When Archer was once again behind the wheel, they started doling out drinks and snacks. Daemon handed me a small green bag of Funyuns. My breath was going to be kicking. “Thank you.”
“Just don’t try to kiss me for a while,” he said.
I smiled, and it felt weird to do so, but his eyes glimmered when I did, and I knew the no-kissing rule wasn’t going to last very long. Not when he had that look in his eyes.
“Did you hear anything interesting in the convenience store?” I asked, curious.
Daemon and Dawson exchanged a quick glance. I couldn’t decipher it, but I was immediately suspicious when Daemon shook his head. “Nothing important.”
My eyes narrowed.
He arched a brow at me.
“Daemon…”
He sighed. “There was a TV on behind the counter, airing live from Vegas. It was muted, though, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying.”
“Nothing else?”
There was a pause. “A few people checking out were talking about aliens and how they always suspected that the government was covering it up. Something stupid about a UFO crashing in Roswell back in the fifties. I honestly stopped listening.”
I relaxed a little. That was good news. At least there was no mention of lynch mobs hunting down aliens. We drove most of the day, but the more miles we put between Vegas and ourselves didn’t really ease the tension. It would be a long time before any of us was truly comfortable.
The first things I noticed about northern Idaho were the tall fir trees and the majestic slope of the mountain range in the distance. The town near the large, deep blue lake was small in comparison to Vegas but bustling. We passed an entrance to a resort, and I tried to pay attention to the directions Luc was giving Archer, but I sucked at directions. He lost me at “turn right at the intersection.”
Another fifteen minutes or so and we were at the edge of the national forest. And if I thought Petersburg was in the middle of nowhere, I obviously hadn’t seen anything yet.
The Dodge bumped along a narrow dirt road crowded with firs and other trees that looked perfect for hanging Christmas decorations.
“I think we might get eaten by a bear,” Daemon commented as he stared out the window.
“Well, that might happen, but you won’t have to worry about too many Arum.” Luc twisted in his seat and flashed a tired grin. “This place has natural quartzite deposits but no Luxen that I’m aware of.”
Daemon nodded. “Good stuff.”
“The Arum…do you think they just happened to show up?” Dee asked.
“Not at all,” Archer replied, looking in the rearview mirror for a second. He smiled a little, I think for Beth. “Daedalus has some Arum on the back burner, called out when Luxen…step out of line. There was this issue in Colorado, right before they caught up with you guys outside of Mount Weather. Some lady in a wrong place, wrong time situation, and an Arum was brought in.”
“You met him,” Luc said, glancing back at Daemon. “You know, the Arum at my club you wanted to go all He-Man on? Yeah, he was called in by the DOD to take care of one of the problems.”
I looked at Daemon, who was sporting a major frownie face. “He didn’t look like he was taking care of the problem.”
Luc’s smile turned part mysterious, part sad. “Depends on how you look at taking care of things.” He paused, turning back around. “That’s what Paris would say.”
I settled back in the crook of Daemon’s arm, planning on asking him about that later. The vehicle slowed down on a bend, and parts of a log cabin peeked out from the firs—a very large, very expensive log cabin that was two floors and the size of two houses.
Luc’s bar must have been doing amazingly well.
The vehicle coasted to a stop before a garage door. Luc hopped out and loped around the front of the car. Stopping in front of the doors, he flipped open a keypad and entered a code with quick, nimble fingers. The door opened smoothly.
“Come on in,” he called, ducking under the door.
I couldn’t wait to get out of the vehicle as it rolled into the garage. My butt was numb and my legs a little shaky when I put my feet on the cement. Getting the blood moving again, I walked out of the garage and into the sunlight. It was significantly cooler for August, probably in the low seventies. Or was it September? I had no idea what month it was, let alone the day.
But it was beautiful here. The only noise was the chirping of birds and the rustling of small woodland creatures. The sky was a nice shade of blue. Yeah, it was pretty here and reminded me of…home.
Daemon came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned into me, resting his chin atop my head. “Don’t run off like that.”
“I didn’t run off. I just walked out of the garage,” I said, placing my hands on his strong forearms.
His head slid down, and the stubble on his cheek tickled me. “Too far for right now.”
Any other time I would’ve read him the riot act, complete with the diva crown, but after everything, I understood the why behind it.
I turned in his arms, forcing mine under his and around his waist. “Is everyone already investigating the house?”
“Yep. Luc was talking about one of us going back into town later and getting some food, before it gets too late. Looks like we’re all going to be holed up here for a while.”
I squeezed him hard. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I know.” He reached up and smoothed my hair back off my face. “But only Dawson and I can change the way we look. And I’m not letting him go by himself or letting Dee go.”