“We’ll be fine.”
“The tires on this thing are practically bald and the roads are wet. Please, slow down before we wreck.”
Nox strained to lift his foot from the gas. The desperate whine of the van engine faded to a lumpy hum.
He nodded at the strap dangling near Luca’s shoulder. “You should put your seatbelt on.”
Luca pulled the belt over his shoulder. “You weren’t worried about my seatbelt when you were going ninety.” The buckle clicked.
“I wasn’t going ninety.”
“Yeah, you were.” Luca rubbed his arm. The forming bruise had already faded.
Fresh mist beaded on the windshield, gathering into droplets that slid against gravity thanks to the wind. They passed a few cars on the narrow road, a gas station, then a restaurant with half its sign on the ground.
“Now, do you want to tell me why you dragged me off like a sack of flour?”
Nox wanted to, but every single excuse sounded ludicrous in his head.
He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
“Well?”
“They tracked us from Canada.” There, that was perfectly logical.
“So.”
“Canada, Luca. People don’t put that kind of effort into finding a person just for conversation.”
“You’re right. They don’t. That means whatever they wanted was important.” Luca sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his stomach.
“Not important enough to risk your life.”
“I think you’re overreacting.”
How could Luca say that?
A month ago, Nox had fought to keep Luca safe as wave after wave of Anubis hunted him. But things had been quiet, and no one seemed to be looking for them since Nox destroyed the compound where he, Luca, and Dr. Dante had been held prisoner.
Until now.
“Besides, if they’d wanted to hurt me, they wouldn’t have walked up and introduced themselves.”
“You don’t know that.”
“They were on their knees. They were desperate, not dangerous.”
“It doesn’t matter. It wasn’t worth the risk.”
“Why? Because you say so?”
The yes was on the tip of Nox’s tongue.
Luca made an angry sound that dissolved into a frustrated sigh. “Look, I know you love me.”
Nox did, more than anything.
“And I know you want to protect me.”