Page 23 of Soulmates

“Well, we didn’t figure it out, and peril waited. We stood and talked and tried to figure out what I could have, but we couldn’t, and after some time passed… I’m not sure how much, but it felt like hours…he turned into a Godsdamned lion and attacked me.”

“Fuck, we heard that and didn’t know what it was.”

“It was Diego,” she said. “He was quite majestic but vicious.”

“Gods. What happened?”

“What could I do? I fought him. We wrestled around for what felt like forever. He had so much energy, and it’s not like I could outrun him.” She grew somber for the first time that morning. “He finally won, I guess. I passed out from blood loss and came to with him naked, standing over me, yelling for help at the top of his lungs and trying to wake me up.”

“Shit, Santiago,” Jake said.

“I know. I told him to get some clothes and a healer.”

“Weren’t you freaked out?” Maddox asked without turning around.

“Well, yeah, but a lot has happened since then. He came back, blessedly dressed, with Maggie. And she told us we all had a bigger problem than whatever the hells turned Diego into a lion.” Santiago sighed. “She healed me and then brought us back to the lab, where she got me some infused blood and explained everything that happened to you. Diego is going to find Lizzie and Carter and tell them so they won’t try to find you. Once I felt better, we went to Forrester’s house and waited for you to wake up. I think I slept for a while. It was still dark when I got there. It was like the night would never end.”

“That might be the truest thing I’ve ever heard,” Jake said.

They stopped at a diner about four hours away from the school grounds, putting them somewhere outside of Philadelphia. They had taken back roads, winding their way almost directly south. The diner looked like it was barely standing, but then so did Maddox.

After being seated and served water and menus, Maddox seemed to slump into Jake.

“Maddy, honey, what’s wrong?” Both Maddox and Santiago startled at the endearment, and Jake’s cheeks heated.

Shaking it off, Maddox said, “I think it’s the whole escape to the Everglades to see a wizard about a soul thing just hitting me all of a sudden.”

“I don’t think he’s a wizard,” Santiago said unhelpfully. “I don’t think there are wizards…” Maddox glared at her.

“Okay, why don’t we eat, and we can talk about this more in the car?” Jake said, shaking Maddox’s menu at him.

Maddox ordered his usual diner fare, a turkey club sandwich and fries. Jake and Santiago both ordered a giant breakfast spread that took three plates each and were guzzling coffee one cup after another.

“Breakfast for lunch?” Maddox asked them.

“Breakfast always, if possible,” Santiago replied.

Maddox scooped half his fries onto Jake’s plate, and they shared a small smile. They were still there, still together, still them. Santiago rolled her eyes. On his worst days, his best friends were still with him, Maddox was still his Maddox, and Santiago was still happy to mock them for it.

Maddox jabbed his elbow into Jake’s ribs, using their joined arms, to get him to eat, which he did with his usual enthusiasm for all things edible. Maddox, being significantly smaller and using about a third of Jake’s daily calories, always shared part of his meals with Jake except for Mexican food, which was Maddox’s favorite thing—trying to take a portion of Maddox’s dinner in that case was likely to get you spelled. Jake knew from experience.

Eating one-handed was…interesting. Maddox had ordered a sandwich, and most of Jake’s breakfast spread didn’t need to be cut to be consumed except the ham, which Santiago swiped while Jake stared forlornly at it. Maddox huffed a laugh at Jake’s face.

Once back in the car, Maddox fell almost instantly to sleep.

“Is he okay?” Santiago asked.

“I think so, all things considered. Why?”

Santiago arched an eyebrow at him. “He’s sleeping instead of talking a mile a minute about theories and possibilities and conspiracies. I assumed we wouldn’t be able to shut him up the entire trip.”

Jake shrugged. “It’s been a rough…unknown number of days.”

“That it has. Have you heard from anyone else?”

“No. Maddox tried to reach Carter since they were together at one point last night, but he couldn’t get through, and his voicemail was full. He texted him to call.”

“Carter, huh? Didn’t know they were that close.”

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