Legend & Lace

7. Are We Making A Bad Decision? Probably.

Chapter 7

Are We Making A Bad Decision? Probably.

The drive back to the house was a quiet one with both Drake and I lost in thought. With how much we had to consider, I was kind of grateful for the silence, though I was wondering what he had to say about everything.

As for Cruz and Kenna, they were giving us three days. They weren't going to force us into anything, of course, but rather giving us a few days to think it through and make the decision. They would know if we were in if we showed up at the train station in Edinburgh.

But what would we do?

For the past few months, I knew both Drake and I were thinking more and more about our friends and family in the Brotherhood and the Knights. Sure, we'd missed them terribly before, but now, after almost a year and a half in hiding, we did even more. Just from the way Drake responded to Cruz and Kenna, I knew he wanted to go back.

And I did, too, just as much as he did.

I looked over at Drake just as he pulled in front of the house and turned off the engine. It was dark out, so I could barely make out his face, but I could feel the tension in him as he reached over and grabbed my hand.

"What are you thinking?" I asked quietly.

The corner of his mouth curved up in a small smile before he kissed the back of my hand. "I was just about to ask you the same question."

"Guess I beat you to it, huh?"

He nodded and his smile grew as he looked over at me. "I know you, Hattie, just about as much as I know myself. I know you want to go back just as much as I do."

"I do," I admitted.

"But if we go back, you know Vince will go after us. And he'll be even worse than before since he thought he won. When he realizes he didn't..."

"Like you said, he'll be even worse."

It would basically be us against the Order, not that it hadn't been before. But Vince's attacks would be more consistent, but less calculated. He wouldn't think, just go after us no matter the cost.

And if we were out in the open as Hattie and Drake, no doubt John and Juliet would send as many of the Brotherhood and the Knights as they could just to protect us. How many people would we lose if it turned into an all-out war with Vince and the Order?

"I have a proposal. If we do go with Cruz and Kenna, start looking for the key, and then eventually for whatever the three keys unlock, I just want it to be the four of us," I began. "I don't want John or Emmy or Ryan or Juliet to know what we're doing. We need to do this on our own as Laney and Warren because as far as they all know, Hattie and Drake are dead."

"Okay," Drake nodded, squeezing my hand in reassurance almost subconsciously.

"I'm sure Cruz and Kenna will understand. Besides, they've been hiding in plain sight for a while now, too. Other than them, though, we're going to be on our own. We're going to have to get the book and the other keys, but we'll..."

"Hattie."

Drake's interruption made me look over at him. His expression was one of hesitation, though because of what I was saying, not what he was thinking.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked quietly. "I know you've been thinking about everyone lately and so have I, but do you really want to go back to looking for the last key and what the book leads to? We can just go home if you want. We don't have to..."

"Home is right here," I told him, covering the hand that held mine with my other. "We're not going to be able to stop running or hiding unless Vince is taken care of. That means going back to looking for the key and what the book leads to. That means another worldwide adventure with you."

"And with Kenna and Cruz," he smiled.

I smiled back, leaning over to kiss him. "Them, too. Now...how are we going to tell Lorna, Angus, and the girls?"

***

With it being later than we'd realized, I wasn't expecting Lorna and Angus to still be up, waiting for us. Shannon and Gertie had long since gone to bed, but their parents were still wide awake and sitting at the kitchen table when we came in.

"Why are you guys still up?" I asked Drake and I sat down at the table with them. "I told you we were fine."

"But you didn't sound fine, did you?" Lorna asked, her smile hesitant.

"We've been talkin'," Angus went on. "Both of you have been actin' strange ever since last week. So...what's been going on?"

Drake snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair. "And here I thought we were doing a good job at playing it cool."

"Yah weren't."

"And then when you called this evenin'," Lorna continued, "you sounded a little on edge. What's happened?"

I looked over at Drake, who then nodded his head toward them as if to say, "Go on."

"We've..." Ugh, saying this to them out loud was going to be tough. I took a deep breath and continued. "Drake and I are leaving in three days."

Lorna opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out, and Angus leaned back in his chair as if he didn't see it coming.

"What?" Lorna whispered.

"It's time," I told them, reaching forward to grab her hand. "Both of us have been thinking over the past few months and well...two people from our lives before kind of came back out of the blue. And with that, it's basically forced us into making a decision. A decision long overdue, actually."

"So that's what's been goin' on," Angus nodded. "But there's only been one person I've heard of comin' back and that's..."

"Kenna Lewis," Drake finished for him. "Hattie and I both knew her before, though I've known her longer."

"The first time I came here, I'd come from her house. She's not the reason I looked the way I did, though, so don't be get any ideas. She came back last week, though. Over the past few months, I've been looking into my family and apparently haven't been covering my tracks as well as I thought. Kenna caught on and came here. She recognized me when I went to town with Shannon a few weeks ago and then again last week when she came into Roddy's. Then tonight...well, I couldn't really play the part of Laney when she already knew who I was. Another one of our friends was with her, someone Drake and I were really close to. He knew it was us right when he saw us."

"But why does that mean you have leave?" Lorna asked, tears in her voice. "Just because they knew you're here and safe..."

"Our old life is catching up with us. One we really didn't leave behind."

"So that's what yah've decided?" Angus asked, looking between the two of us. "Yer leavin'?"

"We are," Drake nodded. "There are some things we didn't finish, things we need to get back to. So we're leaving in three days."

Lorna was crying now, wiping away her tears as she shook her head and got up to pull me into a hug. "I knew one day you two would be, but I never thought it'd be this hard..."

I hugged her back just as fiercely. "Like I said before, it's not like you're never going to see us again."

"I know, but I've just gotten used to havin' you around..."

"We'll come by and visit..."

"Still won't be the same. And Shannon and Gertie...oh, what are they going to do when they find out?"