Ignited (Ignited Series, #1) Chapters 1-8

Chapter 6

The town limits of Boone disappeared behind us as we sped toward the Tennessee state line. Nathan watched every approaching car suspiciously, but not one of them turned to follow us. The farther we got from Boone, the number of cars on the road dwindled. I watched in the side mirror until the last set of headlights disappeared from sight.

Only then did the stiffness in my muscles slowly abate.

Nathan's fist slammed down on the steering wheel, and he let loose a series of words that would put a sailor to shame. My muscles involuntarily tensed again, and I peeked at him from under my lashes. He brushed the same hand through his hair before he returned it to the wheel. It shook as he forced himself to not take his frustration out on the Jeep again.

He looked as stressed as I felt.

Neither of us had wanted to leave Gran. My mind swirled with all the potential consequences of her decision. Before we left, she had said goodbye to each of us, and it had felt so...final. My travelling buddy wasn't the warm and fuzzy type, so when the tears welled up in my eyes, I brushed them away hastily so that he didn't see.

He sighed loudly and, for a second, I feared he had seen me. When I glanced at him, he cursed again, quietly, sadly, under his breath. I could tell Gran was important to him, and he had reached the same difficult conclusion I had.

I opened my mouth a few times before I got up the nerve to speak. Even then, I kept my voice low so that he didn't hear the quaver in it. "Why did she insist on staying behind?"

He kept his eyes on the road when he answered. "To give us a head start."

"From who?"

He glanced at me, but didn't answer, choosing instead to focus on the road.

Where we were going, I didn't know. Following one back road after another, we wound our way farther up the mountain, and farther from any civilization I knew. Nathan seemed to know the roads well and took the turns swiftly, automatically. We moved from winding double yellow line roads, to roads with no lines, to roads that didn't look wide enough for two lanes of traffic—not that there was any—to a dark ominous road that I doubted had seen another vehicle in a long time. The only sound came from the tires as they crunched over the gravel.

I glanced at Nathan, assuming he knew where he was going, but wary. I doubted he had saved me, only to drive me out here to get rid of me, though, if that were his plan, he had chosen the ideal location. There was no one out here besides us. Still, his eyes flicked to the rearview mirror a few times. It could have been habit. Paranoia? Or we were still in danger of being followed?

I didn't bother to ask. I knew I wouldn't get an answer.

After another ten minutes, he turned onto a rough dirt road that I wasn't convinced was an actual road from the looks of it. I glanced at him nervously. He was as calm as could be, at least as far as the driving was concerned.

The Jeep bounced over the washed out crevices and small boulders in its path. He knew the way well, knew where some of the harder to navigate areas were, and how to get around them. Now I understood why he drove a Jeep. Anything else would have rolled off the side of the mountain by now. At least it was dark, and I couldn't see the severity of the drop-off outside my window.

It wasn't until the road leveled out, and a wide clearing appeared ahead in the headlights that I realized how tense I was. Seeing the signs of this trip coming to an end, I leaned back in my seat in relief.