30
BRODERICK
“Serena, get up!”
She stirred again, this time rolling over and gripping the pillow. Sleep was a thing for her, I could tell. It might be a problem.
“Serena!”
I rolled her back toward me. Even in her sleep she was beautiful. All hair and lips and—
“Damien’s gone!”
One eye fluttered open. “Wait… wha?”
“I just woke up,” I said, shaking her again. “And he’s not here. I think he was taken.”
She sat up. Rubbed at her eyes.
“Taken? Really?” She still didn’t sound convinced. She even yawned as she looked around. “What time is it anyway?”
“Six-thirty.”
“Six-thirty?” she cried. She sounded offended at being up so early. “Maybe he’s downstairs?”
“No. He’s not in the hotel.”
She didn’t ask how I knew. The finality of my statement told her that I just did.
I watched as she stood up, naked except for a long T-shirt. It hung down near the tops of her thighs. Memories of last night flooded back to me… but I pushed them aside.
“Maybe we went out for coffee?” she yawned again.
“No,” I told her. “He’s gone as in he’s not in the city anymore. I can feel it.”
Now she finally looked concerned. Her eyes went wide. She began pinning her hair back. “Why would he leave?”
“He didn’t leave. Someone came for him.”
“But you said they couldn’t find us? Boone, Christophe, Lionel… that this would be the last place they looked?”
“They couldn’t find him,” I said grimly. “But she could.”
It was typical Damien. I could envision it now, him waking early, as he always did. Pacing the room. Getting antsy. Going out to see the sunrise, or to walk along the river, or something equally stupid.
Serena was already pulling on clothes. “Why the hell would he leave the hotel room?” she demanded. “Especially since he knows—”
“Because he’s Damien, that’s why!” It came off angry. That was fine, because I was angry. “He’s always doing dumb shit like this. He can’t sleep past five in the morning. ‘Surfer’s instinct’. Shit, he used to walk around looking for—”
“Come on,” Serena said from the doorway. “If he’s not in the city we know where to find him. Let’s go.”
She was a woman of action, I’d give her that. It was just another thing I loved about her.
“Serena, I—”
“Come on!”
“Wait!” I cried. “Serena, listen…”
Her expression told me everything. She was impatient. Impulsive. A lot like Damien. She moved quickly, without thinking things through.
“I need to tell you about Karessa.”
She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Maybe the impulsiveness had been working out for her so far. Sometimes that happened. Other times, like now…
“She’s going to know we’re coming,” I said. “Because of the bond we shared, she’s going to sense me the moment we get near the ruins.”
Serena shrugged. “We’ll face her then,” she said. “I don’t know about you, but I’m through running and hiding and—”
“Serena stop!” I cried. “Slow down a minute. Just listen to me.”
She shook her head. “No, because I know what you’re going to say. That’s it’s too dangerous. That you’re going to handle this yourself, and I shouldn’t come. That you’re just trying to protect me. That it would be best if you faced her alone.”
I stared back at her in silence. Eventually she raised an eyebrow. “Am I right?”
“Sort of. Yeah.”
“Well fuck all that, Broderick. We’re in this together.”
“Serena, I—”
“If you think I’m leaving Damien in that place… or letting you go there alone? You’re out of your fucking mind.” She looked angry now. Even more angry than me. “To think I’d hang back and sit on my hands, especially after all that we’ve—”
“Okay.”
She stopped. Blinked. Opened her mouth again to say something else.
“I said okay,” I repeated. “But on one condition.”
Serena put her hand on her hip.
“We do it my way.”