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"Because he trusted me not to abuse it" Liaet a lesson?"

The look Cole shot back was even colder than Liaave a small spasm before he could tuck his hand into the back pocket of his pants

"God Even Stewart faht ere in a hurry?"

"We are" I turned to Liah to get us a hundred uess"

"Grand," Cole said, "except we’re not taking that one There’s a tan SUV over there that has your name on it"

Liaas-guzzler They’re top-heavy and more likely to roll in an accident--"

His brother silenced hiether in such a condescending way, it pissedinto an accident? Then shut the hell up and do what I tell you--"

"You don’t get to e here, whether you like it or not I’oing to get us out of here And I’ you to pick yourself a SUV in case we have to take it off the road"

Liao off-road, we’re pretty as" He glancedhis head in a silent back ht This one wasn’t worth it Cole wasquick strides back in our direction fro to turn hio, when it had just been the four of us in a as froy pieces of meat off bones, we’d functioned on two siet seen For better or worse, ut reactions, and I wasn’t about to pretend we hadn’t made some questionable choices, but it was the only e kne to live and survive--it was how all of us freak kids had to scrape by, whether it was to avoid ca at Cole now, at the irritation sweeping over his features, it was neverabout what his brother’s life had been like after Liara the cruel treatram, he’d never been forced to adapt to our reality

They’d already fought about the driving arrange us a little ti into Cole’s chosen SUV before tugging Clancy in the direction of the red truck Cole gestured to

It felt strange to not have all of us piled into one car, but I understood Cole’s reasoning immediately, even if Liam didn’t It was the sa Clancy over the past teeks, feeding hio If I drove, the other Orange had less of a chance of co the car because I could block hi, it would only be a hts and took control I could see it happening as clearly as if the kid had planted the scene in my mind

I would have preferred Cole in the other car, too, but that had been non-negotiable The fact that it was just as likely for Clancy to hijack his un or knife on as tank was half full and the engine already hot-wired and running Cole had snapped Clancy’s zip ties off and attached new ones, so his hands could both rest in his lap and be hooked through the seat belt, and his feet could be bound to one of the bars running under the seat Cole pulled the pillowcase over the kid’s head

It was just athe truck out of park I looked up one last tiht inwheel

We were finally leaving that terrible place, and e’d buried there

Twenty s crystal clear: the truck didn’t have working air conditioning, its owner’s body odor had been absorbed into the faux-leather seats, and, yes, ht, Clancy had bent over at the waist, and was either sleeping or trying to subtly rub the pillowcase against his legs to pull it off Cole, just to his right, was scanning the passing streets The early afternoon light stood out in sharp contrast to the dark ses beneath his eyes It was like now that he was still, not rushing around or barking out orders, his body had finally settled into its aches and exhaustion He rolled his shoulders back against the press of the seat belt and grimaced

Cole had shown me where ere headed on a map--a town called Lodi, a little ways south of Sacramento If we’d been able to take the freeway, it would have been a straight shot up the coast, five hours hts and trains had still been operational, and Gray hadn’t ordered ships to patrol the Pacific coast

I looked back overfor it, because he lifted his hand in a reassuring wave In the front passenger seat beside hi to e enough to aleness of the city around us