Chaper 172
The SUV was sitting in front of Brandon’s building, just as Aaron had promised, and the keys were waiting for us at the front desk. I took them and went out to the vehicle while Brandon ran to the elevator to go get his stuff. I decided me sitting in the Enclave might make him move faster than if I tagged along.
I turned the car on to heat it up a little bit. It was a little chilly outside, and the thought of what we were doing was making me nervous. I sent Lucy a quick text to let her know I couldn’t talk right now but that I’d get back to her as soon as I could, and I drank more water than I probably should’ve waiting for Brandon to arrive. The idea of going to the bathroom on a plane or train was not appealing to me, so I made a mental note not to take the rest of the bottle of Ozarka with me on the trip.
Brandon burst out of the apartment building like a blur, and I probably wouldn’t have even seen him if he hadn’t had to slow down to keep from crashing into the car door. “Impressive,” I said as he slid into the driver’s seat.
“Thank you,” he replied, mimicking a superhero or something. I honestly thought he sounded a little bit too much like Shane. I cracked up as he tossed his duffle bag into the back seat, put on his seatbelt, and asked, “Okay, how do we get to the train station?”
I pulled it up on Google maps, and we headed in that direction. Both of us were quiet on the way there, and I didn’t know if he was contemplating how much trouble he could get in for this or just being careful of the KC traffic. I imagined Pryor, Oklahoma, probably only had a few traffic lights compared to this metropolis.
We made pretty good time, and Brandon pulled into a parking spot at the Amtrak station just a few minutes before the train was scheduled to leave. I knew it would take over a full day to make the trip, so I’d booked the next available departure time for myself. I realized I needed to get Brandon a ticket, though, so we hurried out of the vehicle toward the ticket booth, credit card in hand. Luckily, the line was pretty short.
“I can pay for that, you know,” he said, looking around like he was expecting my sister to jump out at any moment.
“I know,” I said shrugging, though I really had no idea if he could or not. “But why should either one of us pay for it when my sister can? She has an actual Monet hanging in her apartment. I think she can handle it.” It was true. I’d found that out the hard way, after I’d touched it yesterday afternoon, and she nearly ripped my hand off. It was our turn, and I told the booking agent the information to get Brandon on the same train as I was on. It only took him a few moments before he was handing me the ticket and the receipt. I also asked him to print my own ticket out, which he did with a smile. The whole time, Brandon shifted nervously from one foot to the other, and I noticed his hand was on his stomach, which seemed odd to me, but I didn’t ask what was going on. It reminded me of Cadence the night before. But then, he had just eaten three breakfasts at the same time.
I turned to walk away, toward the train platforms, and Brandon grabbed ahold of my arm, though not roughly. “How did you get your sister’s credit card?”
Instinctively, I pulled away, not sure of his intention. “She keeps an emergency card in her freezer. Now, come on. We need to board.”
“But—what if she uses the credit card to track us?” Brandon asked. I couldn’t believe he seemed to be hurrying to keep up with me considering what he was.
“She won’t notice until it’s too late,” I assured him. “Let’s go. I’ll feel much better once we are on the train. If anyone from LIGHTS followed us, they’ll be out of luck once the train pulls out of the station.” He was still looking over his shoulder, which made me turn and look, too. I didn’t see anyone I recognized, although I did notice one creepy looking guy who seemed to be staring at us, but then his eyes flickered back down to the newspaper he was holding and I decided I was paranoid and kept walking. I wondered if Brandon had noticed, too.
“I bet your sister could find a way to stop the train if she really wanted to,” he muttered as he followed me to the loading platform.
“She’s not going to leave Philly to come and chase us down, and by the time she figures out where we are, we’ll be disembarking at…” I glanced back down at my ticket, “Thirtieth Street Station.”
“And a few hours after that, we’ll both be dead,” Brandon said sarcastically as we headed up the steps to board the train.
“Oh, come on, Brandon! Be adventurous!” I couldn’t help but chide him a little bit. We needed to focus on the fact that we were actually doing what we wanted to, or what I wanted to anyway. I was finally going to be involved in a hunt, even if I had to force my way into this situation and was likely going to make my sister angrier than she’d ever been in her life. But that was not the positive, so I pushed those thoughts aside.
“I’m still in the middle of my last adventure,” Brandon mumbled. “You be adventurous—I’ll be planning my new, new future.”
“It’ll be fine,” I assured him. “She’ll be mad, but she’ll get over it. She likes you. She loves me. We’ll survive!” I had to hope my words were true because the alternative would be a disaster. But I really felt like, between Jamie, Aurora, and possibly even Aaron, I’d have enough people on my side to keep Cadence from murdering me. And I was prepared to take full responsibility so Brandon wouldn’t get in any trouble. I hoped.
“I’m glad you’re so certain,” he replied, tossing his gym bag over his shoulder as we slid down the aisle. “I just hope it’s all worth it.”
“It will be,” I assured him once again. “It will be.”
We took our seats and I was relieved to see they were fairly comfortable. I settled back, sticking my bag underneath the seat in front of me in case I should need anything, and took a look around. I didn’t see anything or anyone unusual and thought maybe I’d actually get away with this. I had my phone still, and Brandon’s, not that he’d be using it, a book, a few snacks, and a really long time to think about what a mess I might’ve just gotten us into—though I refused to think about that.
I glanced over at Brandon, and he had his arms crossed and was looking out the window. In his reflection, I could see his eyebrows were knit together, and he looked strikingly like his father just then. I wondered what Elliott would say if he knew what I was doing and realized he’d be livid. I swallowed hard and tried not to think about it. Surely, he’d understand this was me seeking that open air, the freedom he’d showed me in the Lamborghini on the highway that day.
My stomach told me otherwise, and I wondered if Brandon’s was still bothering him. I couldn’t blame him if it was. Nerve-wracking didn’t begin to describe what I’d just gotten us into. I was thankful he was with me, though. It would’ve been harder not to chicken out on my own. As the train pulled out of the station, I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or start to question my own sanity. Brandon turned and looked at me. “I guess there’s no changing our minds now,” he said.
“Nope,” I agreed, thankful my parents would think I was still in Kansas City, assuming Cadence hadn’t bothered to call and tell them I’d be headed home. I didn’t think she would. She’d assume they’d realize I was coming home early when I got there. So… they wouldn’t be worried, at least. I was worried enough for all of us. I did wonder how long it would take before Cadence realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be but figured she’d be too busy to think about me for a while. Just in case, I turned my phone completely off, thinking it was possible that Christian might know how to track it, and did the same to Brandon’s. He made a sort of kitten mewing sound when I pulled it out. “Sorry,” I muttered, putting it back in my pocket. “You can have it when we get there.”
“Yes, Mother,” he replied, turning his attention back out the window. As Missouri whizzed by out the window, I settled back into my seat again, satisfied that at least they couldn’t say I wasn’t passionate. I just hoped they didn’t end up having to say it on my tombstone.
