“One day, I hope you return thefavor,” his smile turned sad and then he was in the car and Jericho was drivingaway, leaving us in their trail of heavy exhaust.

“Let’s go,” Avalon yelledimpatiently at me.

I sat down on the worn upholsteryand thought longingly of my yellow Land Rover. I would never take it forgranted again. I continued to munch on my apple, feeling very much at peace.Avalon gunned the gas and took off through the winding, hilly streets ofanother beautiful Romanian city.

I decided that I would very muchlike to come back to Romania under different circumstances. I couldn’t help butbe excited for the remaining leg of my journey. Compared to the last few daysit sounded very relaxing. For my first trip to Europe, I felt like this wasquite the crash course. At least for the second portion I would have company,and it sounded like Avalon knew where he is going. That would be a nice change.

“So Lilly was really released?” Iasked, breaking the silence.

“I guess so. Apparently yourboyfriend spoke on her behalf and she was given a second chance. They’re goingto let her return to Kingsley and everything,” Avalon’s voice was skeptical andI had a hard time believing the news as well.

I sat back, admiring the scenery,once again silent. Kiran did save Lilly. I made him promise he would, but afterthe fact I wasn’t sure what to expect. Butterflies attacked my stomach as Iremembered the emotion in his eyes during our farewell.

The depth of longing I felt for himdidn’t seem possible for someone my age. My heart was gripped with clarity;completely full of adoration for the boy I could officially consider the loveof my life. My magic was stirred with the memories of our energies mingled andwild together. My cheeks blushed at the thought of my mouth once again pressedagainst his.

Against all reason and circumstancewe had found each other in a world torn apart by our very existence. In orderto be together we would have to defy all odds, defy all logic, and defy allinfluence. I saw two battlefields in front of me; the one that pinned Kiranagainst me, and the one that we would have to forge in order to be together. Iunderstood the purpose of the Resistance, but the battle I chose to fight wouldbe the one that brought me closer to the man I loved with every fiber of mybeing.

Chapter Forty-Five

I stretched my arms and lifted myhead off of the cold glass window. I yawned wide and shook my head, making thecrick in my neck disappear. Looking out at the Austrian country side flying by,I smiled. Europe had captured my heart; if only I hadn’t been on the run to savemy life.

Avalon seemed in deep thought as hetoo stared out of the train window in silence. Field, farm, field, farm, lake,field, farm, mountain…. Austria was breathtaking. Of course I said the samething about Romania, and then again about the rustic beauty of Hungary. Austriawas a different kind of beauty however. The clean and contemporary buildingsand more modern farms made it clear that this was a different side of Europe.

I pulled my ivory cardigan closeraround my waist; the train air was frigid and although I was grateful for thenew set of clothes Amory picked out for me, they were obviously picked forconvenience and practicality, and not necessarily style. A pair of baggy, brownwork pants clearly meant for a man, a plaid red colored shirt and an ivorycardigan felt like the nicest clothes anyone had ever given me after what mycruise wear had been through. I also had had to retire my Nebraska sweatshirt;but I promised myself I would buy another one paying tribute to the Huskerswhen I returned home.

I wiped my fingers beneath my eyes,self-consciously. I remembered what I looked like when I was finally able toassess the damage in a Hungarian train station bathroom. I did the best I couldto rinse out and wash my hair in the small sink; I at least had gotten it outof the hair tie and into a neat bun on the nape of my neck. It wasn’t pretty,but at least I didn’t look crazy anymore.

My face, arms and legs were coveredin dirt and grime and I would definitely need a long, hot shower to feel completelyclean, but I was much improved, although my legs needed a good shave.

My face took the longest to scrubclean; besides the dirt, I had to deal with a mess of makeup plastered to myface. Never again would I travel wearing non-waterproof mascara and blackeyeliner. By the time I exited the small bathroom, my face was bright red andswollen from all of the scrubbing.

I sent a burst of magic through mybody, heating my blood and awakening my senses. Avalon naturally felt the surgehimself and sat up a little straighter. I smiled at him, hoping to draw himinto conversation, but he stared past me in a dreamlike state. He was soworried about the outcome of the mission he could barely function. And eventhough he carried an international phone and glanced at it every other second,we hadn’t heard from anyone since we left Romania.

Avalon was skilled at internationaltravel and clearly used to being followed. He had taken every precautionnecessary to ensure we were alone. After ditching the Dacia on the Romania/Hungaryborder, he set it on fire, making sure any physical evidence we left behindwould be destroyed. We then took a bus through most of Hungary, changing onlyonce we were close to the Austrian border. Since Austria we had changed trainsas often as we could while still moving in the general direction ofSwitzerland.

I couldn’t help but enjoy the triphowever. Riding a European train was like truly riding in style. The glory ofthe Austrian Alps was like nothing I had ever experienced before; and I wouldgladly ride a train through them until I had every mountain memorized.

The game plan was to fly home fromZurich; who knew how many trains that meant before we were in the heart ofSwitzerland. Only Avalon was concerned about our timing though. I was too sweptaway with Europe to be in any hurry to leave.

Avalon’s phone buzzed gently andsuddenly he sat up completely alert. I noticed the tension in his body and felthis anxiety as he opened the cell phone and answered quietly.

“Hello?” he asked softly,discretely.

“Oh, thank God,” I saw his bodyvisibly relax and felt the apprehension turn to silent joy. “Is the package inthe mail?” he asked, using code. I couldn’t help but laugh; he was like theobvious cliché for a 1950’s spy. Next thing you knew, we would be on our way toRussia to stop the Kremlin.

“What?” he asked, suddenlyexasperated. “You can’t be serious! I’m not doing that. No way. I might as wellsend her to the London palace with instructions on how to find the rest of us.No way….” whatever he was so upset about, he had dropped all pretense of code.“No way….” he repeated over and over to whatever the other line was saying.

“Where?” he asked eventually, witha softer but more frustrated tone. The hostility in his voice was unmistakable.“How do we know it’s not a trap?” he listened a little longer, his magicgrowing stronger and stronger every second. I wouldn’t have been surprised ifthe humans could feel it for themselves. “What happens if you’re wrong?” Avalonlistened longer, but did not seem appeased.

“If I do this, I want some type ofinsurance; some type of trade off…. We would have gotten her out of there evenif he didn’t do anything. That doesn’t make him a hero; it just makes him looklike an idiot!” Avalon stopped talking to get an earful from whoever was on theother line. I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat, totally engrossed inAvalon’s side of the conversation.

“Fine…. I said fine. I guess we’llsee you in Geneva,” Avalon snapped the phone shut and glared at me. I wasalmost too afraid to ask what that had been about.

“Geneva?” I asked tentatively.

“I guess so,” he mumbled.

“Switzerland?” I tried again.