SIXTEEN
XOTICHL
“Are you sure we should do this?” My fingers clasp hard to the edge of my seat as Lita speeds into a turn so quickly I swear the car tilts on two wheels.
“How can we not do this? We owe it to Daire, right?” Her eyes find mine, lingering too long for my comfort. At these speeds, I prefer she focus on the road and not me.
“I’m sure he’s onto us,” I say, the words spilling forth in a shrieky high pitch that startles me as much as it does her.
This isn’t like me. I’m usually the adventurous one. First in line to push all the boundaries.
Then again, ever since my sight returned, I’m not my usual self. It’s like I’ve been thrust into an upside-down, out-of-balance world. Left adrift in a turbulent sea with absolutely no hope of ever reaching the shore.
“I’m absolutely positive he’s onto us.” Lita clasps the wheel so tightly her knuckles blanch white. “In case you haven’t noticed, he’s using his blinkers and slowing his pace when he gets too far ahead. He’s definitely leading us somewhere. Not to mention, how he waited the full ten minutes it took us to get our act together and go after him.” “Speaking of . . . what the heck happened in there?”
“What do you mean? We were startled, that’s all.” She nods as though she wants to believe it, but the edge in her voice says otherwise.
“Yeah, we were startled, no doubt. Last place I expected to see Cade Richter was in the dress department, and yet, there’s no denying we handled it badly.”
Lita’s shoulders sink in defeat. “I’m ashamed to admit it, but that was kind of a disaster. I have no idea what came over me. It’s like I had to keep reminding myself of all the reasons I hated him, and yet, I still found myself drawn to him.” She rubs a hand over her arm, shuddering at the memory.
“And I could barely speak.” I roll my eyes at the memory. “It’s like my whole body was frozen and only my mind was still working. Inside my head, I was raging with all the things I wanted to say. I had a whole slew of mocking statements and snarky comebacks ready to go—and yet, all I could do was stand there and gape. It’s like I’d been robbed of my will. Like I was trapped in a body that refused to obey.”
Lita shoots me a worried look, then returns her focus to the road, accelerating so hard my shoulders press into the seat.
“Did he just . . . wave?” I shift my gaze between Lita beside me and Cade’s black, four-wheel drive racing ahead.
“He did indeed.” Her lips sneak into a grin as she shimmies a little straighter in her seat, as though this just became fun.
“So, aren’t we just falling into his trap then?”
“It’s not a trap.” The nod that follows is insistent, though once again, her voice fails to convince. “Okay, maybe it is a trap,” she relents. “I mean, there’s no doubt he’s purposely luring us somewhere. But it’s not a trap like you think.”
“That is not one bit comforting.” I gaze out the side window and frown. Contemplating which would be worse—swinging the door wide open and throwing myself free of her car—or actually going through with her plan. It’s a toss-up.
“There’s one crucial thing you seem to have forgotten: Cade Richter is a master manipulator. He loves his little games. He practically lives for them.”
“Um, yeah. That’s pretty much what I was getting at. Hence the fear of us being lured into a trap. His little games tend to get violent. Ask Daire.”
Lita shakes her head and leans forward, peering through the dust-covered windshield. “Trust me, Xotichl, I know this guy like the back of my hair. He’s not going to harm us. He just wants us to see whatever it is that he wants us to see so we can report back to Daire.”
“Hand.” I peer into the side rearview mirror, watching swirls of dirt and tumbleweeds dance in our wake.
“What?” Lita squints, looking at me for so long I jab a finger toward the windshield, urging her to watch the road and not me.
“The expression is, I know him like the back of my hand. Please, watch where you’re going!”
“And what did I say?”
“You said hair.”
“Seriously, Xotichl?” She frowns, focuses back on the road, which buys me a moment of relief before she returns to me. “That’s the take away from every
thing I just said? What’s gotten into you? You’re acting all skittish and weird. I’ve never seen you so fearful. You’re always the one assuring me. Remember when you made me spy on Suriel Youngblood?”
I cringe at the memory. Spying on the snake-wrangling, doomsayer preacher was one of my worst ideas ever. Maybe the changes I’m experiencing are a good thing. Now that I can see the world around me, maybe I’m just now, for the very first time, understanding how dangerous it can be. Maybe this new, fearful Xotichl is an improvement over the former, impulsive Xotichl I used to be.
“Trust me, Suriel Youngblood is not someone I’ll easily forget. And, just so you know, I regretted that decision pretty much the second we arrived.”