Chapter 3

“Do you even know where we’re going?”

Blake looked over at her. “Yes, I know where we are going.  Would you just shut up, already?”

“Just like a man,” she mumbled. “We’ve been driving in circles for the past ten minutes.  What is it with you people and not wanting to stop to get directions?”

He clenched his teeth together in attempt not to snap at her. The girl caused him to wish he could do something that he had never done before; stuff a gag in her mouth.  It was quite a shame that she didn’t know how to be quiet, because Blake had to admit, she was pretty.  Not in the way that Ally was with her long black hair and olive skin.  No, Sydney was white with that reddish, brown hair.  Nobody could compare the two seeing as they were complete opposites, but Blake’s mind couldn’t help throw the two together.  It seemed that once he met Ally, he compared every girl to her.

Shaking his head, he focused back on the road.  Maybe Sydney was right; maybe he should stop and ask for directions, or he could use the GPS Marcus had stored in his glove department.

“Sydney.”

“Yeah,” she questioned with a yawn.

He didn’t keep his eyes off the road as he began talking, “Can you reach in the glove department and grab the GPS?”

“GPS,” she said in disbelief.  “There has been a GPS in this car the entire time, and you didn’t think to use it.”

“Didn’t think I would need it,” he replied with a shrug.

“Just like a man.” 

He heard her rummaging around, looking for the thing.  Soon, she let out a sigh of relief, telling him that she had found it.  The only problem was that the sigh was followed by a curse.  “Did you forget the charger? Or did you not realize that things needed to be charged?”

Reaching over, he slammed the compartment closed.  “This is Marcus’s car, not mine.  How was I supposed to know that he didn’t have the charger?”

“Just like a man to just assume something.”

Blake snapped; he couldn’t handle it anymore.  Slamming on the breaks, he swerved off the road and flung his seat-belt off.  “What the hell is wrong with you?” he snarled while facing her.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes.  “What do you think is wrong with me?  My life is being ruined because of your people.  You think you can just send me away and think I’ll be happy about that?”

“This has nothing to do with me.”  He said each word slowly hoping that she would catch onto the exact words.

Her eyes narrowed more.  “This has everything to do with you!  Don’t you understand what they are doing?  No, I guess you’re not that smart.  They are trying to hook us up.”

“Hook us up?” he questioned in disgust.  “They want me and you to, to mate?”

“Yeah,” she told him while rolling her eyes.  “You and I together would give them the alliance they need, and I think they want us out of their hair.”

Blake heard the underlining sadness as she whispered the last sentence.  What did that mean?  That she regretted the way she was acting?  Or that she felt like a burden.  Strangely enough, Blake felt compassion for the annoying girl sitting next to him.  “No offense, but I don’t really want to be with you.”

“You think I want that?  I have a life, Blake, a life away from all this mess, away from all the rules and procedures, and I like it.”

He shook his head.  “I don’t.  My life is back in that cabin.  They are my family, the only family I have left.  Don’t you understand how hard it is to leave that behind?  Even if it is for a couple weeks, do you understand what I will be missing?”

Her expression turned thoughtful.  “You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?”

“I can’t help it,” he laughed.  “It happened when I met her, and I know that we aren’t good for each other.  I just can’t help but wonder.  What if she would have chosen me?  What if she wouldn’t have met Sebastian first?  There are so many questions running through my head, but the worst part about it is that I know I don’t really love her.  Not in the way Sebastian loves her.  I just love the idea of loving her.”

“I get it,” Sydney mumbled.  “You know that thing that she saw when she touched me, the thing that Zeke picked up as soon as he walked in the door?” Blake nodded.  “I have a boyfriend.”

He smiled at her.  “That’s a relief.”

She chuckled as she reached out and playfully slapped him on the shoulder.  “You don’t have to be so mean.  Okay, but seriously, he’s human.”

“I, um, yeah.” He stumbled over his words, not knowing what to tell her, but she just shook her head and laughed.

“It’s fine; I get why it’s such a shock to you.  See, that is who they saw, but they don’t understand what he signifies to me.”

“Freedom,” Blake guessed.  “He signifies the other life that you are trying so hard to have.  The one where you hide who you truly are in belief that you will fit in better, that you won’t have people treating you differently because of who your family is.”

“See, you get it.  We are both in love with something that we can’t have, not a person.  I don’t really love him; I love what he can give me.  You don’t really love Alexandria; you love the thought of belonging with someone.”

“We’re screwed up,” Blake mumbled while turning and banging his head against the steering wheel.

She laughed.  “Yes, we are, but you know what I just figured out?”

“What?”

“Your Queen really does know what’s best for us.”

He looked over at her and smiled.  “I told you she would never tell us to do something unless it helped us.”

“I just didn’t believe you,” she said with a shrug.  “I guess I didn’t realize that, even if she has ulterior motives, she wants what’s best for those she loves.  It’s kinda refreshing.”

“Nice way to put it,” he said with a chuckle, “refreshing.  She sent us away because she knew that we needed time apart from all that mess.  The question we need to ask ourselves now is: what exactly is her ulterior motive?”

“An alliance?” Sydney supplied.

Blake shook his head.  “No, she would just lock us up in a room if she wanted us to spend time together.  There is something else, something that she didn’t tell us about Alaska.”

“How do you know?  Oh, never mind, I forgot you two share a bond.  Wow, that sucks majorly,” she mumbled.  “Can you feel her in your mind all the time?”

“No,” he replied.  “She can communicate with me, and I with her if we try, but it’s more like, um," he stopped to search for a word before concluding with, "a watch.”

“A watch?” she asked, and Blake could hear the confusion in her voice.

“Yeah, you wear a watch your entire life, and after a while, you kinda get used to the feeling of having it on your wrist.  You just forget that it’s there, but when you need to tell the time, all you have to do is look down.”

“I think I get it,” she said slowly. “She’s in the back of your mind.  A presence that is there, but you don’t really feel, unless you need it?”

Smiling at her, he nodded.  There that was easier to explain than he initially thought it would be.  “So, I don’t know that she is hiding something, but she’s Ally.  She likes to throw surprises at people.”

“That she does,” Sydney replied with a wistful smile.  Blake opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but she continued talking.  “I wish I didn’t act like such a brat.”

“Ally is used to people having mood swings.  You see how broody Zeke is.  Sebastian used to get all angry then neutral on her.  I followed her around like a puppy and was dependent on her.  Korbin may be the only consistent one in her life.  I doubt that if you attempt to have a friendship with her that she will turn you down because of one meeting.”

“Am I that transparent?” she asked with a laugh.  “I just think having a friend like her would be good for me.  Someone who didn’t just smile and nod when I asked how my pants look.”

“Ally would tell you that your butt looked fat.”

An outraged gasp echoed through the small car.  “My butt looks fat in these pants?”

“You’re wearing a skirt,” he said with a laugh. “I was just giving you an example.”

“I don’t think I like your example,” she mumbled, but Blake could hear the amusement in her voice.

He pulled his seat-belt on and twisted the keys.  The engine came to life with a light purr.  “Let’s go ask someone for directions.”