Deserted Highways

Monsters Under My Bed, Monsters in My Head

room. Nobody said anything for a moment and Jace raised an eyebrow. Michael and Lilith glanced at each other quickly and then glanced away.

"You know, I always hated when Kaelie would do those sneaky little glances like that," he commented nonchalantly and Lilith winced. "Sorry."

"What's up, Jace?" Michael asked impatiently.

"Well, I wanted to tell you something. And before you get mad, I didn't think anything of it until now, and I'm clearly not dead so it isn't a big deal," he rushed out.

"Yeah, saying it that way has me prepared to be mad already," Lilith muttered. Jace rolled his eyes.

"Okay, so the other day, after I left the house to go home?" he started, more like a question. Lilith nodded at him encouragingly, over exaggerated, and Jace almost laughed. "Well, I noticed this black truck idling on the curb behind me. I tried to lose it, but it was following me, it kept taking off around the corner. No plates, of course. I knew there's sort of a limited list of the people who intend to kill me, and it came racing back and hopped the curb. It would have hit me, but there was this girl. She shoved me out of the way and then she was just gone. I just figured it was some random."

"But?" Michael prompted.

"But," Jace said, drawing out his words as he searched his brain for the right thing to say. "Then she showed up in one of my classes. I've never seen her before. She said her name is Hera, that she's a transfer, but I've never heard of colleges allowing something like that before. She followed me after I saw that ad about you guys, about Kaelie. She was in my class this morning. I know that she has to be following me by now, this can't be a coincidence."

He took a breath before continuing, willing his voice to stay steady and not betray the jagged edges of his twisted feelings that he felt were scraping him raw from the inside out. "I just- I don't know how to explain it. She doesn't feel dangerous, she feels- familiar? She feels safe. And sometimes, the way she talks, it's like talking to Kaelie and I know that she's gone, you don't need to tell me again, I saw her die too, but it just feels like her?"

Jace stopped himself, and Michael's head turned to the side, his brown eyes hard and guarded as he watched the other entrance to the kitchen. Sarah stepped into view quietly, her eyes soft, cast at the floor. "Baby," Michael breathed out, and she didn't look up. She leaned into him when he wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. "I thought you were sleeping."

"I was. But I heard Jace. And I wanted to know more about this girl. I need to be moving around and things anyways," she mumbled, but when she stepped back and looked at Jace, her eyes were the clearest and most focused that he'd seen them since Kaelie went over the edge of the roof.

"Okay," Michael said slowly. "What do you think?"

"I think something doesn't add up. Who is she? Why has she never been on our radar before? Why is she suddenly showing up everywhere Jace goes?" She turned to Jace. "What else happened?"

"Nothing," he said. "She just started showing up after the truck tried to run me down." His mind flashed to her face and how she'd looked under the tree, the briefest glimpse of heartbreak crossing her face when he'd pulled back.

Michael looked like he was forcing himself to stay calm now that Sarah was there and Jace was eternally grateful for her soft, diffusing presence. "Okay. Well I guess we've taught you something, that it only took you two days to come to me. Honestly, no wonder Kaelie liked you so damn much, you're just as reckless as she is- was."

"Fuck you, Michael," Jace said, his voice hard with anger, pain. "She saved your fucking life. All of you."

"I know. And look where it got her," he snapped. Jace lunged.