Page 12 of A Deeper Blue
“What do you think they want?” asked Azure.
He hesitated, and Azure’s common sense went off like a claxon only a moment ahead of her second sight as he lied. “Who knows? Probably the usual—die wolfy die.”
Darkness hit like someone had flipped a switch. The fat, full moon hung in the sky where moments earlier had been sunshine. There was no sensation to this vision. It was like being trapped behind glass. A ghost in her own future.
“OK, yeah, I lied! I know why they’re after me. There it is. You can’t trust me. I never should have taken you with me in the first place. You should leave now! Just go!”
The Rafe in her vision was yelling and waving his arms in a field someplace, his face painted in harsh contrasts of light and shadow by the full moon above him.
Azure blinked, and the sun returned, slipping into place as if someone had pressed thenext slidebutton. Azure was so startled that she didn’t say anything.
“But trust me, or at least trust the wolf powers.” Rafe tapped his nose. “I got this.”
Azure nodded blankly, too stunned to formulate a response. She couldn’t even tell how far in the future she’d just been.
“When is the next full moon,” she asked as he got back on the bike. Her throat felt tight. What was she supposed to do with this information?
“Another night or two probably,” he said, twisting slightly to give her an odd look. “Why? Do you have some naked witchy rituals you need to do?”
“You wish,” she said.
“Yeah, I do,” he said, restarting the bike.
They drove on a little further and then turned down what looked like a private road. They stopped briefly to consult the map. The dots were still mostly clustered along the freeway, but a few groups had splintered off and begun to fan out along the side roads.
“I can get us past this group,” said Rafe, tapping the map. “I know the road I need. We’ll pop up down here.” He pointed to the freeway on the other side of one of the main clusters.
“This group is going to move toward us,” said Azure pointing at a cluster of three.
“Maybe,” he said with a shrug. “I’m not sure how you can tell.”
“It’s my spell,” lied Azure.
“Then we should stop talking and start riding,” he said.
“OK,” she agreed.
The second sight rarely showed her things that were irrelevant, but she couldn’t always interpret the meaning. Was she supposed to leave him? Had it been a warning?
They had just rounded the edge of a lone gas station, an outpost off a freeway on-ramp, when Azure felt a strong nudge. She grabbed Rafe’s arm and leaned into him.
“We need to stop here!” she yelled over the growl of the motor, feeling a nudge.
He frowned but pulled up behind the air tank and killed the motor. He turned in his seat, about to speak, when they both heard the heavy growl of three motorcycles.
“Give me a sec,” he murmured. His head ducked down, and he closed his eyes. She repressed a desire to run her fingers through his hair. She was startled by how badly she wanted to touch him. She wanted the closeness from the previous night back. His spell was a simple one, meant to provide the most basic protection—don’t see me. The spell settled over them like a blanket, and she tried not to wiggle. Someone else’s magic always felt odd. The Warlocks slowed down to scan the front of the gas station, eyeing the parking lot before pulling back onto the freeway. Azure watched the retreating Warlock patches and felt a wave of relief.
Rafe grinned at her.
“What’d I tell you, sweetheart? We got this.”
Azure nodded. He was right. They had successfully slipped the net. The Warlocks were heading in the opposite direction. But how long would it take them to start hunting again? And why were they stalking Rafe to begin with? What was he hiding? How could she trust him when she knew he was lying?
The transition between day and night was only slightly less startling this time.
“You have to leave now before you get hurt.”
Same moonlit night, same Rafe, with fear all through his voice and agony etched in his face. He was begging. She blinked, and she was back with Rafe at the gas station. He was lying. He was terrified she would get hurt, but he was lying. On the back of his motorcycle with the afternoon sun on her back, Azure shivered. What kind of trouble was he in?
