We left before dawn.
There was something cleansing about moving while the world was still asleep. It as if the danger couldn't catch up to us if it didn't have time to stretch and wake.
Tomas had arranged everything: a single black SUV, two backups, a handful of men who didn't speak unless spoken to. They packed in silence like thieves rehearsing a daylight robbery.
Jace didn't give me time to be sentimental. He took my hand as we stepped out, and the warmth of it steadied me more than the desert air or the rumble of the engine. He looked like a man who had already decided to burn whatever stood in his way; the set of his jaw said it all. Still, there was a softness when he glanced my way, a little nod that said; We'll keep each other, even if the world demands otherwise.
