Chapter 13 Veronica
VERONICA
Nearly an hour later, we emerged from a drainage culvert five miles from the academy. My legs ached from trudging through the water and muck in the lower tunnels, and my feet were completely soaked.
“Fucking finally,” Declan said, standing up straight and taking a deep breath. “Smelled like shit in there,” he added, casting a disgusted look at the tunnel over his shoulder. “Literally.”
“We’re free, though,” I said with a smile.
The stern expression on his face slowly slipped away, and a begrudging smile appeared. He nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Good job. You got our asses out of the fire back there.” He glanced around, peering through the forest. “How far are we from the city?”
I climbed out of the culvert and up on the mound of earth on the right side.
“This spot is probably four or five miles from the academy. It took me about two hours to get to your place last night.” I glanced over at him, and eyed him up and down, before grinning.
“Can you keep up with a wolf running full speed?”
He gazed back at me, his mouth twisting sardonically. “Doubtful. I’ve got a better idea. How close is the highway?”
“What plan? Are you gonna carjack somebody?” I pulled the rook from my pocket again. “We could still use this.”
“Put it away,” he said, and pulled his cell phone out. “Let’s get to the highway. Any clue where the nearest gas station is?”
Twenty minutes later, Declan and I watched an Uber pull up at the pumps of a nearby gas station. In fact, it was the same convenience store Wendy and I had stopped at for snacks on the way home from the bookstore. How had so much happened in a little over a day?
“Declan?” the driver asked.
“That’s me,” Declan said.
The guy glanced down at our muddy shoes, opened his mouth to say something, then sighed and unlocked the doors. “Hop in.”
The trip back to Declan’s place took less time than my first foray and it was far easier.
It was much faster to get somewhere when you didn’t have to run on four legs and didn’t need to stop every ten minutes to hide from hunters.
Speaking of, this was a good idea for more than just speed.
If we’d gone on foot, the professors might have caught up and resumed their chase.
This way, we could put miles between us and make it impossible for them to track me down.
Slipping Wendy’s glasses from my pocket once more, I attempted to use them as I had before. Even if they couldn’t help me locate her, it would be nice to know what she was feeling. Curling my fingers around them, I tried to feel her emotions or mental state, but there was nothing.
Declan must have seen my disappointment and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t feel her through the glasses anymore,” I murmured back, keeping my voice low. “It’s like the magical connection to her is gone.”
He patted my thigh. “Don’t be upset. The connection was bound to fade the longer she was gone.”
“Yeah,” I said.
The spell Wendy had used earlier had probably sapped the magical connection and severed the link to her. That didn’t make me feel any better, though. I stuffed the glasses back in my pocket, then leaned my head back against the seat.
When we pulled up outside Declan’s house, he gave the guy a generous tip in cash, which seemed to make the driver forget all about the mud he’d have to clean.
After double-checking that no one had invaded the house in the time we’d been gone, he visibly relaxed, his shoulders slumping. He looked as exhausted as I felt, even though we’d both slept for the better part of twelve hours earlier.
“We have to grab anything we need and get the hell out of here,” Declan said.
I looked around at the house, unsure what he meant. “I thought you said it was safe here? No one could find it.”
He sighed, walking into the kitchen and pulling a bottle of whiskey from a cabinet.
“That was before tonight,” he said as he poured two glasses.
“Those professors saw my face. They could tell anyone about me. Fuck, they could probably do a memory charm on each other and draw a perfect picture of me, then disseminate it through magical circles. It won’t be long until somebody recognizes me.
We need to move before that happens. Time to find that new safe house. ”
“Oh,” I muttered. I hadn’t thought of that.
“Yeah.” He slammed the whiskey back, then set the glass down with a clack. “It sucks, but it’s where we are right now. Here. Take the edge off.”
He handed me the other glass. Before I could talk myself out of it, I tipped it back and swallowed the full shot.
It was like I’d swallowed a flame. Acid scorched its way down my throat and into my stomach.
For a moment, I couldn’t even breathe, like the time I’d been a child and fell off the swings at a playground, knocking my breath away.
Finally, I managed one gasping breath, then started coughing.
Declan leaned back against the counter, arms crossed, and grinned at me.
