Page 34 of Magic's Rise

A pang of regret goes through me knowing that I’ll miss most of the celebration, but there will always be next year, and all the years after. What we’re doing is more important than playing games and eating yummy food.

Tris peers out the side window. “Say goodbye to Hartford Cove.”

As the small town vanishes from view, I can’t help but wonder what awaits us in Silver Hollow. It’s not the first time I’ve set off from home not knowing what the end of my journey would hold, and it probably won’t be the last.

The knowledge fills me with a mix of excitement and dread.

What if we fail? What if we can’t figure out what’s poisoning the barrier? What if the Silver Hollow coven refuses to speak to me about the werewolf amulets?

Haut’s hand covers my thigh. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I lace our fingers together. “I forgot to use the bathroom, and I need to pee.”

Haut’s curses mingle with Tris’s howls of laughter as we turn onto the highway, leaving home for the unknown.

OF DARTS & SNARLS

As Haut pulls into the parking lot of a superstore, I wiggle in place. “I can’t believe you passed three exits with gas stations before coming here.”

Lips quirked, he drives up and down the rows searching for a spot. “You were warned I wouldn’t be stopping for at least two hours. Should have gone at the station.”

“Be grateful this vehicle belongs to Barron, or I’d have peed on the seat already.” My hand drops to my belt buckle, and I undo it as soon as Haut parks in the middle of the lot.

The second the van stops, I shove open the door and bolt out.

“Hey, wait for the rest of us!” Haut shouts after me.

Ignoring him, I race past the row of parked cars and barely stop to look both ways before racing between two slow-moving vehicles at the crossroad.

They honk, but my bladder knows no fear. I nearly slam into the automated doors when they don’t part fast enough, and then warm air rushes over the top of my head as I make it into the store.

At the entrance, my head swings right, then left, and I see the sign for the bathrooms near the coffee stand at the front.

Thank goodness whoever designed the layout didn’t hide the restrooms at the back to encourage impulse buying.

Holding it for all I’m worth, I race down a short hall, spot the door with the skirt, and shove inside. The first two stalls I check reveal an unflushed toilet and no wipes, but the third one is just right.

With a massive sigh of relief, my bare ass meets the seat, and I release the floodgates.

Stupid Haut, and his stupid two-hour rule. The first sixty-minutes out from Hartford Cove were bearable, but when I started doing the pee-pee dance, I thought he’d show mercy.

Silly me for forgetting the man is pure evil.

The sound of the door opening fills the bathroom, and I tense, conscious of the fact that I’m taking up the only usable stall. Then water trickles at the sink, followed by giggles.

The newcomers came to primp, not to use the toilets.

“Do you think we have a chance?” says a feminine voice.

“Only one way to find out. We don’t see eye candy like them around here often.” The faucet shuts off. “Dibs on the sandy-haired one with the pink collar. Something about that gets my panties wet.”

Alarm jolts through me. No way are they not talking about Tris.

“That’s fine. I’m aiming for the tall one with the cowboy hat, but I’d take any of them for a ride.” A spritzing sound drifts from the sink, and a flood of floral perfume fills the air. “Should we call Becky and Candice? Even numbers are better odds.”

How dare she pick Levi and leave Haut as a runner-up. Has she no taste?

“Let’s nab our faves first, then let the others chat up the rejects.” Heels click on the tiles, and the door closes.

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