Tremble (Denazen #3)(44)

I slid my body along the blacktop and wedged myself beneath the car as Kale did the same. A small part of me started to panic. If someone came up behind and wasn’t paying attention, what would happen if they hit us? Would we be squashed?

“Here.” Kale pried the manhole cover off and dragged it to the side. The scraping sound it made against the pavement echoed through the streets. There was no way the agents hadn’t heard it. They would know exactly what we were doing—and where we were going. “Hurry. Get in.”

I tried to shimmy around, but the way I was angled, it was headfirst or nothing. Fantastic. Sewer diving. My December was officially complete.

I slipped my torso into the hole, grabbing the ladder tightly with both hands, and crept down several rungs, trying hard not to flinch at the icy metal. When my feet were clear of the opening, I kicked off and flipped. The landing was less than graceful, but nothing was broken and there was no blood. Sometimes that was all you could hope for. A few moments later, Kale’s feet appeared and the sound of the metal lid scraping the pavement as he pulled the cover back over the opening filled the air.

“Move,” he snapped, jumping from the ladder. “They won’t be far behind.”

We followed the wall for a while. The smell was horrific, and I didn’t even want to think about the squishy stuff I was stepping in. For once I was thankful it was freezing outside. If this had been summer, the stench would have been unbearable.

“So…”

“So, what?” Kale didn’t turn, but I could see him glancing at me every few minutes from the corner of his eye. We’d been moving for a few minutes and the silence was driving me crazy.

“You don’t wanna say anything?”

He stopped walking and turned. “Anything?”

“About the kiss?”

“Oh.” He shrugged and started walking again.

“Oh?” I practically squealed. “One minute you hate me, the next you’re sucking the tonsils from my throat and all you have to say is, oh?”

“It was nice.”

“Nice? Oh, that was better than nice and you know it. But did it bring anything up?” When I realized what I’d said I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. With anyone else—Alex particularly—it would have been a disaster. Ten thousand jokes handed to him on a silver platter. “Memories,” I added quickly. “Did it bring any memories up?”

“I remember the feeling.” He sighed. “Something all-consuming. A need I couldn’t get enough of. Someone…”

“Someone?” I asked, hopeful.

He turned, and for a second I was sure he’d lean in and kiss me again. But he didn’t. Instead, he nodded into the darkness ahead. “It’s not safe to stand still. We should keep moving.”

We should keep moving.

Holy crap. What the hell was I thinking? As much as I wanted to know his thoughts on our kiss and if it’d gotten us any closer to a breakthrough, doing it now, with agents so close, was suicide. Worry churned in my stomach, and I tried to push it back. It was getting worse. Each day that went by stole more and more of my focus. Concentration was something that took effort, and it scared me. What if the protein was building faster in my system for some reason? Maybe I’d go over the deep end before hitting eighteen.

“Are you okay?” Kale asked when I didn’t make a move to follow.

“Oh, yeah,” I answered. Not the time to freak out. There’d be plenty of time for that later. I hoped. “Sorry. I turn eighteen soon. I guess the drug is starting to take effect.”

He looked like there was something he wanted to say, but instead, he nodded and held out his hand. “I think we’re almost at the end.”

When we finally emerged onto the street, I was wet, nearly frozen, and suspected my sense of smell might be gone for good.

Kale grabbed my hand to help me up. When I placed my foot on the pavement I wasn’t paying attention. Truthfully, I was watching him. The subtle bulge of muscle beneath his hoodie and the generous tilt of his lips. That kiss… In my defense, I’d been Kale-deprived for months, but I knew my timing was a bit on the stupid side.

I slipped on a patch of ice but Kale, quick as ever, caught me before I toppled completely. Our eyes met, and for a second I forgot how to breathe.

“We can’t go back for the car,” he said. He sounded a little disappointed.

A simple, casual statement with no romantic overtones, right? Sure. The words were general. But the look in his eyes was anything but. Heat flared to life as those beautiful blues stole every ounce of my focus—what little I had—and I wondered what we might do if we could go back to the car. The months we’d spent apart vanished. It was us against the world again. There was no my Kale and their Kale. There was only us.

“Dez, I—” But he didn’t finish. Whatever he’d been about to say was lost as confusion set back in.

It was the first time he’d used my name since the night I’d found him at the party. The sound of the word on his lips made the butterflies rage in the pit of my stomach and sent warm tingles up and down my spine. I cleared my throat and stepped away, trying hard not to be disappointed when he didn’t continue. Time. It would take time. I was about to tell him how annoyed Ginger would be about the car but a low hum came from Kale’s pocket. “What is that?”