I focused on the electric buzz, and it did seem very faint—a soft hum instead of fiery sparkles. “Well, so are you,” I pointed out.
“Exactly. We all are.” He looked at Laylen. “So for now, I think it would be best if we drove. It gives us a chance to rest. And besides, since our location will constantly be changing, it’ll make it harder for Nicholas to track us down. Showing up in a moving vehicle is basically impossible to do.”
“But what about when we stop?” I asked.
“We’ll make limited stops, and I won’t make the decision to stop until a few seconds beforehand,” Alex ran his hands through his very messy and not in an-intentional-done kind-of- way hair. “That way he’ll have very short notice on where we’ll be at.”
“You think that’ll work?” Laylen asked, moving away from the gas station entrance doors so a man wearing a red baseball cap could go inside.
“Honestly,” he shook his head, “I have no idea if it will, but it’s all I got right now so…”
“So, where’s this car we’re supposed to be driving?” Laylen asked. “And where are we going to be driving it to?”
“That’s for me to know.” Alex started across the gas station parking lot.
I headed after him, the gravel cutting into by bare feet. “You’re not going to tell us?” I asked, not surprised, but irritated.
He came to a stop so rapidly I just about ran straight into him. The electricity awoke from its lazy slumber, reacting excitedly.
He turned around with very serious expression on his face. “Look,” he said. “I understand it’s your nature to want to know things, but it’s best if only I know where we’re going. If Nicholas is trying to track you, it’ll be easier for him if you’re thinking about where we’re headed.”
Whether his plan made sense or not, I gave in because I didn’t have a better idea. “Okay then,” I said. “Let’s go get a car.”
Turns out Adessa had a friend who would lend us their car, or an SUV I guess I should say. The beastly thing could in no way qualify as a car. The colossal SUV—a shiny black Chevy Tahoe—had tires as tall as my legs and a lift to add even more height. I practically had to high jump into it. Then after I made it inside, I had to wait around while Alex and Laylen argued over who was going to drive the beast.
Finally, they decided that Laylen would go first since apparently he felt very wired and awake. So we pulled out of the parking garage and onto a main road of Vegas, where Alex told Laylen to drive to the freeway and head east.
As I sat there on the sticky backseat, staring out the window—at the stars of course—I couldn’t help but think about how much trouble we were in now that it seemed Nicholas was helping Stephan. With Stephan having a Foreseer on his side, it was going to make tracking us down much easier. In fact, I was surprised he hadn’t already, which made me question just what Nicholas was up to. He had me right there when he pretended to help me, so why not turn me over?
At least we were in a moving vehicle now, and if what Alex said was true then we were safe for the moment.
The longer we drove, the dimmer the florescent lights of Vegas became, until they were completely tucked away behind the sandy hills. I let out a yawn as I stared up at the sliver streams of stars, questioning my whole existence. Why was I here? I mean, if the star’s energy was being used to open the portal, then didn’t it mean I was as well? It was in me, therefore I would be responsible for the portal opening and ending the world.
Well, that was a heavy thought.
“You should get some sleep.”
I tore my eyes away from the stars and my very unsettling thoughts and found Alex watching me from the front seat.
“It’s late,” he said. “And we have a ways to go.”
“I’m not really tired,” I said, even though I yawned about ten times in the last few minutes.
“Well, you should try to get some sleep, anyway, just in case something happens.” He ran his fingers though his hair and turned away. “And I know you’re tired. I can feel it.”
This whole new “I-can-feel-your-tired-and-you-can-feel-I’m-tired” thing was weird. But I guess everything between Alex and I was a