Ignited

by Desni Dantone

  He was gone a long twenty minutes, during which I changed clothes, brushed my teeth, fixed my hair, packed and repacked the bag, and looked through the peephole no less than a dozen times. I hated being separated from Nathan. The last time we were separated, a body double tried to kill me. The time before that, someone tried to kill me. There was a definite pattern there, and I didn’t like it.

  I tried to take my mind off of demigods, and hybrids, and Skotadi, and everyone wanting me dead by staring at the television. After I flipped through all the channels three times, and didn’t remember one thing I saw, I got up to spy through the peephole again just in time to see a dark shadow pass by. A second later, a knock vibrated the door, and I jumped back with a squeal. I clamped my hands over my mouth and waited for the door to be kicked in. Or explode.

  “Kris?”

  My knees nearly buckled at the sound of Nathan’s voice on the other side. Still cautious, I cracked the door open, with the chain lock in place.

  Nathan stared at me curiously. “Can you let me in? It’s a little cold out here.”

  “We should have established a password before you left.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  I shook my head.

  He made a face. “You’re a pain in my ass. You know that?”

  Sounded like Nathan. The last body double had acted...off. This one glared at me like I expected. But, after the last time, I needed better proof than that.

  With a forced smile, he lifted the Dunkin Donuts bag in his hand. “I got chocolate, with sprinkles. Only the real me would know that’s your favorite, right?”

  Donuts were my weakness, and somehow he knew it. And he was right. Only Nathan would know that, though I wasn’t sure how exactly he did. My stomach growled at the sight of the donut bag, so I didn’t bother to press for the how’s and why’s. I let him in and he tossed me the bag.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah. You just startled me.” I grabbed a donut and one of the two cups of coffee, and perched on the edge of the bed. “You know, after the last time.”

  His gaze drifted to my neck, where the bruises had faded, but remained a reminder of my latest brush with death. “Maybe next time we’ll come up with a password first.”

  “Maybe donuts should be our password,” I offered around the heaven, in the form of chocolate, in my mouth.

  Nathan leaned against the table across from me as he drank his coffee. “I got ahold of Travis.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  “He gave me the address to a safe house nearby. He’s sending a team to meet us, and they’ll escort you to the base from there.”

  I nodded along with the plan up until the last part. Something about the wording didn’t sound right. The fact that he was dodging eye contact confirmed my suspicion.

  “You said you, as in me. You’re not coming to the base?” Until then, I had never considered the possibility that Nathan and I would part ways. The thought both surprised and terrified me.

  He shrugged noncommittally. “I don’t know. I haven’t been there in years. I’ve had my own place.”

  “But the Skotadi found us there. It’s not safe anymore.”

  He nodded like that was only a minor obstacle. He could simply sell it and move.

  I didn’t expect him to put off getting his life back in order to hold my hand through all of this. Except…that was exactly what he has been doing.

  “Chances are I’ll end up going anyway,” he said, cutting into my thoughts. “They’ll probably want to debrief me.” He paused and stared into his coffee. “But I won’t stay.”

  I nodded numbly as I gazed at my feet to avoid his eyes. By the time I put on a face of indifference and finally managed to look at him, he was already staring at me, waiting. There was a look in his eyes I didn’t recognize. Anxiety? Regret? Whatever it was, it didn’t fit with him, or his words.

  Probably just afraid I’m going to lose it and finally go bat crazy on him. “When do you want to leave?” Aside from a slight quiver in my voice, I thought I managed to sound uncaring enough. Too bad Nathan didn’t buy it.

  “After we eat and pack, I suppose,” he said softly.

  “I already packed.” And I had lost my appetite. “I’m ready when you are.”

  Even as I said the words, I retreated to the bathroom to hide the tears that threatened to deceive me. In case he didn’t already know I wasn’t thrilled about the plan, I slammed the door shut behind me.

  That should have given him the message loud and clear.