paige didn’t say goodbye. Neither girl had anything more to add. Paige’s exit was more of an awkward retreat. Stepping away, constantly glancing back at our group, a concerned expression on her face.
She passed under the bridge.
The moment Paige was out of sight, Rose collapsed. Noah tried to catch her, but he wasn’t big enough or strong enough to support her weight. It made for an ugly, awkward fall.
The scene was still. Even the sand-on-sand whispers had stopped. There were no noises from Jacob’s Bell.
A car passed along the length of the highway, headlights only catching thick mist.
Darkness on this side, daylight on the other.
Green Eyes hadn’t budged an inch as Rose fell. She watched, her expression cold.
“Green Eyes,” Rose said.
“I’m not going.”
“I wasn’t asking you to go,” Rose said. “I’m asking you not to kill me.”
“Wait, what?” Evan asked. “No! We won! This isn’t a bad end! We fix Blake, we fix me, Rose triumphs, happy, happy, happy!”
“Rose is bleeding,” Green Eyes said. “Too much.”
“Oh man! You’re going to be okay Rose! I can go for help!”
“She’s going to eat Blake, consume whatever humanity or flesh he’s got to try and patch herself up.”
Evan went still. Shocked into silence.
“Essentially true,” Rose said.
“Then why shouldn’t I kill you?” Green Eyes asked.
“Because he wouldn’t want this.” Rose said. “You know he wouldn’t want this. And the promise I made with him… that was what he wanted.”
“This is better than-”
“No,” Rose said. “I want to tell you I’ll give you the ending you want, but if I do, and it winds up being a lie, it’ll probably kill me. I’ll be too weak. I have to draw on him to patch myself up, I’ll probably have to pass out and rest for a bit before getting underway, and he could die at any point during that. There might be too little left. But with what remains…”
“There’s almost nothing as is,” Green Eyes said. “You’re telling me what I want to hear! Dodging the truth!”
“Green! Green!” Evan cut in. “Come on!”
Green Eyes was bristling. Fingertips digging into the pavement. Her fins flared.
“Do it for me? For the nugget?” Evan asked.
Slowly, the fins relaxed. The tension went out of the fingernails.
Rose nodded.
She turned her attention to me.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it,” she said, reaching down to break, digging for the flesh that remained.
Then all went dark.
Last Chapter Next Chapter
Epilogue
Last Chapter The End (Afterword)
Wind, the purr of the engine, they blended together to make a white noise. His brain worked to make sense of it, and it created something very close to music, feeding into an almost zen-like sense of ease. Not quite relaxation – he felt a tiny bit of fear with every car he passed, knowing how fragile a motorcyclist could be in an incidental collision, felt pure exhilaration running through him over the simple fact that he was on the road.
Even with his helmet on, he could smell and taste the trees and grass. The faint aroma of gasoline and exhaust was one he very much enjoyed. When he passed wild growths of flowers on the side of the road, he could smell those, too.
It was fresh air. When he breathed, it felt like more oxygen got to his lungs. There was a vague high that came with it.
The cars around him had none of that. Some had their windows rolled down for the summer, but it was an attempt to escape the heat. When they looked out their windows, it was through just that – a window. He had unrestricted vision in every direction. His body temperature was perfect, the wind sapping away the heat that soaked into the dark fabric of his jacket.
He slowed down as traffic on the highway did. He didn’t have to, he could have navigated between the gaps without much fuss, but he figured it was sensible, especially given that he wasn’t alone. He was a little annoyed to have to do it, especially given the reason. The cars around him were slowing in attempt to take advantage of a slight rise and get a better look at a point further down the highway. It wasn’t easy, given the trees that had been planted around here, obscuring the view.
He could feel the fractional drop in temperature as he passed into the shade the first of the trees offered, and he smiled.
These trees were his landmark. He raised a hand, signalling, even as he put his lights on. A glance over his shoulder, a double check, then a change of lanes.
He could hear the faint shift in the sound of traffic. Another bike adjusting speed and direction, changing lanes to follow.
The exit took them off the highway, onto a poorly maintained side road, one that was very easy to miss. He passed a spot where poles had once been holding a sign in place, but the signboard was gone. The trees obscured the view, leaving the site a passing curiosity.
He signaled again, just to be sure his traveling companion wouldn’t go down the wrong road.