I glanced up at him and saw the muscle twitch in his jaw as he said flatly, “It’s her.”
“Yeah. That’s the van I was thinking of. I knew there was a blue van I needed to remember.” Blowing out a breath, I tried to find some way to hold my head that wouldn’t add to the ache, but the only thing that worked just wasn’t doable. Leaning against his chest felt so nice, but…no. Just no. “What kind of cat is she, can you tell?”
“Smelled like a lynx. Hard to be sure—she’s still in the middle of her spike so her scent’s chaotic. Why?”
I shook my head and then groaned as it sent pain sparking through my skull all over again. “Just thinking it through. Isn’t that what you told me to do?”
He rubbed his cheek against my hair. “Maybe you should just rest instead. You did enough today, Kit. That girl will go home because of you.”
“No. You’re the one who said hiking.”
“But I’m not the one who planned on heading south.”
I closed my eyes. In the back of my mind, there was a vague, odd sense of unrest. Too much left undone. Doyle was still missing. So were the other children. “We have to come back here tomorrow,” I said quietly.
Damon’s arms tightened on me. “I know.”
I didn’t remember reaching the car.
I didn’t remember getting to a hotel. Not exactly a posh place.
I definitely didn’t remember how I ended up in bed.
But I woke up sprawled on top of the coverlet, done in stunning shades of puce and vomit-green, to the smell of food. My belly rumbled and I popped one eye opened in time to see Damon at the door, shoving bills into the hand of a delivery boy.
Food.
There was food.
I sat up just as he shut the door.
The hotel room boasted a small kitchenette, and over on the counter, I spied four pizza boxes, three cardboard takeout boxes, and some sort of foil tray. I jumped out of bed, but before halfway there, I stopped.
My belly was rumbling, but I smelled bad enough to kill a dead horse.
I needed to shower before I ate.
Still…
Okay, I compromised and flipped open the top box of pizza, snagging one slice and practically inhaling it as I headed for my bag. A quick shower. Then I’d eat.
I wanted to soak for a month, but I didn’t have that luxury. So a shower. Then food.
“How are you feeling?”
“Tired, dirty and hungry,” I said around a mouthful of pizza.
A faint grin twitched the corners of his mouth. “Sit down and eat. Then shower.”
I shook my head. “I have to shower.” I couldn’t sit down when I was dirty like this. I was a miracle I’d even been able to get what little rest I’d gotten when I was this filthy.
She’s a pig, Rana. I set my jaw as another memory worked its way free. My dear old grandmother. You know how humans are, and she is no better.
Nights spent sleeping in the dirt. Skin all but black with it. I’d itch until I bled and she didn’t care. My clothes would fall to rags—
“Stop it,” I muttered, forgetting for a moment that I wasn’t alone.
“Kit?”
I shook my head as the pizza lodged in my throat like a stone. Carefully, I made my way into the little kitchenette and snagged a plate, laid it down. “Try to leave me some food, cat,” I said, not looking his way.
I had left behind that hell the year I found the courage to run.
I needed to remember that.
Chapter Fourteen
Six hours of sleep did wonders for me.
That, and a meal.
I’d managed to make myself eat and then I collapsed.
Morning came too early, and I would have slept more, if it wasn’t for the fucking phone going off.
I recognized that ring and I wished I could have just buried my head under the blanket and hide away from the world.
Damon, like me, tended to use ringtones for various people.
There was only one person who didn’t have a ringtone—the Queen Bitch herself, and hers was just the plain, regular, old-fashioned ring. The sound of it was like an ice pick in my ears and as much as I wanted to hide my head under the covers, I didn’t.
As I heard Damon greet her with his formal, “Good morning, My Lady,” I sat up and mimed like I was gagging myself.
He stared daggers at me.
I rolled my eyes and climbed out of bed, making a beeline for the bathroom. I