string of inventive curses rings through the night air as she realizes Iâve taken off without her. Again I try to stop, or to at least turn, but itâs no use. My bodyâs been hijacked and I wonât get it back until Iâve done what I need to do.
Seconds later, Lilyâs car engine starts up. Seconds after that, sheâs in the street, driving along beside me. âDamn it, Xandra, get in,â she tells me, her voice hoarse with the same fear thatâs ricocheting inside me.
I donât argue with her, just jog around the car and hop into the passenger seat. âThank you.â
She just shakes her head. âI swear to the goddess, youâre going to give me a heart attack one of these days.â
âI know. Iâm sorry. Turn right at the corner.â
She follows my directions all the way through downtown Austin. I donât know where weâre going, only where the compulsion tells me to turnâat least until we make the last turn. Then, suddenly, I know.
How could I be here again?
How could this be happening again?
Last time Iâd had to charm the hell out of a cop to get on the grounds, and frankly, after how that turned out, I donât think I have a chance in hell of ever doing it againâeven if I wasnât sporting enough bruises to qualify as an MMA fighter.
âPull over,â I tell Lily, who parallel parks in the first available spot.
âSo, where are we going?â she asks.
I just point before climbing out of the car and heading toward the end of the street. The compulsion has me now and itâs not letting go. The electricity has gotten wilder, hotter, until every breath I take is pure agony. I waited too long, took too long to get here. I pick up the pace, start to jog down the deserted street. I want, need, the pain to stop.
âAre you freaking kidding me?â Lily demands as she runs to keep up. Sheâs about five inches shorter than I am, so the pace Iâm setting is brutal for her shorter legs. I know it, even feel bad about it, but thereâs no way I can stop. The compulsion is pulling so hard that Iâm afraid that any second it will yank me right off my feet.
âHow many damn people die at the Capitol grounds anyway?â
âToo many, obviously.â But seconds before we get to the driveway in front of the huge Austin Capitol, I veer to the left. Head down the sidewalk to the small parking lot for employees on the side of the grounds.
âSomeoneâs dead back here?â Lily whispers loudly.
âI donât know. I guess.â
Please,
I repeat for what has to be the millionth time,
donât let it be Declan. Donât let it be Declan.
We reach a small patch of grass and flowers that stand outside the gate. Thereâs a historical sign marking it as somethingâI donât bother to look at itâand a bunch of other signs that give directions to various places on the Capitol grounds. At first I think Iâm meant to follow the signs to somewhere, but every time I take more than a step away from the center of the garden, the pain intensifies.
âThis is it,â I tell Lily. âIt has to be.â
âRight here?â she demands.
âI think so.â I glance around, reach into my pocket for my cell phone and turn on the flashlight app. âDo you see anything?â
âNot unless you count that group of very drunk, and very much alive college students who must have wandered off Sixth Street.â She points to the group of guys in question.
âI definitely donât mean them,â I tell her, lowering my voice so we donât attract their attention. Itâs not that I think theyâll try to hurt usâthey look harmless enough. Besides, Iâm pretty sure Lily and I can handle a few drunk twenty-year-olds. But if they come over to investigate, itâs that much longer before I can figure out what the hell is going on. That much
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