Page 109 of Heresy

“How is this living?”

I smile because I know something she doesn’t. Or at least I’ve seen something she has yet to realize.

“Are you panicking right now? Can you think straight and communicate? Are the walls crashing in?”

She stills in her seat, blood trickling back into her knuckles as her clenching fingers loosen. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still braced for the worst, but a seed has been planted in her thoughts—just a taste of the freedom I’ve been chasing for as long as I can remember.

“No,” she finally answers, “but this car may crash if we don’t slow down.”

I laugh at that since I was planning on slowing down anyway.

We’re nearing a park that the twins and I found years ago while racing down this road. It’s a little over an hour outside of the city, but at the speed we went, we made the trip in half the time.

Approaching the turn, I hit the brake to slow us down more, stealing secret peeks at Brinley to notice her body relax and her hands release the death grip she had on the door handle and seatbelt.

“Thank you,” she says with what sounds like exhaustion in her voice.

We cruise slowly along a narrow road that eventually opens up into a small parking lot.

Beyond that is a large lake and sandy shore with very little illumination except the moon and stars.

When Brinley first notices the landscape, her blue eyes round with surprise and appreciation.

She turns to look at me, her fear of the ride and her hatred of me momentarily forgotten.

“Where are we?”

I unclip my seatbelt then lean across the center console to help her out of hers. She flinches back at first but then relaxes again to see what I’m doing.

With this girl, I’m starting to learn you need to move a little more slowly so that her mind catches up with what’s happening, the instant concern she always feels bleeding away when she understands.

“I get the feeling you’re not happy unless you know everything.”

Her eyes narrow on me, but I didn’t mean what I said as an insult.

Leaning my shoulder against the back of my seat, I remain twisted in her direction. “What I mean by that is you’re not the type who likes surprises.”

Without thinking, she smiles. It’s the first true smile I’ve seen on her in, well, the entire time I’ve known her.

Shaking her head, she blushes. “Is it that noticeable?”

I nod in response.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I think a lot of people like to know what to expect. They can prepare better for whatever’s coming. In a way, that makes you a strategist. A person who, if given the facts ahead of time, would probably be one hell of an opponent.”

Casting me an odd look, she steals those blue eyes from me again to look out at the lake.

“We’re at a park.”

I mean, yeah. I think that’s obvious, but I won’t tease her about it while she is still forgetful of the fact that she can’t stand me.

Settling back in my seat, I stare out the front windshield.

“Yep. The twins and I come out here a lot. For one, to race each other down that long road, but also to get away from the city. They’re a lot like me.”

“And how’s that?” she asks, her voice soft and her attention stolen by the stillness of the lake.

I shrug. “We don’t like the city. I mean, we grew up in it, but it’s too noisy. None of us can stand being attorneys, and it’s like tugging on a straitjacket every time we have to wear a suit. They like motorcycles as much as I love cars. And well…”

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