39. Hitting the Road
Hitting the Road
Two pink packages sat on the kitchen island. Kate tiptoed over, a frown on her face as she squinted in the darkness.
Ouch! Goddammit. She held her stubbed toe in hand, sucking in the string of curses that wanted to escape.
Ever since Lucien had complained of stabbing headaches, the curtains had been drawn shut. It didn’t really answer why they were kept closed in the evenings as well though.
Kate drew in a breath. If she wasn’t going to see the morning light, the stars, or better yet, go for a walk in the forest.
She would start screaming. Soon.
“I thought you’d be happy with the supplies.”
Kate whirled around to face Lucien with a pink package still stuck to her hand. She grinned sheepishly. “I am, indeed.” She leaned against the counter, taking the weight off of her injured little toe. “Counting the days, are we?”
He held up his phone. “Timer screamed at me just yesterday.”
She laughed, peeking at the pads. “Cotton. Got any experience with these things? Since you went for the softest sort?”
Lucien snorted. “No, doesn’t take a genius though.”
“How considerate of you.” She shot him a wink. “And… I’ll take your word for it.”
“Hallelujah.” He strode past her to click on the kettle, wearing his signature black pants and a… white t-shirt?
Coffee, here we come. She pointed him up and down. “Coffee must be urgent. I think you grabbed the wrong shirt.”
“Check yourself out, sweetheart, for I must have been rubbing off on you.” He turned, nose up high in the air as he regarded her there, leaning on the couch in all black training gear. “Black does suit you.”
True, it did. She’d discovered advantages to black. For example, blood wasn’t as obvious, and getting dragged over the floor didn’t leave behind ugly smears.
Lucien passed her the steaming, painted cucumber mug, watching as a small smile skipped over her lips. She clenched it between her hands, breathing in the calming scent of the roasted beans.
Red was out of the question.
“Are we going to visit Isabel today?” She’d only been there twice before, the first time Isabel had been knocked out by the surgery, and hadn’t woken up from Kate clenching onto her hand.
The second time she hadn’t been able to talk, nothing but a small smile and a tiny tear slipping past as she’d laid eyes on Kate.
Gratefulness lining them. Whether deserved or not, it had eased a bit of the strain on her heart.
“I was thinking of going on a little road trip.”
She perked up. “A road trip? As in with two people in a car.” She pointed between them. “You and me, off to?”
“Yes, and yes. It’s still within Montana borders. I’ve got a chalet, it’s up in the mountains. Perfect for stargazing.”
Reader of minds, alright.
He jerked his chin to the period pads. “Just be sure not to forget the most important of your supplies. You tend to get… irritated.”
She huffed. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”
***
Kate turned up the volume on the “New Radicals’ song, You Get What You Give.”
The warmth of the Volvo’s seat wrapped around her, easing the last of the muscle tension as well as the ache in her ribs. If she had been honest with herself, she wouldn’t have been able to go outside anyway. But today… she finally could.
Nightmares had been plaguing her nearly every night since the attack, even though weeks had passed.
And most of the physical damage had been undone.
Mentally, there was a lot of healing waiting to happen.
But something she couldn’t quite shake was the night where she’d fallen asleep against Lucien.
Her sleep had been. Undisturbed. Nothing but inky darkness behind her eyelids.
She wasn’t sure how it made her feel.
As always, Lucien sat behind the wheel, shoulders relaxed as he tapped along to the beat.
She did her utmost best to keep her voice trapped in her throat.
Foot tapping to the rubber mat along the rhythm.
Her whole youth had been one of music, whether she’d been doing housework, gawking at aurora videos on YouTube, or laid in bed as day crossed over into night.
Music had been her guide throughout childhood.
Given that New Radicals popped up on the radio with one of her favorite songs, her voice escaped, muttering along to the lyrics. Letting this jewel of a song pass her by without joining in would be a damn shame.
She raised her voice, heartbeat rising in tune with the song.
Chest heavy with the stress of the past weeks.
She kept her gaze glued to the outside world.
Foot thumping harder and harder as she watched the pine trees fly past the window.
Doing her best to forget there was a person currently sitting next to her.
Getting into the flow of the song, her voice rose higher and higher until she sang the tunes with confidence, banishing all her frustrations and fears to the back of her mind.
Lucien joined in with a sudden high raised pitch. Kate’s head whipped to him with eyes flaring wide. But he merely offered her a shrug before pressing down on the gas, the outside fields passed by faster and faster.
