Page 29 of Soulmates

“Me too. Maddox, are you hurt?” Jake said.

Maddox paused. Was he hurt? “Um, don’t think so. I’m not sure what happened.”

“You drove off the road. Maddy, we called your name over and over,” Jake said.

“I’m sorry,” Maddox whispered. “I guess I zoned out.” He looked around before looking to Jake and added, “I don’t even remember getting here.”

Concern flashed in Jake’s eyes as he tugged Maddox’s hand and helped him across the gearshift so they could get out of the car together.

“We need to get back on the road before we draw any attention,” Santiago said. “Thank Gods we’re on back roads. No one saw us. Get in the back. We’ll discuss while I drive.”

They got moving. Maddox sat as close to Jake as he could get. They rode in silence for several miles before Santiago finally spoke.

“Maddox, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“Could you not, please?” Santiago replied. “And before you open your mouth to argue, I urge you to remember that you ran us off the road and that you are carrying an extra piece of soul inside you. Being not fine would be the normal thing to be feeling right now.”

Maddox took a moment to assess. He closed his eyes. The warmth in his chest swelled as it had since the night of the challenge. Tiredness plagued him. Not as if it was the end of the day and he was ready to sleep, but a heavier fatigue, like his cells were tired. But was that something that made enough sense to say out loud? Exhaustion weighed his skin down, his hair follicles, his bones. He wanted to lie down and sleep and sleep and sleep. But he had just slept the night before and even the day and night before that.

“Whatever it is you think you can’t say, just say it,” Jake said.

“How did you know?” Maddox smiled at him.

“I know you. Tell us.”

“I’m tired. But it feels…oppressive. Like it’s going to pull me under. I want to lie down and sleep. I don’t think I can stay awake all day. It feels…like the flu or like medicine. Like I’ve taken a potion.”

Santiago and Jake appeared to think about that for a bit.

Santiago hummed. “Honestly, it makes a bit of sense. If you are carrying part of Jake’s soul, which we have to assume you are even if that’s still insane, you haven’t given yours to him yet, so you are carrying more. Maybe your body is fighting it, or maybe you’re carrying more emotional load than you are supposed to. Do you feel different otherwise?”

“Kind of? I feel…more. Like there’s too much inside me. It feels like it’s physically in my body. And I’m so tired it’s hard to hold my head up.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t,” Jake said. “Lie down. Santiago and I can get to Florida without you driving.”

Maddox didn’t even have it in him to argue. He balled up the hoodie Jake had stashed in the back seat, laid it on Jake’s lap, put his head down, and was asleep almost instantly.

Chapter 21

“That was weird. It was weird, right?” Santiago asked.

“Which part? Where Maddox went into a trance and ran us off the road? Or where he fell asleep without arguing in about three seconds?”

“Yeah, all of that.”

“I’m worried about him.”

“You’d be an idiot not to be. I’m not as close to him as you are, thank the gods, but I know him. This isn’t him. He doesn’t sleep extra hours even when he has the time. And he certainly doesn’t go quietly.”

“I know.” Jake used his free hand to feel Maddox’s forehead and sweep his hair back. Maddox had their bound hands clutched to his chest.

“What can we do?” Santiago said after a moment.

“Get to Florida. Stick to the plan. We stop only when necessary. We can make it to the Florida-Georgia border tonight, then head out as early as possible to make it to the Everglades in daylight. I think we’ll be good to go on main roads once we’re that far south.”

“Can you think of anything we can do for him before then?”

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