“Really?”
“With all that is happening, the mayor wants to build a wall around the city, keep guards at the gate, and supervise everyone who comes and goes. So, I’ve been helping. I’ve been building the wall.”
A wall like NYU had. A wall that had done nothing other than delay a major attack for about five minutes. There had not been enough time to run and find shelter, especially when the city burned to the ground.
However, I didn’t mention that to my parents. If the wall brought a little internal peace to the townspeople, then so be it. Besides, this heavy work had probably given jobs to many unemployed adults.
My mother touched my hand. “Nadine, will you tell us what happened to New York City? What did you see, and how did you escape?” I stared at her. “I’m sorry, honey. If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay. It must hurt, I know.”
“It hurts, but I guess I can tell you.”
I opened my mouth, and the words I had rehearsed with Keisha and Raisa rolled off my tongue. It was easier than telling the truth.
I thought of the girls for a second. I wondered if they made it home, if Chicago and Richmond were still intact. Then I thought about what I had told Keisha, if she believed me, or if now that she was safe at home she thought I was insane and everything we had been through had been a nightmare.
I wished.
“You’re blessed for escaping,” my mom whispered. Wiping her tears, she stood up. “Go play with the kids. I can clean up here.” She grabbed our plates and put them in the sink.
I stood. “I want to help.”
“I can help your mom,” Dad said.
“But—”
My phone rang, and Mom smiled at me. “Answer it,” she said.
I excused myself, walked into the kids’ bedroom, and fished the phone from my pocket while closing the door.
Unknown number.
“Hello?”
“Nadine, hi.”
“Victor? What happened?”
“Nothing,” he said. I sat down on Nicole’s bed, not sure what else to say. “Look, I need to see you.”
“Oh, you’re in pain.”
He didn’t answer me right away. “Yeah.” He took a long breath. “But I don’t want to go to you because I don’t want to risk having demons follow me there.”
Good point. I didn’t want that either.
Wait. He knew where I was? Well, thinking about it, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out where I could have gone. One more reason to leave soon.
“What do you suggest then?” I asked.
“You could take a taxi to Minneapolis and meet me in a public place. Or maybe not, considering what happened to New York City. You could take a cab to a gas station or motel outside of Minneapolis.”
Out of habit, I grabbed a thick piece of my hair and twisted it around my finger. That would mean a twenty-to thirty-minute drive. In a cab. Paid. With money I shouldn’t be spending because I had to buy groceries for my family.
“Victor, I can’t.”
“I just looked online and found a taxi company. I’ll send one to pick you up. You just need to tell me a time.”
He would pay for it? I knew he was loaded as a human, and I couldn’t imagine how rich a god could be. I wouldn’t argue with that.
“I’ll walk my siblings to school at eight thirty tomorrow morning. The taxi can pick me up right after.”
“Okay,” he said. “See you tomorrow.”
He ended the call before I could answer. I stared at the phone confused. “See you tomorrow.”
9
The taxi showed up in front of my parents’ building at 8:45 a.m.
“Ms. Sterling?” the driver asked through his lowered window.
“Yes,” I said, skeptical.
“I’m here to take you to your meeting.”
I nodded and entered the taxi. He drove toward Minneapolis but turned south before we entered the city.
Forty minutes into this awkward drive, the driver exited the interstate. He took us down a back road for about five more minutes, and then stopped at an abandoned motel.
I opened the door. “Thank you.”
“Thank the guy paying for this trip because if it wasn’t for the ridiculous amount of money, I wouldn’t drive here. Ever.”
I ignored his comment and exited the car. Pulling my coat tighter around me, I looked around. The place was creepy and reminded me too much of the school where Brock had kept Morgan, Micah, and me.
The motel didn’t only look abandoned; it looked sacked. Vandalized. Torn down doors, walls covered with graffiti, broken lamps, and the sign, once hanging from a post, was now in pieces on the ground.
Victor wanted to meet here? Seriously?
And where was he? I wouldn’t stay here, in the dark and in the middle of nowhere, for long. I grabbed my phone and was about to call him when he appeared out of the darkness.
I held my breath.
His sea-green eyes were hard on mine, ensnaring me.
And he didn’t look sick.
“I thought you said you needed my healing,” I said as he approached me.
“Yeah.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Not really.”
Frustration built in me. “What? You brought me to this motel out of a horror movie for nothing?”
He halted four feet from me. “Not for nothing. I think we need to talk.”
“Talk? No.” I turned to the taxi, but he held my arm.
“That day at the hospital, I wanted to talk to you, but you just left. You’re not leaving again.”
“Who do you think you are to tell me what I can or cannot do?” I raised a finger. “Don’t answer that.”
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Please, talk to me.”
Talk about what? The past? He was dreaming if I was going down that lane again.
“Victor, I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t want to be involved in any of this. I know I can’t escape healing you or Micah, but this doesn’t work.” I gestured around us. “I can find a way of coming to you when you need healing, but other than that? Please, leave me alone.”
“I’m trying,” he said in a low voice. “I’m trying to leave you alone, but after all that happened between us, I think we should talk.”
I crossed my arms. “About what?”
“Us. We obviously felt something for each other a few months ago.”
I stared at him. The expression on his beautiful face reminded me of a lost puppy. “Like you said, a few months ago. It’s in the past.”
“Is it?”
I took a deep breath. “You want to know what I think? Okay, I’ll say it. I think my feelings for you weren’t real, as yours weren’t for me. Ceris planted those feelings in me. She steered me to you, and she pushed us together. It was her plan. Every little thing, especially my feelings. Whatever I felt for you wasn’t real.”
“Felt,” he repeated.
“Yes. In the past. And I’m sure if you stop and think about it, you’ll realize your feelings for me weren’t real either. Or maybe you felt something because you thought you were alone. You wanted to feel something for someone, and I was there. Which was not a coincidence since it was all in Ceris’s plans.”
He frowned. “She said the same thing.”