“Didn’t know you were a newbie to liquor,” he chuckled.
I put a hand on the kitchen table to steady myself. “I’m…more of…a wine person.”
“I can see that. Listen, grab any of my clothes you think will fit you. There should be a duffel bag in the closet. Anything you might need, take it. We need to leave in ten minutes. Okay?”
“Got it,” I said, finally recovering enough to do what needed to be done.
There wasn’t much in Declan’s dresser or closet that would fit me.
The guy was as broad as a linebacker. I settled for a few T-shirts that looked like they’d shrunk a bit over time, some socks, and a few pairs of athletic shorts with drawstrings I could cinch.
Unfortunately, his giant size twelve shoes didn’t come close to fitting me, so I’d have to wear my wet, muddy shoes.
Once we got somewhere safe, I could try a spell to dry them.
Declan stuffed some things into a backpack, then slung it over his shoulder. “Ready?”
“Do you have any idea where we can go?” I said, pulling the zipper shut on the duffel bag.
“I have one other option. It’s not quite as secure as the other apartment, but it may be more hidden.
It’s a small townhouse out in a human neighborhood.
” His face twisted into a wince. “Uh, it technically doesn’t even belong to me.
It was where a feral bear shifter lived.
I helped the cops track him down after he went mad and started attacking ladies out in one of the parks.
The guy got killed in the standoff with a witch police detective I’d been working with.
Turns out, the guy had purchased the townhouse in cash and prepaid the property taxes for like a decade.
No friends, no family, no one to claim it.
I haven’t told anyone about it. I check on it every couple weeks.
There is quite literally no way anyone could know we’re there. ”
“Isn’t your car still at the park, though? How are we gonna get there? Walk? Another taxi?”
He gave me a knowing grin. “It is, but I learned a long time ago to always have backup plans. I’ve got an old beater SUV as my spare. I keep it parked around behind the house.”
I blinked in surprise. What kind of life did this guy live?
Spare cars, safe houses, enchanted guns?
He was like a secret agent from a human movie.
I supposed it made sense. In his line of work, things were a bit more dangerous than a typical private detective.
The people he investigated were able to do worse things than some random human who was mad about having pictures taken of him while out with his mistress.
“Well, that’s pretty cool,” I said, then froze as I remembered something.
“What’s wrong?” Declan asked with a frown.
“Hang on,” I said, tossing him my bag and turning on a heel.
“Where are you going?” Declan called.
I returned a few seconds later, grunting as I carried his fiddle leaf fig tree from the kitchen. The plant and ceramic pot weighed about thirty pounds total, but the planter had built-in handholds that made it a little easier.
“Got it,” I said.
Declan frowned, his brows drawing together as he shook his head. “Why…why are you bringing that?”
I gave him a helpless shrug. “I didn’t want it to die. If we’re gone for days, it’ll need water and stuff, and it’s important to you. I saw it when you first showed me. I don’t want to be the reason something special in your life gets fucked over.”
Declan’s eyes softened, and what I could only call happy surprise washed across his features.
He nodded slowly. I could tell he wanted to argue, but then he stepped forward and took the plant from me. “Thanks,” he muttered.
Calling the SUV a beater was actually being kind. The thing had more rust on it than it did paint. He had to be joking.
“Am I gonna get tetanus riding in this thing?” I said as he opened the trunk and put the plant inside.
“Hope your shots are up to date.”
I gave him a sidelong glance. “Was that a dog joke?”
He winked at me as he closed the back door. “You are a canine.”
“Asshole,” I said, giving him a playful shove.
He smiled at me, and we stood there on the curb, looking at each other. Some strange, electric connection passed between us. There was no way he didn’t feel it too. A crazy part of my mind screamed at me to lunge forward and kiss him, but at the last possible second, I came to my senses.
“Uh, I guess we should go,” I said, tearing my eyes from his.
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Yeah, I guess so.”
The drive to the new safe house was less interesting than the last one.
The townhouse was smack in the middle of a basic human suburb.
Had it not been night, I imagined men would be outside, mowing the lawn, and kids would be riding their bikes in the street.
Much different from seeing wraiths and ghosts hovering in the streets and alleys of Tombstone Station.
Pulling into the garage, Declan closed the door and exited the car.