Scientific Fantasies (Wattys2015)

Chapter Twenty-Two

The goodbyes the next morning took less time than she expected, and it wasn't long before she and Talon were in the car again, driving along the road. It was then that she realised that they'd vanished the night before to say goodbye. Unsure how to breach the topic of his agreement, she stayed silent until they were well away from the farm. Her anger grew as she drove though, and she finally just stopped the car on the side of the road and glared at him. He met her gaze evenly.

"What are you thinking?" she snapped. "Why are you doing this?"

He just looked at her. "What do you think?" he hissed.

She slammed the flat of her hand on the steering wheel. "Why didn't you just vanish? The pair of you? What made you make that deal?"

His eyes glittered. "And be on the run for the rest of our lives? Your professor would never rest until he found us again. She is only a child."

"And you?" she sneered. "Why didn't you stay with her? I saw how she relied on you!"

She couldn't place what emotion went through his eyes. "She will be fine. Better off with them then with me."

She turned her eyes back to the road, unable to look at him. "You could have never returned."

"If I did that, the professor would only make more of us. He's not made another male like me. He hasn't been able to. They've all died. As long as he has me, there is no need to make another. I'm his prize."

Chills went down her spine. What he said was true, but she couldn't work out how he knew. She and Ingvar had never spoken about it in front of him. "How do you know that?"

His eyes flashed when she glanced at him. "You forget. I was his only experiment for nearly twenty years. I know more than you would think. That's the other reason he doesn't want me loose."

She took a deep breath. "Why didn't you spill it?"

"With Bella with me? I wasn't going to do that to her."

She had nothing that she could say to that.

"Get moving, scientist. No one can find her."

She nodded, and eased the car back onto the road. They drove in silence for a long time, about an hour, before something occurred to her. She glanced over at him.

"You can't stay in the front," she said. "In the boot. There's a—"

He interrupted her. "No."

She stared at him for a full five seconds before remembering that she was supposed to be watching the road. She jerked the steering wheel over to the side, moving back into their lane, thankful that they were still the only ones around. She flushed as he chuckled.

"What do you mean no?" she demanded once she was staying on the road again.

"In case you hadn't noticed, those things are rather uncomfortable."

She chose to ignore the snide. "I can't drive back there without you in it."

"How long do we have?"

She shrugged, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel in thought. "An hour, hour and a half? Not that long."

"It is in one of those. Stop when we're half an hour away."

She glanced at him again. He was staring out the window, and she couldn't see his eyes. She couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Are you thinking about her?" she asked softly. He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes guarded.