Page 128 of The Tenth Muse

“Okay.” She nods, a rogue tear slipping from the corner of her eye before I can catch it.

“Let’s go then.”

eight

. . .

America

The drive is quiet,I expect to follow Runa in my Mazda but she ends up hitching my car to the back of her truck instead so I can ride with her and Chewie. I get to sit pressed against her, opting to lift up the middle console and use its seat in the cabin so I can be as close as humanly possible.

I drift off around the third hour of the trip, it’s only when she pulls into a gas station to fuel up that I wake, the rising sun coming up behind us in the rearview mirror.

“We’re close,” Runa tells me, a big smile on her face. “Pick out whatever snacks you want for the next day or so, we’ll come back into town once we’ve cleared out the overgrown nightshades around the property.

“Probably best to keep them,” I tell her. “We can learn to coexist with them, it’s the intruders who should be wary.”

Her smile reaches all the way up to her eyes, “That’s what Vewra would say, my mentor.” She explains with a sad shrug.

“Seems like she cared about you a lot, to leave it to you.” I squeeze her hand before we exit the car together.

“Hmm,” Runa hums, staring out into the road.

Picking out road trip snacks is the most normal thing we could be doing right now, even though I know there’s likely already a small but quiet search team trying to find me. He’ll give up once he realizes I’m too far to chase and will gladly stay quiet for the sake of my freedom, but he’ll still try and find me at first.

So I pretend for now that snacks are all that matter, realizing how much you can learn about someone just from their taste preferences. Runa loves ranch flavored sunflower seeds but she doesn’t actually like the seeds themselves, she just likes sucking on the shells and spitting them out. It’s adorably gross, but when I think about the environmental impact of her spitting the little seeds out the window as we drive, planting sunflowers on the side of the road like a bird, I almost wonder if this is what love feels like.

I’m sure this must be it.

She squeezes my hand back, like she knows I need the reminder that she’s here, to take me out of all the worries in my head.

It’s only a forty minute drive from town until we get to the darkest corner of the state, at least twenty miles from the last known street light. It’s been ages since we’ve passed another car, but Runa shows no sign of being lost, confidently tapping her fingers against the wheel and humming to the song on the radio.

She slows down once we get to a spot where a tree grows tall with no branches, three more pass on our right, identically carved like the previous one before Runa takes a right turn into the forest. There was a path once here, now overgrown by thick grass, bushes and fallen branches.

“It was my full-time home until she died, it was too painful to come back alone. When I found the space to rent and start The Portal I started using the storage room as a bedroom. I planned to spend my summers here once upon a time, but the employees I had eventually left for college, new witches never applied andI had no time for vacations anymore. I thought about living here full time again, but the drive was just too long for a daily commute.” She explains, being careful of the turns she takes with my car still towing behind hers.

“What will happen to The Portal now?” I ask, a wave of sadness hitting me, as if I’m feeling Runa’s own emotions.

She gives me an awkward shrug, “The landlord will list it again in a few weeks when I don’t pay the rent at the end of the month. Life will go on.”

I can’t hide my frown, “That doesn’t feel like the right thing.”

“It is,” She takes my hand in hers again to reassure me. “I was miserable, burning at both ends and still not coming up with enough to survive, all for the sake of honoring someone else’s dream. It wasn’t even my own, Vewra wanted it. I don’t know what’s next for me, but this feels right, with you.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” I ask, feeling the weight of the statement myself.

The forest begins to clear the deeper we drive into it, a secluded area opening up where a small cottage is covered by overgrown datura vines. “It’s perfect.” I gasp, realizing that just days ago I had wished for this.

Did I manifest that?

“I think I’m a witch too.” I say to Runa just as she puts the car in park.

She laughs, and at first I think she’s making fun of my outrageous claim.

I can’t believe I just told a real witch that I think I’m a witch too.

“Of course you are.” She breaks her laughter to say, “We all have it in us, some hear the calling, some ignore it, but I truly believe at some point in our lives we all get an invitation from the universe.” Runa makes a funny face like she’s thinking about what she’s just said, “Well, maybe notallof us.”

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