The Host (The Host #1)(170)

“Upside-down Flower?” he guessed. His eyes flickered around their course.

“Yes, I was.”

“My partner, too. Were you on the island?”

“No,” I said quickly. “The mainland. Between the great rivers.”

He nodded, perhaps a little disappointed.

“Should I go back to Tucson?” I asked. “I think I’m quite awake now. Or maybe I should take a nap right here first —”

“No!” he interrupted me in a louder voice.

I jumped, startled, and the little pill slipped from my fingers. It dropped to the metal floor with a faintly audible clink. I felt the blood drain from my face as though a plug had been pulled.

“Didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized quickly, his eyes repeating their restless circle. “But you shouldn’t linger here.”

“Why?” I managed to whisper. My fingers twitched anxiously at the empty air.

“There was a… disappearance recently.”

“I don’t understand. A disappearance?”

“It could have been an accident… but there might be…” He hesitated, unwilling to say the word. “Humans may be in this area.”

“Humans?” I squeaked, too loud. He heard the fear in my voice and interpreted it the only way he could.

“There’s no proof of that, Leaves Above. No sightings or anything. Don’t be anxious. But you should proceed on to Phoenix without unnecessary delay.”

“Of course. Or maybe Tucson? That would be closer.”

“There’s no danger. You can continue with your plans.”

“If you’re sure, Seeker…”

“I’m quite sure. Just don’t go wandering off into the desert, Flower.” He smiled. The expression warmed his face, making it kind. Just like all the other souls I’d dealt with. He wasn’t anxious about me, but for me. He wasn’t listening for lies. And he probably wouldn’t recognize them if he was. Just another soul.

“I wasn’t planning on it.” I smiled back at him. “I’ll be more careful. I know I couldn’t fall asleep now.” I glanced at the desert out Jared’s window with a wary expression, so the Seeker would think that fear was making me alert. My expression tensed into a taut mask as I caught sight of a pair of lights reflected in the side mirror.

Jared’s spine stiffened at the same time, but he held his pose. It looked too tight.

My eyes darted back to the Seeker’s face.

“I can help with that,” he said, still smiling but looking down now as he fumbled to remove something from his pocket.

He hadn’t seen the change in my face. I tried to control the muscles in my cheeks, to make them relax, but I couldn’t concentrate hard enough to make it happen.

In the rearview mirror, the headlights got closer.

“You should not use this often,” the Seeker went on, searching the other pocket now. “It’s not harmful, of course, or the Healers wouldn’t have us give it out. But if you use it frequently, it will alter your sleep cycles.… Ah, here it is. Awake.”

The lights slowed as they approached.

Just drive by, I begged in my head. Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop.

Let it be Kyle at the wheel, Melanie added, thinking the words like a prayer.

Don’t stop. Just drive. Don’t stop. Just drive.

“Miss?”

I blinked, trying to focus. “Um, Awake?”

“Just inhale this, Leaves Above.”

He had a thin white aerosol can in his hand. He sprayed a puff of mist into the air in front of my face. I leaned forward obediently and took a sniff, my eyes darting to the mirror at the same time.

“It’s grapefruit scented,” the Seeker said. “Nice, don’t you think?”

“Very nice.” My brain was suddenly sharp, focused.

The big moving truck slowed and then idled on the road be-hind us.

No! Mel and I shouted together. I searched the dark floor for one half second, hoping against hope that the little pill would be visible. I couldn’t even make out my feet.

The Seeker glanced absently at the truck and then waved it forward.

I looked back at the truck, too, a forced smile on my face. I couldn’t see who was driving. My eyes reflected the headlights, shot out faint beams of their own.

The truck hesitated.

The Seeker waved again, more broadly this time. “Go ahead,” he muttered to himself.

Drive! Drive! Drive!

Beside me, Jared’s hand was clenched in a fist.

Slowly, the big truck shuddered into first gear and then inched forward through the space between the Seeker’s vehicle and ours. The Seeker’s spotlight outlined two silhouettes, two black profiles, both facing straight forward. The one in the driver’s seat had a crooked nose.

Mel and I both exhaled in relief.

“How do you feel?”

“Alert,” I told the Seeker.

“It will wear off in about four hours.”

“Thank you.”

The Seeker chuckled. “Thank you, Leaves Above. When we saw you racing down the road, we thought we might have humans on our hands. I was sweating, but not from the heat!”

I shuddered.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly fine. If you’d like, we can follow you to Phoenix.”