The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Nineteen

"We need to lay low and travel carefully," Connor had instructed. "If the Loyals learn we've found you before we're ready to stage the handover then we're screwed."

According to WIND, the Loyals had informants everywhere. To avoid rousing suspicion from potentially prying eyes, the group would have to leave as faint a trail as possible. No travel that required identification; cash only, aliases as much as necessary. May and Em didn't mind - they were familiar with the best practices of runaways by now.

No one cared who you were when you took the bus, and travelling by dark was a good way to keep a low cover, which was how the group found themselves riding a night bus headed east. May and Em sat away from the others, as they would whenever they were in public. May was grateful for the many hours that lay between them and their next destination; she felt like she could breathe for the first time since climbing out of Dom's truck.

She leaned into Em, her legs curled up beneath her. She was supposed to be sleeping, but with the space to breathe had also come the stillness her mind had been waiting for. It took advantage of the silence and filled it with a barrage of worries.

Beside her, Em fidgeted.

"Can't sleep either?" she whispered, her voice just audible over the monotonous din of the bus.

Em gave an affirmative grunt.

Glancing up, May watched Em toy with a lock of dark hair. In their hasty packing, Em had the foresight to take one of her stage wigs - the long black one she used for their Moon and Ocean routine. May had trimmed it to a reasonable length and tucked her own hair beneath Em's old ball cap. It wasn't much as far as disguises went, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"On a scale from one to ten, how goth do I look in this thing?" Em asked, gesturing at the wig with a dramatic flourish.

May chuckled. "Ten. Very witchy."

"Ooh, witchy. I can get into that." Em wrapped her arms around May and let her cheek rest atop May's head. "How are you holding up?"

Chewing her lower lip, May debated whether she should share the latest addition to her growing list of concerns. She hadn't had the chance to tell Em what happened with Jeremy back at the motel.

Em broke her train of thought with a squeeze. "Babe? What's on your mind?"

May sighed and decided to go for it.

"When we were back at the motel, Jeremy pulled me aside and told me he wouldn't put up with me slowing things down."

Em snorted. "Classic Jeremy."

"He said he wouldn't let me 'get in the way'."

"He doesn't know you're a Wish," Em said, shrugging lightly. "He, Connor, and Priva have their abilities; him and his perfect memory, Connor and his super-Wish strength... have I ever told you that Priva only needs like, a handful of hours of sleep per week? And I mean, Rue may not be a Wish but even she has experience resisting the Loyals. Jeremy probably thinks you're just an ordinary human, and if that were true, he wouldn't be wrong in thinking you were in over your head."

"Interesting," May bristled. "That wasn't what I thought he was implying at all."

Em stared down at her quizzically before she clued in.

"Ah, you think this is about Audrey."

"Can you blame me?" May tried to keep her voice down. "Ever since you told me the two of you were engaged I haven't been able to-"

She was cut off by Em shifting out from beneath her. Righting herself, May twisted in her seat to see Em sitting pin straight and frowning at her in the flickering shadows.