Enduring Light (The Afterglow Trilogy #3)(27)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

Calvin rubbed my back. “Ruth did say it was a scroll that was not a scroll.”

Nal laughed. “Yes. We call the turtle Scroll.”

“A turtle named Scroll… only in Energo.” Liam chuckled.

“What does it say, Charlotte?” Calvin asked.

The words weren’t written in English or in any language I’d ever seen. “I’m not sure yet.” I closed my eyes to clear my head before touching the turtle again.

Complete darkness can only be vanquished with pure light. At the Source, light will prevail as a new one is born again.

“We need to go to Bellgard.” I knew it in every fiber of my body.

“We need to get into the most fortified city in all of Energo, which happens to be the mainstay of our enemy? Great.” Henry shook his head.

“We don’t have a choice.” I thought over the words, terrified by what they meant. It would be a long journey to Bellgard, but I was determined to take advantage of all the time I had with the people I loved. I only wished my family were with me.

Chapter Fifteen

Samantha

I slipped up. I let the circumstances weaken me, and I made a mistake. I was supposed to be awake while Kevin slept, but sleep took me.

Waking up suddenly, I glanced around the car. Everything appeared untouched. Hopefully, my mistake did not cost us more than the emotional toll it had on me. I needed to be more careful. We could not afford any other setbacks.

I had dreamt another dream—the same one—and once again, I didn’t see which man had used the blade. No matter who did the act, why would Monty, Emma’s brother, be part of a plan to kill her Gerard? Nothing about it made sense. The biggest question was why I was having the dream. At my core, I knew it was actually a memory, but that also made no sense. I would have had to have been so young. Why would I have been there?

I was not one to make more of myself than I should, but did my sudden remembrance of the event have some greater meaning? Being raised in Energo, I had been indoctrinated in the belief that the Source ultimately controlled everything. Did the Source somehow want me to witness that event to help us in our current situation? But then again, the dream didn’t help. I hadn’t figured it out in time. I was either too late, or its use was still before us.

I racked my brain, trying to understand. The likelihood of Monty being a traitor was slim. None of his other actions supported that theory. By all accounts, he had given up any semblance of a normal life to care for his sister’s children. I saw the way he was with Charlotte. He cared for her deeply. He also cared for Kevin, but in a different way that made sense considering their genders. I refused to believe I had missed my chance to serve the Source. There still had to be a way to use the dream to our advantage.

I rummaged through the bags until I found a sweater. The garment was made of a soft material the man at the store had called fleece. I would save the new coat for later.

I tried to open my door, but it wouldn’t budge. Kevin had only cleared the snow from his door, so mine was still coated in a heavy layer of ice and snow. If we were to leave, someone needed to clear the front window. The only way out was over Kevin, and there was not much space. That could not stop me. I kneeled and then put one leg over him. In order to reach the door, I had to straddle him. Sitting on his lap brought blood to my face as I remembered what we had been doing mere hours before. I never imagined I would do such a thing before uniting, but it had happened so naturally. Everything between Kevin and I seemed natural.

Just as I reached for the latch, his eyes fluttered open. “Samantha?”

“Hello.” I decided to make humor of the situation.

He gave me a lazy grin. “Either this is a nightmare or a really good dream.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. The question is whether you’re trying to kill me, or you’re about to take off your shirt.”

I punched him playfully on the arm. “I am actually trying to get out of the car to see if I can clear off the front window.”

He smiled. “Likely story.”

I pushed open the door and hopped down into the early morning light. The storm had moved on, and I took that as a good sign.

Kevin followed me out, and together, we cleared off the thick layer of snow. In the light of the morning, I could see the abandoned motel for the first time. The building looked far less appealing than I had imagined. I squinted as the bright sun reflected off the snow. My hands were half frozen when we got back inside the car. We’d left the engine running, and the heat felt good.

Kevin glanced at the dash. “I’m suddenly really glad Dad brought an extra container of gas. I wasn’t thinking when we sat with the car on for so long. At least I remembered to get out and check the exhaust pipe a few times. That would have been a pretty sad way to die.”

“Oh? You know how to add more gas?”

He smiled. “Yeah, I’ve got that difficult skill down.”

***

“Do you want to stop and eat?” Kevin yawned, stretching one arm out to the side.

We had been driving for hours. I would have offered to help, but I had never driven anything motorized. I turned the question back on him. “Are you hungry? We can stop if you are.”

“Where is this side of you coming from? You never worried about me.”

“I just feel useless right now.”

“Useless?”

I touched my seat. “What good am I doing sitting here?”

“You’re very useful. Keeping me company is as an important job as they come.”

“Your humor astounds me.”

He smiled. “I’m glad.”

Twenty minutes later, we reached the outskirts of a small town. The sign was covered in snow, so I did not see the name.

“Hopefully, we can find something open here.” He pulled off the larger road.

The streets in the town were worse, and finding parking was difficult with all of the snow. Kevin finally pulled into a spot someone had just left. “Let’s go get something to eat.” He turned off the car and got out.

I followed him. I may have downplayed my hunger in the car, but I was famished.

“Is this okay?” He gestured at a small building. “I don’t know if we’ll find anything else.”

“Sure.”

We walked in and took a seat in a booth in the corner. Descriptions of the meals available were on the table, but I was not quite sure what everything was.

“I’m getting pancakes,” Kevin said. “I bet you’d like them. They’re one of my favorite foods. You can get them with anything: fruit, chocolate chips, nuts, you name it.”