Return of the Ascendant (The Ascendant Series) by Raine Thomas Page A

the driver, who dipped his head in a non-obvious bow. He looked as though he was about to say something, but then his gaze moved to Kyra. His mouth paused in mid-syllable.
    She watched him for a couple of seconds, certain he was about to introduce himself. The longer he remained frozen, the more uncomfortable she became. A couple of the drivers standing near them even looked over in curiosity. She wondered if they thought she was a celebrity or something.
    Thankfully, Ty did his thing and stepped between them, breaking the driver’s eye contact. Ty didn’t move for a long moment, staring down at the man in silence.
    Stammering out a heavily-accented apology, the driver turned to lead the way to their transportation. Kyra ignored the stares of the other drivers as they walked away. Part of her wished she had a pair of sunglasses to throw on just to keep them guessing.
    “Is it always going to be like this?” she asked Sem out of the corner of her mouth.
    “If I say no, would that make you feel better?” he replied.
    “I probably wouldn’t believe you.”
    He winked at her. “Look how much you’ve learned in only a few short hours.”
    Not amused, she made a face at him. He laughed. Ty glanced between the two of them. Kyra thought he might be trying to give them some sort of silent warning to be quiet. That just made her want to run around the terminal, flailing her arms and yelling, “Look at me! Look at me! I’m the Ascendant!”
    Morbid curiosity had her wondering how many people would even notice.
    Ty made a sound beside her. She looked up at him in surprise. Had that been…?
    Yes, it had, she realized with astonishment. One side of his mouth was ever-so-slightly curved up. He had been amused over her thought.
    Before she could even take in a breath to say something about it, his face went instantly back to the mask. She suspected that he’d deny the almost-smile until his dying day.
    She didn’t have time to think more about it. They had walked outside and were headed towards another parking garage. Apprehensive about the amount of darkness surrounding them, she edged closer to Ty. By the time they reached the first row of vehicles in the garage, she had all but encircled his waist with her arm. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything about it.
    They reached a nondescript black sedan before she had a chance to totally lose it. Sem stepped beside her as Ty moved a couple of feet away to talk to the driver. A set of keys was exchanged. Kyra strained to hear what was said, but their voices were too low.
    After another minute, the driver bowed and left. Ty pulled the small scanner out of his pocket and walked along the car with it. She supposed he was scanning for devices that shouldn’t be there.
    Apparently, the scan was clear, as Ty walked over to her and guided her to the front passenger seat. She considered telling him that he could just ask her to walk over to him, but decided that there was something gentlemanly about the fact that he escorted her everywhere. Plus, she was too tired to take issue just then.
    They all climbed in and buckled up. Ty pulled the car out of the slot and wound through the lot to the exit. A small box on the windshield reading “Sunpass” allowed them to exit the lot without paying. She guessed it was a pre-paid toll device. It wasn’t long before they were on a highway headed somewhere only Ty knew.
    Exhaustion weighed on her as they rode in silence. Her fitful sleep on the plane hadn’t done much to dent her weariness. She wondered how it was possible that dawn could still be hours away. It felt as though they’d spent an eternity in darkness.
    They were hundreds of miles from her home now. Was it possible the Shelvaks could track them even if they didn’t have tracker-things on their clothes? That seemed completely impossible to her. Of course, she didn’t know if the Shelvaks could read minds or somehow tap into their personal energy signatures or any other kind of sci-fi