Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 41: Roadside Conversations

We placed Bellamy's soul shards in a bauble to mute the brightness and attached it to a chain around my neck. It sent gentle vibrations through my breastbone, stirring the shard inside me to attentiveness, but it was an unpleasant feeling. In fact, I felt more at peace than I had in a long time, but I wasn't sure if that was from Bellamy's soul nearly being complete or from the presence of the Andarien man sitting next to me.

Getting out of the Synod's compound hadn't been as difficult as I expected, though it probably helped that we had a member assisting in our escape. Amaya escorted us through yet another hidden door where a car was conveniently waiting. The gates opened upon our approach, making me think the vehicle had some sort of sensor on it that only high-ranking officials received.

My police training made me want to tell them it was a rather poor system, but since we were exploiting the holes in it, I thought I'd save it for next time. Because as I watched the bright lights on the mountain top fade from view, something whispered we would be back.

We passed the place I hid my stolen car, and I snorted, thinking about how I'd driven back to town to buy supplies, only to end up not even spending a single night in the wilderness. Of course, with my luck, if I hadn't been prepared for it, it would have happened. If I could have chosen between the two scenarios, I would have definitely gone with a cold night on uncomfortable ground instead of being shot with a poisonous dart.

"You okay?" Cian asked, squeezing my hand.

He hadn't released it since waking, and it did not bother me in the slightest, though I felt inexplicably shy and at a rare loss for words. Whenever I caught him glancing at me, I flushed and looked away.

"I'm fine."

Another squeeze. This one longer than the other. "I'm not human, but I've been around them long enough to know that when a woman says she's fine, it's usually the opposite."

"Why are you asking me if I'm fine? You just woke up from a magically induced coma?" I shrieked. Arguing. This was something I could do.

Cian's lips parted, and he jerked the car onto the shoulder of the road. Killing the engine, he turned in his seat to face me. I wasn't sure where we were, maybe even in Canada at this point. Wherever we were, it was remote and mostly wilderness, and with no light pollution or passing cars, I could barely make out his features in the darkness. But I'd spent so much time recalling his features my brain filled in the details between the shadows, and the tautness in the mate bond did the rest. He was furious.

"And why was I in that magically induced coma, Bria?"

I pressed my lips together and glared in the general direction I thought his eyes might be. "From what I heard, you threw an epic temper tantrum."

The pressure built inside the car, and a crack appeared on the windshield. I wished I had enough energy or know how to put on my own impressive display of power, but frankly, I was exhausted. So I went the route I already knew he hated. I said nothing.

The crack lengthened. "I felt you die, Bria."

"I felt me die, too. Wasn't so bad, actually." The crack splintered, dipping lower into the driver's field of vision. "Might want to get a grip on the anger there, buddy. We need this car to get to the Fae."

"You shouldn't have come after me."

"What? So then I would get to feel you die? No fucking way." I unbuckled and leaned toward him. Close enough to feel his breath on my face.

Suddenly, his breathing stopped, and his hand found mine again. "You... you feel it too?"

"How do you think I found you?"