CHAPTER 19
The lights of the city fade slowly. The buildings become more infrequent, from stretches of brick apartments to blocks of strip malls to prairie-like fields pockmarked by the occasional farmhouse. The streetlights vanish after an hour, the dark on either side of the car deep and velvet, heavy with unseen threat. Rooster’s hand on my knee grounds me, tethering me to myself instead of letting me give in to the buzzing panic that only intensifies as we dive.
Mack wakes up around hour four, when the horizon begins to pinken. It illuminates trees that flank the car like a tunnel. Are we even on the highway anymore? I don’t think so—no lines on the road here, no highway signs.
I stretch my arms above my head—stiff.
“Morning, lass,” Rooster says.
Did I actually pass out? “How long
