Page 2 of The Warlock's Kiss

Though the surrounding woods were beautiful, they made it difficult to spot connecting roads and turn-offs until you were already driving past them. Adalynn would’ve preferred to park the car back on some logging road or backwoods trail—out of sight of the main road—but that wasn’t feasible when the engine finally cut out. It wasn’t worth the time and energy to try to push the car off the road.

There are abandoned cars all over. What’s one more? If someone else finds it, they’ll check for supplies and gas and move on when they don’t find anything.

She guided the drifting car onto the narrow dirt shoulder. Rocks and gravel crunched beneath the tires. She winced; it was one thing to make some noise while they were driving and could outrun most threats, but it was quite another when they were about to go on foot.

Once the car was stopped and in park, Adalynn pulled the keys from the ignition and instinctively moved to slip them into her pocket. She stopped herself and glanced down at the keys in her hand. She didn’t need them anymore. Even if they found more gas—which was unlikely at this point—it would be more practical to find a new vehicle rather than backtrack to this one.

She released a heavy breath and dropped the keys into the cup holder. “Well, we knew it’d come to this eventually.”

Danny unbuckled his seatbelt and twisted around to reach into the back seat with both arms.

“We’ll be fine,” he said with that know-it-all-nothing-can-hurt-me attitude that was characteristic of many young teenagers who thought themselves wiser than the adults in their lives. He wrestled their bugout bags to the front.

Adalynn couldn’t help but smile as Danny passed over her bag, which was heavy with food, water, and essential supplies. He could nail that snotty teenager tone when he wanted to, but she knew that wasn’t her brother. He flopped back down on his seat, settling his bag over his lap.

“Thanks,” she said, shifting her head to scan the woods outside the passenger-side window.

The forest was dense enough to provide some cover as they walked. So long as they kept the main road in sight, they wouldn’t get lost—and they would eventually end up finding a building they could shelter in while Adalynn figured out their next step.

Unfortunately, she didn’t have much time for planning. She didn’t have much time foranything.

They needed to find someplace safe today, someplace secure—preferably before dark—and, sometime in the next week or two, a place for Danny to thrive.

Adalynn checked the mirrors to make sure there was nothing following on the road. She turned her attention to Danny just as he unsheathed one of the biggest knives Adalynn had ever seen.

Her eyes widened. “Danny! Where the hell did you get that?”

He grinned and turned his wrist back and forth, inspecting the blade. “Pretty cool, huh? I found it in one of the trucks at our last gas stop.”

Adalynn held out her hand. “Give it to me.”

“What?” he asked, eyebrows falling low as he yanked back the knife. “No way.”

“Daniel Adam Jefferies, you hand that knife over to me right now. You’re way too young to be handling that.”

“Addy, are you serious? Look around us! I need it to help protect you.”

“Ishould be the one protecting you.”

Daniel rolled his eyes. “I’m not a little kid anymore, Addy. What if wehadn’tseen that revenant back there? What if he’d snuck up on us? What would we have used to fight him off, your pocketknife? We should’ve gotten a gun by now!” He frowned and looked away. “We both know you’re sick. Real sick. And I…I need to learn to take care of us, in case, you know…something happens.”

Tears stung Adalynn’s eyes. Twelve years separated her and her brother, and even though he was thirteen now, she’d always see him as that chubby little baby who’d smiled up at her as though she’d hung the moon, as the toddler who’d clutched her hand when he was scared, as the little boy who’d followed her into the deep end of the pool because he wanted to be as brave as his big sister. But he was growing up right before her eyes, and she couldn’t ignore that.

He was right. She was treating him like a little kid, and it would only hurt him in the long run. She’d known for months what kind of world they were living in, even if she couldn’t understandwhyit was like this. It was a world that chewed up the weak and spat them out as walking corpses. A world where everyone, even children, needed to know how to protect themselves. He needed to learn those skills, but how could she teach him things she didn’t know?

The deeper truth of the situation enhanced the sting of her thoughts—even if she’d possessed those skills, she didn’t have the time to pass them on to Danny.

Adalynn lowered her hand and sighed. “Okay, you can keep it. But just be careful! If you get cut—”

“I know, I know,” he interrupted, shoulders sagging. He’d heard it a thousand times already, but he continued with surprising patience. “If I get a cut it can get infected, and our supply of antibiotics is limited.”

A soft smile touched her lips. “Good. At least we know you’re capable of retaining information other than the names and teams of soccer players or how to emote over someone you just killed in a video game.”

“Uh, it’s called tea bagging, and it’s an art.”

Adalynn laughed and shook her head. “You’re so gross.”

“You’re just a prude.”

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