Page 66 of Saints & Sinners

“How did you ever learn in this thing?”

“By trial and error... I had Silas as my instructor.”

She frowned... again and pried open the car door before sliding into the passenger seat, tightly gripping her coat. I couldn’t help but notice how her hands flexed, fidgeting as she tapped her fingers against her knee. I could tell she was starting to regret coming with me, and if anything, I didn’t want her accompanying me this weekend when it involved being near Riftkeeper’s.

After a few minutes of silence, I glanced over at her. “Do youwant to go back?”

She took a deep breath and then shook her head. “No, I don’t.” Her eyes snapped in my direction, the hint of sunset brightening her doe eyes. “Marnie is with Brandon and Silas covering for us, so that means I’m going with you, even if that means I’m risking my life by being in this god-awful car.”

I smirked to myself, turning the engine on. “You’re going to be fine, Bambi. Nothing’s going to happen to you.” I looked at her as I placed the car into first gear. “You’re tougher than you look. Though with those eyes of yours, you’d likely have half the world ready to step in before anyone even tried to hurt you. Including this car.”

She raised a brow at me, but the hint of a smile softened her expression just as I stepped on the gas.

The tires screeched as the old Nissan Micra lurched forward like it had just awakened from the dead.

Grace let out a noise—somewhere between a gasp and a strangled scream—as she clutched the dashboard. “Hunter! What the hell!”

I grinned, shifting into second gear. “Relax, Bambi. I know what I’m doing.”

“That’s exactly what someone says before something bad happens!”

She barely had time to finish her sentence before we hit a small ditch, sending her bouncing in her seat. Her head smacked against the roof with an audible thud, and she whirled toward me, brown eyes wide with pure, unfiltered horror.

I grimaced.

Shit.

“Sorry—”

“Just drive slower!”

My grip tightened around the wheel as we took a sharp turn onto a dirt road, and I listened to her, slowing down at a pace shewas comfortable with.

The second we hit a slightly smoother road; she exhaled a breath so deep it was like she had just survived a plane crash. Dramatic, but fair.

“I swear,” she muttered, fixing me with a deadpan stare, “if I ever agree to get in a car with you again, just assume I’m under duress.”

I chuckled, stretching one arm lazily over the steering wheel. “Maybe one day you’ll be the one driving instead.”

She hummed skeptically, staring out the window and for a while, we drove in complete silence. I tried not to look at her as the hum of the engine and swish of wet tires made their way through country roads but that was proving to be difficult.

“Do you ever wonder what it’d be like if things were... different?” she asked after a while, her voice soft but thoughtful as I glanced at her. She was still looking out the window, fascinated by just... trees.

“Different how?”

“Like if you weren’t tied to Celestia and all the rules.” She shrugged. “I know you were born an Ascendant, and I just happened to be raised by an angel, but... I just wonder what it would be like to not know this side of the world.”

I let out a low chuckle, shaking my head. “It’s a question that I don’t think we’ll ever know.”

She hummed, having hoped for another answer. Truthfully, I thought about it a lot, but I also knew that it was a life I was not given.

“So,” she asked, changing subjects. “When did you start sneaking out like this?”

“Long enough to know the shortcuts.” I reached a long, narrow road. “It feels good to break the rules sometimes.”

“Some angel-to-be you are.”

I chuckled, but it fell flat when I took in that word.Angel.

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