House of Leights (Secret Keepers, #3)(10)

He nodded and then fell silent. I dropped back against Brad, who hadn’t said anything since we got in the car. Stretching out my aching feet, I tried not to think too much about what we’d just gone through. Two hours ago, I’d been a normal teenager at a party. Now I was on the run, I had no idea where my parents were, and part of me was wishing I was back in the alley. The feeling in my chest and stomach was gone now, the rushing of hormones through my body fading.

I wanted it back.

The ride was fast and quiet. I was a combination of exhausted and freaked out, but there was no way I’d even close my eyes until I found my parents. What if I fell asleep and the driver was somehow a bad guy too, and decided to drive us to some remote location and knock us off?

Trust. No. One.

Brad and I didn’t talk, both of us locked in our own thoughts. I mostly spent my time trying not to freak out further. Not knowing if my parents were safe was the hardest part. What if they had run into the same trouble I had? What would I do if I got to the National Mall and they weren’t there?

Before I could descend all the way into the depths of madness, familiar sights distracted me. Washington, D.C. The driver swiveled to see us. “So … have you decided where you’d like to be dropped off?”

Leaning forward, I nodded. “Yes, as close to the White House as you can get.” I wasn’t sure about security at this time of night. I figured he might be able to drop us within a few blocks. Brad gave me a look but didn’t say anything.

“No worries.” The driver glanced back again, and it looked like he wanted to ask more questions but refrained. No doubt he was wondering why two teenagers were trying to go to the White House at almost 2 A.M. In the end though, he stayed quiet as he drove on.

When he pulled up I could just see a few buildings and a lot of trees. I didn’t know the area, but as soon as we were out, the taxi driving away, Brad said, “I’ve been here a few times to visit my parents. The Mall is just over there.” He pointed.

The street was quiet. I couldn’t see another person around, which made me uneasy. “Do payphones still exist?” I asked as we walked. I was trying to come up with a backup plan if my parents were not waiting for me. “Can they be traced … payphones?”

Brad shot me a sad attempt at a grin, the first I’d seen from him in a while. “In the movies they can. I have no idea if that’s real life, though.”

Hopefully I wouldn’t have to risk it. Maybe I’d get my second stroke of luck tonight, if you counted the stranger in the alley as the first, and we’d find my parents waiting exactly where my dad said. It was plausible, right?

Brad took my hand as we walked along the street. If we had to speak, we kept our voices just above a whisper so we didn’t draw attention to ourselves. Brad remained quite short with me, saying only what he had to, and I knew him well enough to know when he was angry. Or upset.

“What’s wrong?” I finally asked after the tenth one-word answer.

His hand flexed on mine for a beat, and then he said, “You were going to sacrifice yourself for me. I’m not okay with that. You were almost taken right out from under me. I should be able to protect you.”

Snuggling in closer to him, I snaked one arm around his back, mostly for comfort, and a little for warmth, because I was absolutely freezing. “You’re my best friend,” I told him. “My family. It’s my job to protect you as well. The truth is, they wanted me. There was no point in you dying, too.”

He made a sound, part devastation and part anger, and it had my heart clenching painfully. “We’re a team, Maiz. You and me. If there is no you, then what the hell is the point of me?”

Everyone expected that Brad and I would get together one day, that we couldn’t be this close without romantic feelings coming into it, but they were all wrong. We were family: brother and sister, best friends, a team. But there was never, and would never, be anything romantic. Even if I’d wanted that from him – which I definitely did not, I’d seen him through every single disgusting stage of his life – I would never risk what we had.

“You’re my people,” he said to me.

“The one I’d call to help me hide a dead body,” I finished, sucking some deep breaths, the freezing air chilling my mouth and throat. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to leave you behind.”

“Damn right,” he exclaimed, hugging me tightly. He wore only a shirt, but he at least had pants on so his butt wasn’t freezing. Still, if we didn’t get out of the cold soon, both of us were going to be in trouble.

Thankfully, we were in the Mall now. I’d never been here at night, and as darkness closed in around us, I realized how super creepy it was. There were a few people around, but not many. I’d never seen White House security out this far in the daytime. I was half expecting at night there would be some, but so far it looked clear.

“The Lincoln Memorial, right?” Brad murmured close to my ear.

I twisted my head to see him better, shooting a smile in his direction. “How did you figure that out?”

He shrugged. “I know you and your family pretty well by now, Maya. You mentioned the trip to the memorial multiple times. I saw the way your eyes lit up when you talked about that time with your dad.”

I nodded. “It’s our special spot. He’s a little obsessed with history … especially the presidents. He used to take me here all the time when we were kids, tell me that I needed to learn and love our history.”