my thoughts. We had to hit some kind of home or motel or even gas station eventually. The trick was just staying awake.
I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in what felt like days. No rest outside of the drug-induced stupor they’d put us in. Maybe that’s why Priyanka hadn’t fought me to drive—she really thought it would only be minutes before I pulled off the road and tucked into sleep, too.
I glanced over at her again. The gun was in her lap, her hand resting on it. The phone I’d stolen from the soldier hadn’t had a signal at all—either there were no cell towers out here, or someone had figured out what had happened and immediately discontinued service to it. In the end, it didn’t matter. I’d probed what was left of its battery with my power as we’d climbed into the truck, but it had already died.
Awake, I thought. Just stay awake.
What my mind wanted was coffee. What I had was a radio.
The signal had started out dodgy, sputtering between songs and silence. It got stronger with each mile we gained, which made me hopeful that we were on the verge of finding civilization again. And even if we only got that one throwback station, it at least gave me something to do—Liam’s favorite trick to stay awake: singing.
I whispered the words to the REO Speedwagon song, but my head felt like it was a thousand pounds, and I couldn’t seem to grasp the melody.
“I’ve never heard this song before.”
The truck swerved into the other lane. My heart just about rocketed out of my chest, shredding itself against my rib cage. “Jesus!”
“Sorry!” he rasped out. “I should have—”
“No,” I interrupted, pressing a hand against my chest as I steered us back to the right lane. “It’s all right.” Adrenaline had dialed my nerves up to a hundred, and the way he was looking at me now, so concerned, filled me with this angry confusion. “You’re awake.”
Don’t be nice to me, I thought, forcing my gaze back onto the road. Don’t pretend.
“Where are we?” he asked, rubbing his forehead. He leaned forward, turning to get a better look at Priyanka, assessing her with those bright, worried eyes of his. She didn’t stir.
“No clue,” I said curtly, sitting up a little straighter. “I’m just driving until we find someplace that’ll let me make a phone call.”
“How long have I been out?” he asked, sounding like he might not want to know the answer.
“A few hours,” I said. “Long enough that I was starting to seriously doubt you’d ever wake up.”
He swore quietly. “Hours?”
“Hours. Priyanka explained about your migraines,” I told him. “How they’re triggered by stress. Is that true?”
“They hit me like a hammer and take me out, but it’s usually only for an hour at most.” Roman ran his scarred hand over his face again. “What else did Priyanka tell you?”
It sounded like he didn’t want to hear the answer. Of course. Maybe he’d be the easier one to drill for answers in the end.
“About your past with the Psion Ring,” I said, watching his face for his reaction. “How you were at the school for a ‘fresh start.’”
“The Psion Ring?” He leaned his head back against the seat, his mouth stretched into a tight grimace. I didn’t miss the glance he slid her way. “Then she told you too much.”
“Why?” I began, trying for playful. “Is it an I’d-tell-you-more-but-I’d-have-to-kill-you kind of operation?”
“Yes,” he said flatly. “The more you know, the more dangerous they become to you. There are…added risks to you since you work in the government.”
I ignored the cold prickle on the back of my neck, keeping that same joking tone. “Because they have spies in our ranks?”
“No, because you can report our involvement, and then we’d be taken in for questioning.”
I glanced at him, stunned. “I won’t do that.”
“Why wouldn’t you?” he asked, staring through the windshield. “It doesn’t matter what you’d want to do personally—it would be your duty. Your responsibility.”
I don’t know why that rankled me. “I’m capable of working for the government and doing a little bit of off-the-books help if I have to. If it’s true you want a fresh start and you left that life behind, then I have no reason to say anything.”
But that wasn’t exactly true, was it? The government had been searching for any leads on the Psion Ring for years. Knowing I had something potentially helpful would gnaw at me. Maybe I would feel like