Breathe

Chapter 37

Lucie

After driving for hours, I stalled the engine, and we fell asleep in the car—which meant that when the sun rose and I woke up, my muscles and bones were achy, and there was a crook in my neck. We weren't very far from San Francisco, maybe a few miles outside of it, as I could see the spires of its massive buildings piercing the heavy fog. We were pulled over on the shoulder of a rather deserted road, no one to witness the rising sun from here but us.

I sat up with a sigh, glancing over at the passenger seat. Vinny was still fast asleep, curled on his side. The strands of his pale hair were tossed in his shut eyes, his expression oddly peaceful. It broke my heart, almost, that he thought everything was okay. I knew I was going to hate to see that peace on his face vanish when I told him why we were running—worst of all, I was going to hate the fact that I'd broken his trust.

For now, though, we had to keep moving. We weren't far enough away yet.

I hesitated, but reached out a hand to gently shake Vinny's shoulder. "Hey, Vince? It's time to wake up."

He stirred, his eyes taking a moment to finally peel open. When he spoke, his words were still slurred with sleep, his gaze narrow and wavering. "Oh...are we there yet?"

I bit my lip. "No. I don't think so."

As he took his time sitting up, I fumbled around in my pocket for the keys and slid them into the ignition. The engine roared to life; I lowered the window and inhaled the dewy air, the cool moisture wafting into my face.

"You don't...think so?"

At the accusation buried deep in Vinny's tone, I shivered. Turning to look at him, I prepared myself to face the moment I'd been dreading.

Vinny's eyes were round and observant, unyielding in their need for answers. "Lucie, where are we going?"

"I—"

"Don't lie to me, either."

"Vinny," I snapped. "I'd never lie to you."

He closed his mouth, looking away as a blush filled his cheeks. He knew I was right—he meant way too much to me for me to do anything like that. Vinny and Cian had the privilege of being some of the only people I ever let get close to me, and as of now, they hadn't thrown it back in my face.

"Look," I began, training my gaze out the windshield, at the sleepy city we'd just left behind, "Caprice came to me yesterday, said Cian had contacted her, somehow. Vinny, he asked us to leave the city. He wants us gone from here—just, at least for now."

Vinny was trembling. Folding his legs in his seat, he hugged his arms around himself, as if trying to reassure that he was truly there at all. "He asked us to leave? Why?"

"Nick's opening the demon world today, Vinny, and Cian wants us in the clear."

I waited for Vinny to say something, anything, but his mouth was glued shut. He just sat there, arms hugged around his chest, shoulders shuddering, eyes never lifting from the floor. I wanted to know what was going on in his head—resentment, maybe? For me? For Cian? That was the thing about Vinny—he wasn't like everyone else. He guarded his emotions, everything about him, so he could hardly be read. Almost everyone else was an open book—Vinny was a lockbox in the old man's basement.

"No."

I couldn't believe he'd spoken, so it took me a second to respond. "What?"