Page 87 of Captured Immune

“Like how your uncleborrowedme?”

Ouch.She might as well have shanked me with a serrated knife straight through my chest. It probably would have hurt less.

I’m ashamed to call Victor my uncle. Before, I excused his cruelty toward me because I thought he was doing good things for the world. Now that I know he’s just a piece-of-shit double agent, I have no excuses for him. I want nothing to do with him, and I’d appreciate it if Arella would stop calling him my uncle. That man is not family to me, and he hasn’t been for a long fucking time.

Arella crosses her arms over her front. “We’re not stealing a car.”

I wave adon’t worry about ithand through the air. “I’ll pay ’em back later.”

“How?”

“When this is all over, I’ll come back and leave them cash on their front step for whatever this car is worth, plus triple.” I pause and wait for her to give in. When she doesn’t, I sigh exasperatedly.

We don’t have any other options, and she knows it. She’s just so mad at me that she’s being difficult on purpose. Unfortunately, we’re running out of darkness and I can’t keep talking nicey-nice to her anymore, so my tone comes out firm. “Look, Arella. The sun’s about to come up, so we can’t fly on this tire for much longer. We need a car so we can go find a Healer who can fix your arm. The closest Healer isn’t for at least another few hours—by car. I’d suggest we walk, but that’ll take us days, and I can’t wait that long because I’m pretty sure I’ve got a broken rib, and this shit fucking hurts.” I point to my right side, where my throbbing pain is coming from.

Ignoring the misery, I continue my rant. “I’m exhausted from using my powers, both from flying us over a whole-ass forest and from fighting off all those dickheads trying to kill me. Now, can wepleasesteal this car so we can get the hell outta here before the family that lives inside that house wakes up and calls the police?”

Arella softens her defensive stance and gapes at me. “You have a broken rib?”

“I think so. Maybe a few.”

Her jaw drops. “A few? Trey, why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not important.”

“Not important? Not even when I was using you as a chair earlier? You winced every time I moved even a little bit, and you didn’t think it was important to tell me you have broken ribs?”

I shrug, and it feels like fire in my ribs to do so. “I’m fine.”

“You’renotfine. We need to get you to a hospital.”

It’s my turn to gape at her. “Are you serious? We’re not going to a fucking hospital. That’s like putting a beacon on our heads to tell the Royals exactly where we are. We’re gonna go find a Healer who can fix me up faster than any hospital can. Now, as much as I enjoy standing around arguing with you, we’ve gotta get going.” I hook a thumb toward the Subaru. “You gonna let me steal this car or not?”

She ponders it for a moment, then says, “Fine, but we’re not stealingthiscar.”

“You got somethin’ against Subarus?”

“No. I have something against stealing from a family with small children.” She points through the back window.

My eyes follow her finger to two car seats strapped into the back. “What’s your point?”

“It’s expensive to have babies. This family is off-limits.”

Our lives are in danger, and of course Arella still cares more about some children she’s never met than she does herself. She’s been pregnant for, what, a few weeks? And she’s already thinking like a mother. I wish I could say I’m bothered by this, but it only adds to the many reasons why I love this woman.

Reluctantly, I grunt and return my ass to the tire. My side burns the entire time I bend and adjust to sit comfortably—well, as comfortably as I can get.

I spread my legs, then gesture for her to join me.

Arella hesitates. “How should I sit so I won’t hurt you?”

“The way you were before, facing me. Much better than when you leaned your back against me.”

Once she’s back on top of me, I offer her my hand to put hers in. She understands why without me having to say it. After she tells me she’s ready, I fly us over the treetops again.

Two empty roads over, we approach another house.

I’m about to land when Arella says, “We can’t steal from these people either.”

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