Page 35 of A Deeper Blue
Rafe burst out laughing. “At least seventy-five years,” he said. “And sometimes not even then.”
“I suppose we should probably get going,” said Azure, not moving from the sleeping bag.
“Probably,” he agreed, looking down at the sword.
Reluctantly, she sat up and pulled their trusty map out of the saddlebag.
“We’re running out of map,” said Azure, unfolding it. “It runs out at the edge of the Mt. Hood National Forest.”
“I’m going to miss it,” said Rafe. “I like knowing where all of my enemies are.”
“Me too,” said Azure, but her voice petered out. “Are there any other roads to Portland?” she asked, looking up at him.
“No,” said Rafe. “Not without back-tracking a huge chunk. Why?”
She held out the map. There was a cluster of at least twenty dots between them and Mt. Hood.
“Well,” said Rafe. “At least now I know what I need the sword for.”
The first rays of the sun were starting to break through the trees. It gave everything an unearthly glow, but he still thought Azure looked pale.
“Then we’ll backtrack,” she said.
“We’ll go forward,” he said.
“We don’t have to,” she said. “Everything is a choice.”
“But the second sight says to go forward, doesn’t it?”
Azure’s hands clenched on the edge of the map. “It says we have to get to the summit. It doesn’t say how. If we go this way, we’ll run into a blockade.”
Rafe nodded. “If you were you on your own, would you go?”
“Didn’t we just get through discussing how I may not be the best judge?” asked Azure impatiently.
“No, we discussed how you and your sister both think risking your lives for what you believe in is the right thing to do.”
Azure let out a snort of air. “We don’t know what we’re facing, other than it’s a lot of fucking Warlocks.”
“We’ll get closer, and then we’ll figure it out.”
“That is not a plan! We have to know what they’re doing. Can we distract them? Can we get by them? We need more information.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “We’re saying the same thing. This is just step one. Once we get closer, we’ll stop. We’ll do some reconnaissance. We may be able to lure some of them away. We may be able to separate some, or we may be able to slip by undetected. But you can only do one step at a time. I trust us to figure it out. I trust you.”
He also trusted that destiny would not have led him to Azure only to take her away. This plan was risky, but he believed that they could triumph.
Azure took a deep breath. “You are a man of great faith,” she said primly.
Rafe chuckled. “Get dressed, baby blue. Time to face our destiny.”
“I hate destiny,” said Azure.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “She’s kind of a bitch, and she complains about cow ponds a lot.”
Azure giggled as Rafe stood up. He tucked the sword into the side pocket on the saddlebag as she pulled on her jeans and boots. The sword magically seemed to fit and be secure. Magically was probably the right word. He got on, and Azure climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around him and sliding those long legs right alongside his. He grinned as she tucked her head down, pressing her face between his shoulder blades, hugging him tight. Rafe wanted to hold onto this feeling forever. Because this was the moment, he knew that destiny hadn’t forgotten him. Everything he’d ever wanted was still out there. Or rather, everything he wanted was right there on the back of his bike.
This girl who wanted to plan everything down to the last detail and didn’t like things messy—the girl who disapproved of every part of him. That was the girl for him. Because she was also the girl who was loyal, who wanted a family, and thought puppies were fine, who strove with every inch of her being to make things better, the girl who was going to save the world. She was the girl who fucked him like the world was ending, and that was the way she wanted to go out. She was the girl for him.
