Page 127 of Gambler's Fallacy

“Don’t apologize. The fuckheads responsible for hurting her are dead,” he says.

Seven looks down at the desert floor. “I dragged her to the garage. I?—”

“And we’ll talk about that when we’re back home,” Vortex interrupts. “Let’s get out of this heat.”

I pull my sweat-soaked shirt off and move toward the driver side door. Vortex glares at me, but I hold out my hand to him.

“It’s going to get dark, and we have no directions. I’m our best shot at finding the road again,” I say.

Vortex grumbles and passes his keys to me.

“Do you want to sit next to Vortex or Caleb?” I ask Seven. “Or you can take the passenger seat and make the two of them squeeze into the back.”

“I, um…” Seven looks between the two of them.

“I’ll sit in the front so you can sit by Caleb,” Vortex says firmly, kissing Seven again. “I’ll help Havoc navigate.”

I almost snap that I don’t need his help, but then I realize what he’s doing. For all that we share Seven, there’s a bond between Seven and Caleb that none of us can ignore.

“Okay,” Seven says, and I can’t tell if he’s relieved or not.

“Take me with you,” Earl begs, but Vortex pushes him away when he approaches the SUV.

“Nope. You made your bed, now you lie in it,” Vortex says.

Caleb and Seven get into the SUV, the door shutting on them. I get into the driver’s seat and start it up, glad that it’s still in working condition despite the damage it took. Earl desperately tries to go for the passenger door, but Vortex shoves him once more before climbing in.

As soon as all the doors are closed, I lock them.

“Okay. Hand me the compass,” I say to Vortex as I adjust the seat and mirrors. “We got here by driving north, so let’s hope south will get us back. Keep an eye on your phone, too. As soon as we’ve got signal again, we want to make use of it.”

I see Seven leaning against Caleb in the rearview mirror.

I smile when I see how gently Caleb kisses the top of his head.

I might not always see eye to eye with Caleb, but we’re on the same page when it comes to Seven.

I’m glad Seven didn’t have to do any of this alone.

TWENTY-NINE

SEVEN

We pullup to a motel with a big “vacancy” sign that’s off of the desert highway. The sun has set by now, and it’s significantly colder than it had been a few hours ago.

Vortex goes to the check-in area to get us our room.

I stick by Caleb, feeling exhausted and gross after our time in the desert. I’m shaky, too, even though I’d had two bottles of water and a granola bar. Maybe it’s emotional instead of physical. I don’t know, but I’m not mentioning how I feel to them because they’ll want to take me to a hospital instead of letting me rest with them.

I don’t want to be away from them.

“I’m okay,” I say automatically when Caleb levels me with a look. He doesn’t believe me, but he doesn’t question it, either, thankfully.

“Showers first,” Caleb announces once we’re inside the small motel room.

To my dismay, there are two queen sized beds. That means we can’t fit more than two people in each. It means I’ll have to choose who I want to sleep next to, and the idea of having to choose makes me feel even shakier. I wantallof them.

“Seven, you want to shower first?” Havoc asks. He still hasn’t puthis shirt back on. “We can leave the door open while you do. Unless you want privacy. That’s fine too.”

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