Page 54 of Sawyer’s Mistake

Storme floored it.

“Prado told us what you did. That was stupid, man,” Kopf said. “Pretty good thinking, though. Looks like you saved everybody’s life.”

“Is she okay?” Sawyer asked. Nobody had to ask who he meant.

Saoirse’s voice came over on the shortwave radio.

“I’m okay.” Her voice sounded tinny. “I’m sorry.”

“She’s okay,” Eva said. “She won’t leave us again.”

“Good,” Sawyer replied. He left it at that, knowing anything he said to her now, with everybody listening, would only succeed in upsetting her. He breathed deeply, relieved.

Storme flicked the shortwave radio off. “Are you injured?” he asked, taking is eyes off the road for an instant to look at him.

“I’m okay. I may have cracked a couple ribs.”

“Why aren’t they chasing us?” Prado said.

“I left a Grim Reaper on the ground, but I don’t think it was a life-threatening injury.”

“They won’t leave a Grim Reaper while he’s down. We need to use that time.”

“What’s wrong, Storme?” Sawyer asked. His friend’s knuckles were white on the steering wheel.

“We’re running low on battery. Let’s catch up with the others and find a place to hide then make our way to Brussels.”

Sawyer allowed himself to relax for the first time since he’d realized Saoirse was missing. He felt himself drifting off to sleep, entertaining the possibility that things might be okay.

Chapter 21

Saoirse

It was still dark outside, the world full of shadows where very real monsters lurked. Funny how she’d never noticed, before the Remur invasion, just how dark the world could be. She shivered.

“Are you okay?” a deep voice asked behind her.

Saoirse jumped.

“Jake,” she said. “You’re up early.”

Sawyer came up to stand next to her. Together, they looked out at the gorge, neither of them saying anything for a few minutes. The roaring river below was still just a dark shape.

She looked back at the house he’d just come from.

“Eva says we’ve been lucky to find this farmhouse, but it doesn’t feel safe out here,” she said.

“Zander and Meir are keeping a lookout by the road, and the aliens can’t come at us from this side. There’s no indication we’ve been followed. We should be okay.”

She nodded. “I wonder who used to live here.” Inside the house there were spaces on the mantelpiece where pictures used to be, which meant the owners had at least tried to escape.

He replied with a question of his own. “Why did you do it?” he asked.

She didn’t have to ask what he meant. She wrapped her arms around herself. Ever since reuniting with the team, she’d done her best to disappear into the woodwork. None of her friends had expressed anything other than relief after finding her, none of them had blamed her, and this made her feel even worse.

“I thought I was doing the right thing by leaving,” she said, looking at the floor. “But I only succeeded in putting you and the others in further danger and delaying the journey to Brussels.”

He raised her chin gently with his index finger until she was looking into his eyes. “I don’t care about Brussels. You’ve no idea what it was like, thinking that I’d lost you.”