Page 65 of Rising

“Yeah, you got it, El.” It took everything in me to keep a tear from streaming down my face. I never had a little sister, but I’d always wanted one, and Elie had slowly placed herself in my life to become something quite similar to that for me.

I didn’t want her to fight, but she spent enough time around my troops to hold her own. Our lessons would help too, we hadn’t had them recently, a now regrettable decision. But she would never be defenseless, I’d taught her better than that. Her brother, Rex had picked up a thing or two from being around Seth’s calvary as well.

Within moments, she was around the corner and pulling me into a tight embrace. “Blueberry muffin, warmed of course, and your coffee.” My body went tense, caught off guard before relaxing into her hug. The smell of flour and honey meeting my nostrils as her hair tickled the side of my face.

She stepped back, motioning to the private dining space, “They’re all in there and Seth is in amood.”

“Isn’t he always?” I chuckled, grabbing my muffin and coffee before giving her one last glance over, taking in the image of her innocence and joy for life, and walked away.

* * *

It was still pretty earlyin the morning, making us the only ones there. The ambient lighting from the lanterns hanging from the windowless room, and smell of stale coffee fit the moods radiating off my friends who were gathered along our usual table.

Moe looked to be on the mend. She’d only taken one night off focusing on channeling more visions of the lab. Her once dull and lifeless dark hair now appeared silky and vibrant, while her pale tawny skin had regained its healthy glow. She sat beside Seth, just a few inches away, his body language showing he felt far from refreshed. He met my eyes moodily. His tan cowboy hat tipped back, hand bouncing against the crease of his dark jeans, his gun out on the table relieving the pressure of his holster from his side.

Reina wasn’t in much better shape, though the red lipstick smeared across her lips and lace rimmed tank top hid it well. The lack of confidence in our mission reflected more through her slouched posture than the outwardly put together appearance. Small giggles rang from her throat as she pushed into her brother’s shoulder, ignoring the grumble of his response to knock it off.

Riley turned to face me, causing his short locs to shake and sway with the movement. A small smile played on his lips, apologizing in advance and hoping I’d accept the situation for what it was. Necessary. I assumed he’d taken it upon himself to drag his insufferable roomie to our table since he’d be joining us on our journey north. Better than having to brief him on my own later or rely on secondhand information making its way to him accurately.

My eyes locked onto Alexiares as he tousled with his rings, sliding them up and down his fingers. I lingered over the symbols covering his knuckles, taking note of the letters for the first time.

H E L L

Squinting, I tried to make out the last letters. His fingers straightened, pushing into the table.

H E L L B E N T

Raising my gaze, I met his piercing stare, studying me intently with a ferocity that made me catch my breath. The coldness that usually marked his gaze when he looked at me was gone, replaced by a hint of something else, something softer. For a brief moment, we simply observed each other. A silent conversation passed between us before he caught himself and his eyes hardened once more into his usual glare.

Scoffing, I plopped down into the chair between him and Riley. Propping my coffee and muffin back a bit, I pulled my bag atop the table and reached for the map inside.

“Sour mood, Seth? You gonna share with the crowd or just glare off into the distance in peace?” I opened.

“In peace,” he answered curtly.

Reina reached across the table and grabbed my hand. “Don’t pay him any mind. He’s just pissy. I kept Moe up all night chatting instead of in-between the sheets.”

Moe kicked her under the table, face flushed, and flipped her off.

“It’s one thing to vent about your woman of the night problems, but it’s a whole ‘nother when yourefuseto take any advice. No, you’d rather circle the same damn drain over and over again,” Seth fired back.

She groaned dramatically, slamming herself back into her seat. “Oh! To be a woman!”

“Really, Reina, your dating woes are what you want to spend your last bit of time here worried about?” I chuckled, shaking my head. She was the youngest by only two years, her energy and vitality infectious, but the little things that often mattered to her the most never failed to make me chuckle.

She tossed her mousey brown hair over her shoulder and leaned in. “Uh no actually, but I’d be happy to catch you up when we go out tonight. Last hoorah and all.”

Alexiares muttered something about the priorities of our group being astounding under his breath and Riley smacked him in the back of the head nonchalantly.

“I think it’s a great idea,” Riley said, egging her on.

Reina’s mouth dropped open as she scanned excitedly around the table for more heads to nod.

“Of course ya do, Ril,” I retorted sarcastically, “Can’t we just get through our plans first, then worry about going out like filthy irresponsible animals later?”

Her head bobbled in agreement as I used the edges of everyone’s mugs to weigh down the ends of the map, showing an enlarged half of the continental United States. I wanted to start planning our route last night but was only able to get so far before needing Alexiares guidance.

“We’ll take some of Seth’s horses till we reach Montello,” I said looking to him and pointing to the edge of Nevada on the map, “from there, we could either go up to Twin Falls, recoup, stay for a night or two.Orwe can ditch the horses and cross into Utah.”

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