“I don’t understand any of this,” I confess. Ollie’s lips turn down in a frown before the hand at my ear drops to my shoulder and he wraps his arms around me in an embrace.
“Please don’t worry Laura, I promise this is a good thing,” he breathes into my ear. After a brief moment he releases me, leaving one arm slung around my shoulders, then turns us to face the other two in the room. Milo is sulking near the table he got my drink from and Dante is still standing where I left him. I look everywhere but at their faces, I don’t want to see the judgment I feel would be there. “The last thing I want to do is leave you without any answers, but Dante said Ares is coming, and if he’s coming we need you to be gone. Things will go from bad to worse if he finds you here.” I glance over at Dante and note his stiff posture, and the hard set of his jaw.
“Can you take me home?” I ask, and as soon as I say it I feel a pang in my chest, like my heart knows I’m making the wrong choice. But my head needs time to catch up with what’s going on; I’m completely overwhelmed.
Milo spins on his heel, turning away from me. There it is, the judgment I knew was coming. I drop my head, feeling shame over something I don’t understand.
Dante rumbles out an affirmative response before I have the chance to change my mind and demand answers. I pull out from under Ollie’s arm and grab my backpack from the floor. When I lift the strap to sling it over my shoulder, the strap snaps, and the contents of the bag spill out onto the carpet. I sigh with defeat while dropping to my knees to shove everything back in.
A large hand lands on mine. When I look up, Dante is crouched in front of me, his eyes searching mine. “This didn’t go the way any of us expected.” I can’t help but feel like I’ve let him down, that I’m lacking in some way.
I tug my hand out from under his, and leaving a few of the papers on the ground I stand on shaky legs. “I need to go.” I can’t meet any of their gazes. I just want to be back in my tiny RV, where I know who I am. I don’t wait for a reply; I rush to the stairs and run down them as fast as my legs will carry me.
Before any of them are out the door I’m already in the backseat, crammed as far into the corner as I can manage, with my useless backpack on my lap as a shield.
Ollie glances into the car, before getting behind the wheel. “Ah, it’s just you and me so you can jump up here.” The lightness in his tone seems forced.
I gaze up to the garage windows, not seeing anyone but knowing Milo and Dante are both up there, before gently pushing the seat forward and sliding out. I pull the door closed with a quiet click, before buckling my lap belt and resettling my backpack on my lap.
I look out the side window to keep myself from watching the house or Ollie. He’s quiet as he drives down the long lane leading from the garage. He comes to a complete stop at the street. There’s no traffic, so I’m not sure what he’s waiting for. He shifts in the seat, and my eyes flick over at him. His hands are in his lap, and he’s staring down not looking at the road.
“Ollie.” His eyes leap up to meet mine. He bites the corner of his lip and gives a slight shake of his head. When he reaches for the steering wheel, I turn back to the window.
The ride home is silent. I have too many questions floating around in my mind to speak to him without demanding answers I’m not sure he’s willing to give. When we reach the diner I almost ask him to drop me off there, but the words die on my tongue as he speeds past.
It feels like seconds later when, without direction from me, he pulls over to the side of the road as soon as the sign for Turtle Creek is visible. I take the hint, I’m so eager to get out I forget to unclip the seatbelt. I