A laugh slithered out of her body. The speed, the music, Lucien’s ridiculously high pitch. It all made her giddy with lightness.
As the song’s final echoes filtered out through the car, she slumped in her seat with a contented sigh. Turning the knob down to a less ear-splitting volume.
“This must have been one of the best songs ever.” She sighed.
Lucien glanced at her, scraping his throat once before murmuring. “You weren’t so bad yourself.” A blush tinged her cheeks. Then he just had to go and ruin the effect.
“I’m happy we’ve finally gotten down to the part where you serenade me.”
The pinkish glow faded quickly. Kate glared at him, grasping for words. Eventually, she settled on. “Whatever makes you happy… Lucy.”
“Ohhh, ouchhh.” He sent her a wicked grin.
She kicked off her shoes, resting her socked feet on the dashboard.
“Tsk tsk, I’d get those feet off the dashboard, sweetheart.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t drive a Volvo for no reason. Now. Get. Them. Off.”
Kate shrugged, making no move to swing her legs back.
Not two seconds later, fingers poked into her left side. She squirmed away from his touch, plastering herself to the door while she slapped his hand away. “Keep your freaking hands on the wheel!”
He did nothing of the sort. Instead, he evaded her smacking and went right to tickling above her knee. She let out a giggle, shifting in her seat. “Just. Stop. Already.” She managed to utter, grasping for a solid breath.
But he kept going, until she finally let her feet fall from the dashboard.
Lucien drew his hand back, letting out a grunt of satisfaction. “I hope you’ll remember never to use that nickname again, either.”
Sure, she would.
Kate crossed her arms tightly against her body. Protecting them from another tickling attack. She could dislocate an elbow while being punched. But tickling? If anyone ever wanted to torture her for information, this was the way that would have her singing like a bird.
Lucien stretched out, rolling his neck over his shoulders. He’d been driving for hours already.
“Want to take over the wheel for a bit? Music hits even better when you can rev up the engine as well.”
Kate bit into her lip. How was she going to break the news to him? Oh yeah, about that. I don’t know how to drive.
But she didn’t need to. Realization already glinted across his eyes. “You haven’t been taught yet?”
“No. I’ve wanted to for a long time, but it just never really happened.”
It hadn’t really been a priority for her foster family. Easier to keep someone below the thumb if they didn’t know how to operate a car.
“Right.” He glanced in the rear view mirror, one hand tightening on the wheel. “That’s something we’ll have to remedy.”
She followed his flitting gaze. “Wait, you’re going to teach me how to drive?”
He shot another glance up to the rear view mirror. “Can’t be more dangerous than teaching you self-defense.” He merged into the outermost right lane.
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that.” She clenched her hands in her lap, noticing a Mercedes merge to the right. Straight behind them.
Lucien pressed down on the gas while Kate kept a tight watch on the arrow of the speedometer. “I know you like to gas it, Luc—”
He jerked the wheel to the right. Kate bumped against the door with her elbow, tingles running through her arm from the impact. They crossed over the striped buffer zone, narrowly catching the exit. “What is all this about?!” She shrieked.
Kate whirled around, catching sight of the same sleek black Mercedes narrowly missing the exit.
Lucien stepped on the brake, downshifting in the turn before glancing at her apologetically. “Sorry, nearly missed the exit.”
“Missed the exit, my ass! Was that Max?”
“Max? No. I just don’t like it when they stick to my butt like a bumper sticker.”
“Bullshit, Lucien, total and utter bullshit. How about the truth for once?”
“I haven’t yet gained the ability to see through cars, sweetheart.” He glanced at her, took in her defensive stance. “All I know is the driver merged when I did, gained on us. And I… would rather be safe than sorry.”
“Well…” She huffed, letting some of the tension seep out in a sigh. “If you’re gonna teach me to drive like that, I might not have my license, but I’m pretty sure that was illegal.”
“Looks like you’ll pass your driving test with flying colors.” He took a right, driving up to a deserted country road. “Just don’t become one of those nagging Nancys in my car when you’ve got it.”
“It’ll be a while yet.” She muttered.
“Not really.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well… welcome, student to your very first lesson.”
“But what about whoever’s been trailing us?”
“If,” He corrected her. “Besides, if he was, we’ve officially lost him now.” He narrowed his gaze at her with mock authority. “Quit stalling, get out of the passenger seat and behind the wheel.”