? ? ?
Just over an hour later, Bee and I left the Ink Pot with white bandages on our backs and little foil packets of ointment clutched in our hands. Underneath the bandage, the wards Ryan had made throbbed under my skin, both from the pain of the needle— seriously, that was going to be the last tattoo this gal ever got, ouch—and from the magic in the mark. If I’d had any doubts about this idea working, I was over them now. No matter what else, Bee and I were definitely warded, both from anything that might hurt us and from Blythe’s magic, just to be on the safe side. Still, I couldn’t escape the feeling that this was a little bit like putting a Band-Aid over a bullet hole. If more Paladins came after me, and if my powers stayed . . . blinky, I wasn’t sure just how well a tattoo was going to protect me.
That errand done, I went back to my house—Ryan had driven Bee home—and changed into a sundress. No chance of my T-shirt riding up so they could see the bandage.
Mom got home around four, Dad an hour later, and we had dinner outside. It was still hot, but the deck was shaded by big trees, and besides, once May first hit, Dad was all about grilling. That night’s offering was steak-and-vegetable kabobs, and I waited until we were nearly done—and until both my parents had had two glasses of wine, not that I’m proud about that—to tell them about the road trip plan. While I kept my hand from straying to the mark on my hip, I leisurely applied the rose balm to my lips, then made sure to touch Mom’s hand as I said something, to let my fingers brush Dad’s when I brought him a glass of iced tea. I used words like “college” and “bonding experience” and “totally supervised.” I made sure to tell them how there were already three other girls on the waiting list for my job at the pool. But I didn’t give any details, and as I finished up, I waited for them to say some variation of “Hell to the no.”
No matter how often I’d seen magic work like this, I never fully believed it would. So once my little spiel was done, I was one hundred percent prepared for this to blow up spectacularly.
Instead, to my surprise, they both smiled at me in a slightly dazed way that had nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with Ryan’s balm.
“That sounds nice,” Mom said.
“A really good idea,” Dad agreed, nodding.
It was what I’d wanted, obviously. The last barrier to finding David, gone.
So why did I feel so guilty?
But before I had time to stew in too much angst, my phone chimed in my pocket, signaling a text from Blythe. There were logistics to figure out and discussions to have.
And one truly terrifying road trip to plan.
Chapter 13
WE LEFT early in the morning, wanting to get as much time on the road as we could. The sooner this whole thing got started, the sooner it would be over.
Still, even though I wasn’t looking forward to two weeks in a car with Blythe, there was a part of me that was actually . . . excited? A road trip after months of sitting at home seemed like just the thing I needed, and after so long just waiting, it felt really good to be doing something.
So, yeah, I had felt a little giddy as I’d packed last night and possibly made a few mixes for Appropriate Quest Music.
Blythe met us at my house. I had no idea where she’d come from or how she’d gotten there, but she was wearing a loose sundress, an admittedly super cute bag at her feet. Big sunglasses covered her face, and she gave me a tight smile as Bee and I made our way to her.
“You two ready?”
Bee and I had matching Vera Bradley bags—gifts from our parents for 4.0 GPAs sophomore year—we’d picked them out together. I pressed a button on my key fob, opening the trunk. “Ready as we’ll ever be,” I said, tossing my bag in. Bee followed suit, and after a pause, so did Blythe. To anyone passing by, we were just three girls headed off somewhere. Probably Panama City Beach, where we’d wear bright bikinis and try to con older guys into buying us drinks. Instead, we were two Paladins and a Mage, going on a quest to save an Oracle.
Despite how scary this whole thing was—and trust me, it was way scary—I mean . . . come on. It was kind of awesome, too. And really, how often do you get to actually quest in this day and age? And I’d have Bee with me, which meant everything. There had been a time I’d been afraid I’d never see Bee again, and yet here she was, at my side.
Of course, the reason I’d almost lost Bee forever was standing right in front of me, which made it harder to believe this was a good idea. But it was the only idea we had, and I was determined to see it through.
I’d said good-bye to Mom and Dad inside, and I was in a hurry to get going. So was Blythe, I thought, watching her drum her nails on the roof of my car.