Page 60 of Angel of Water & Shadow

Catching my ghost-white reflection in the side mirror as I opened the door, I did look like I was about to face a teratorn, not a gift. I climbed in and tossed my bag—which thankfully was still in the classroom when I got there this morning after I’d left it mid-lecture the day prior—to the carpeted floor as he handed me the present.

“You lost yours during our little chase.” His words barely reached my ears as I opened the box and weighed the headphones in my hands. They weren’t bent and worn in and covered in surf stickers, or even the color I’d pick. But they…they were perfect.

I looped the black headband around my neck and my shoulders immediately relaxed, like they had missed the familiar imprint.

“Thank you,” I breathed. I’d been bummed when I’d dropped mine yesterday, but with everything that had happened, aside from pouting and scanning the mountain road for a flash of their deep teal, I hadn’t even had time to reconcile their loss. It was such a sweet and thoughtful gesture, and I could’ve just…kissed him.

“You’re welcome.” Ryder’s eyes brightened as he took me in. “I have one more surprise for you. Hopefully you’ll still be thanking me.”

I put the headphones next to me and reclined against the padded leather seat. “Oh great, what does that mean?”

“You’ll see.” He nodded to my seatbelt. “Buckle up. You know, that’s a very bad habit of yours.” Yeah, then why did he make it sound so good?

I tugged the clip, snapped it into place, and teased back, “With you behind the wheel, no kidding.”

He shifted into drive with a closemouthed smile that squinted his eyes. The fog from that morning had me in my favorite sweatshirt, but now I was overheating. I shed the extra layer to a peach racerback tank, the wind fanning the flush from my cheeks and whipping my hair in my face. A small stretch of eucalyptus and oaks passed by in a flurry between off-white weatherworn buildings.

We stopped at an intersection that led to the highway. My brows furrowed in curiosity.

Sensing my confusion, he said, “We’re not going far,” and turned inland instead.

“Good, ’cause I have a little under an hour until therapy.” My doctor’s office was about ten minutes away, but I had no idea where he was taking me—or what we’d be doing. Only a quick recollection of last night’s activities had my mind, and my pulse, racing.

Before I could ask any more questions, or get any more ideas, he turned onto a residential street, slowed to the curb, and parked. I crossed my arms, suspicious at the nervous stroke of his thumb against the braided steering wheel, the slow unfurling of his spine.

“Spit it out. What are we doing here?”

He answered with a hint of a smile. “Welcome to driver’s ed.”

“You’re not serious.” My jaw fell open. “You want to teach me how to drive?”

“If you’re going to be running from demons, you need to learn how to get away.” He leaned in, chin almost grazing mine. “Your lack of driver’s education almost killed us last time.”

I shot back against my seat. “That wasn’t all there was to blame!”

He crooked an eyebrow.

I sighed. Indeed, with a dash of luck and a bit of fool’s hope, we had narrowly escaped the teratorn. Realistically, I should’ve been the one driving us to safety and he should’ve been the one driving the arrows into its heart. I’d done neither.

And yet somehow, I’d been able to channel Source, and I had landed the kill shot. I had met the monster’s jaundiced stare, had watched its ruptured blood vessels spurt…

Reading my bewildered expression, he added, “Don’t worry, we’ll get to target practice.” A breeze kissed my burning chest as he cracked open the door, and it fluttered in the hair tucked behind his ear. “But first you need to learn the basics. So, take the wheel, baby.”

My fingers trembled as I scooched into his seat and placed them at ten and two. He was right. Even if a part of me died of embarrassment…I needed to be prepared. No more running. No more hiding. No more defecting from the truth.

“You’re so stiff.” He strummed my shoulders through the open window. “Loosen up a bit. It’s not like you have a demon behind you. Yet.”

My raised middle finger volleyed his wink. “Thanks, that helps a lot.”

“Alright, check your mirrors.” He hovered just outside the door, resting his forearms on the window’s base. My eyes, more gray than blue today, darted from the way his muscles flexed against the metal and across the three reflective surfaces.

“Put your left foot on the clutch and your right foot on the brake,” he continued. “You do know which pedal the brake is, right?”

I hoped my glare made it obvious I did.

“Good girl.” It came with an explorative gaze that started with the pedals and followed my bare legs, ending at the waistband of my shorts. “Turn the ignition.”

I did. He left my side and walked around the hood, the truck dipping as he slid onto the passenger seat. The heat in my cheeks flared despite the fresh air circulating throughout the cab.

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