Page 41 of Mate
I quickly cast around for a good answer. The infamous sat phone? My sports drinks? Neither is worth driving hours for. Maybe the strong painkillers that Dr. Henshaw gave mefor when things get really bad, Serena. And they will. But I cannot tell Koen about them, just like I cannot tell him what I really want to go back for.
So I lie. “My plushie.”
“Your plushie.”
“Yeah. Ana gave it to me.”
“Did she, now?”
“She bought it for me with her monthly allowance.” Which is nearly as high as my salary used to be. Misery isnotstrict with that child. “I sleep with it every night.”
He looks at me like he’s considering laying down a tarp and butchering me on it.
“It’s important to me,” I continue weakly. “What? You don’t believe that a family can be a girl and her pink stuffed penguin?”
“I emphatically do not.”
“You’re so bigoted.”
“Glad you finally noticed.”
There’s no point in arguing with him. I perform a huge, dramatic yawn and let my head fall sideways against the window, pretending to take a nap. His snort spells out how little I’m fooling him, but I don’t care. As much as I’d love to stab him, his scent is safe and warm, as shrouding and all-consuming as the Douglas fir.
I try to forget the cabin— above all, I try not to think about the letters I stuffed at the bottom of the dresser. And after a while, I sink into the first restful sleep I’ve had in a long time.
CHAPTER 11
Unknown number:You are now officially in charge of my sister, so be aware that if she gets so much as a skinned knee, I will fuck up your life. I will steal your identity and ruin your credit score. I will plant evidence of white-collar crimes on your computer. I will take control of your webcam and film you while you’re picking your nose. I will hack your pack directory and impersonate you and send everyone emails about how much you’d love for them to come over and snuggle with you. I will sell your information to the dark web and clone your credit cards and make donations to pro-cancer charities in your name and if you ever buy a smart car
Unknown number: sssli999f
Unknown number: lgi64ssss99f
Unknown number:
Unknown number: 00kk9—
Unknown number: Sorry. Ana stole my phone. Where was I?
THE COARSE CARESS OF A PALM AGAINST MY CHEEK WAKES MEup, a strand of hair tucked behind my ear. My eyes flutter open and search for the dashboard clock. I napped for over three hours.
“Holy shit.”
“Told you. Sleep deprived.” Koen’s hand is gripping my headrest, so far from my face, I must have dreamed of his touch. Which is on-brand for my recent maelstrom of psychosexualneuroses. The fact that my stomach is not twisting and turning, even though I’ve been abhorring all forms of physical contact, is proof of it.
“Where are we?” I ask, sliding out of the car. A few hundred feet from us, past the evergreen shrubbery peppering the shoreline and a sandy beach that looks untouched by man, there’s a lake. Or . . .
I inhale once, deeply. Again. Salt. Sea. “Is that a river? The coast?”
“An estuary. If you follow the shore all the way north to the end of the inlet, that’s where the ocean starts. Follow me.”
He walks uphill, opposite to the water. I linger for a moment, listening to the seagulls soaring overhead and squinting at the splashes of the dolphins— no,seals— in the distance. Then I hurry after him. “Are we in the Den?”
“Yes. Olympia, Humans call it.”
I glance around, taking advantage of the slight elevation of the terrain. We’re on top of a rolling hill, and below us is what looks like— no, itisa city. It sprawls for miles, gently following the curves of the river, spilling farther inland. There are clusters of buildings, roads, electric poles, bridges. It could house thousands and thousands of people. But it’s also disarmingly . . .
“Horizontal,” I murmur.
