Near midnight, they returned to their room at the motel a block from the border patrol office after a late meal at a twenty-four—hour restaurant.
Ren made a face. “Damn. I hate that bland, same-everywhere food, but at this hour not much to choose from. It’s food anyway, and I guess nourishing enough.”
He sank onto one of the two beds. All at once, the day’s fast pace caught up with him. For a few minutes, he stared at the floor, finally focusing on his boots. Even if they felt like they weighed a ton, right now it was too much trouble to take them off. He flopped back, leaving his legs hanging off the side.
All at once Darzul was there, kneeling before him, nimble fingers busy as he lifted first one of Ren’s feet and then the other to pull off the boots. After that, he rolled down the s
