“I feel like I’m looking at a fucking visual flashback,” Uncle Cobra exclaimed, taking hold of Blue’s hand.
“You know what they say about history repeatin itself,” Arlen quietly stated, standing in the enclosure of Uncle Grimm’s arms.
I certainly hoped she wasn’t being literal. Their pasts were full of things I couldn’t imagine dealing with.
Everyone having said their temporary farewells but me and Dad, they began to get into their vehicles.
The twins and Luce got in his Jeep. Nyx climbed in the back of the XL, leaving me the last one outside.
“You sure about this, princess?” Dad asked, now standing in front of me.
“I can handle this,” I said with a smile.
“I never doubted that, Addy. There’s an F3 cell in Luce’s bag. If anything happens, anything goes wrong. You call and tell me.”
If that happened, he would more than likely already know, he was always one or two steps ahead of things. I nodded my understanding and gave him a tight hug. I wasn’t sure what most people’s relationships were with their parents’, but I wouldn’t trade either of mine or anything they stood for.
When we separated, I repeated a similar pattern with both of my aunts, and then my uncles—giving my Mom one last hug before I got into the passenger seat of the XL.
As we drove away from the main house, towards the front of the compound where the guard shack was, I looked in the side mirror watching my family grow smaller and smaller before they were replaced by flourishing crops on either side of us. Before we reached the massive security gates, one of the acolytes manning them granted us passage.
“Where to?” Annie asked, slowing at the end of the long road that led away from our home.
“District 9,” I replied, pointing to the left.
“Should’ve known,” Nyx flatly stated.
“I remembered them whispering about it two weeks ago.
“I just didn’t think they would be idiotic enough to sneak away to a place that hadn’t been cleared yet.”
“You really think that’s where they went?” she asked.
“Yeah, why do you think I didn’t mention it to our parents?”
“Wise,” Annie commented, well aware of how quick our moms’ would have lost their shit.
I had a feeling Dad knew too, which is probably the main reason he was letting me go. At most, there would be a few waifs lingering about, and that was no threat at all to me. But even with that being the case, it didn’t take away from the fucking asinine level of rashness entering a place not cleared or tagged as Savage territory yet.
I knew Lilith, Samael, and Bella could handle their own if something were to happen, for the most part.
Hopefully…
An hour into the drive, Nyx had fallen silent in the backseat. All that could be heard was the sound of the XL’s engine purring and my brother’s Jeep behind us.
The headlights guided our way, showing nothing but trees and an occasional run-down house. I had never been this way before, not in the dark at least, or going to District 9 specifically.
I adjusted in my seat, rolling my window down to let some fresh air in.
Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the seat rest and tried to get more comfortable.
“Hold on!” Annie suddenly shouted.
My eyes flew right back open as she slammed on the breaks. I sat up, bracing a hand on the dash as she whipped the SUV to the shoulder of the road, narrowly avoiding a girl that had stupidly darted out in front of her.
Tires skidded and screeched loudly across the asphalt, leaving behind the smell of burnt rubber. Luce swerved to avoid the same collision, but he wasn’t quick enough.
I whipped my head to the right, actually hearing the sound of solid steel colliding with flesh and bone. The girl flattened, disappearing beneath a Jeep tire as it rolled over the top of her, coming to a complete stop a few feet ahead.