I felt fire in my chest with every step.
It had taken a few hours for Trent to finish the seal and now I knew why he had done this after I ate. While I wasn’t nauseous, just the thought of swallowing food right now made me wince. I was also seriously thinking about just taking off my gray shirt and blue leather jacket. Since our team’s color was Blue, that was the color of clothes we were supposed to wear so everyone at the Cathedral would know what team we were on.
I kept my shirt on, if for no other reason than I didn’t want to give Aelin another reason to tease me.
Trent led the five of us outside where there was a black RV with white trim waiting for us.
“We get to ride in an Enforcer car?” Aelin skipped ahead. "Can I drive?”
The Enforcers were the All-Temple’s private security. I looked over at Trent. "Won’t this call too much attention to us?”
“Definitely.” Trent smiled. "But we are sending a message, so attention is what we want.”
He opened the door and motioned for us to get in.
Our blonde Buffer was the first one inside. She made a beeline for the driver’s seat and sat down.
Justia got in next, followed by myself and Ether. Rix looked like she wanted to go last, but Trent reserved that for himself.
The RV wasn’t very spacious, but it had the basics. The back had two rows of bunk beds, so only four could sleep at a time. There was a door between them that I assumed was the bathroom, since there weren’t any other rooms. A sink and locked cupboards were in front of us and a booth was to our left. In front were two captain’s chairs.
“What do you have mounted?” Rix pointed at the seven-foot ceiling.
I hadn’t noticed that there was what looked like a retractable platform the size of the skylight above us.
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“Dual laser rails, they’ll chew through crystals, but should disable most things.” Trent reached above him and banged on the skylight. “If we see any trouble, they’re yours.” He clapped Aelin on the shoulders. "You ready to go?”
“Wait, you’re not seriously letting her drive?” I looked at Ether and Justia for support. "Am I the only one who thinks she’s going to go too fast and kill us?”
“It’s mostly open road from here to there.” Trent sat down in the passenger’s seat. "We shouldn’t see too much traffic, so I don’t see a problem with letting her have a turn.” He looked at the other four of us. "Anyone else want to drive?”
I shook my head. I had spent most of the last four years in the dungeon and anywhere that I’d needed to go, was within walking distance. I’d been in a vehicle a handful of times, but I’d never driven one.
“I’d like a turn.” Ether looked at the other two women.
“I don’t like driving something this big.” Justia shook her head.
Ether raised an eyebrow. "You’ve driven something like this?”
“My parents own something similar for traveling to Noble functions outside the city.” The green-skinned sat down in the booth, “I’ve also driven our ambulance.”
Justia was the only Noble on our team, so it made sense that she’d have driven regularly before now.
“What about you, Rix?” The red-eyed woman turned to the golden-skinned redhead.
“I prefer Chasers.” The tanned woman was running her fingers over the trim. "More maneuverability.”
“Ether gets a turn when we stop for a break!” Trent pointed at the navigation system. "Aelin, you have the wheel.”
The RV hummed to life and Aelin drove to the gate. It wasn’t long before we had made our way through it and were on the open road.
I sat down across from Justia and Ether slid in beside me.
Ether looked over at Rix, who was leaning against the cupboard. "You can sit next to Justia, I’m sure she doesn’t mind.”
The redhead looked like she was going to refuse, but after a pause, sighed and sat down next to the green-skinned woman.
The brunette looked as uncomfortable as Rix did and there was enough room to put Aelin in between them.
“You’ve driven one of these before?” Ether looked at Rix.
The redhead slowly nodded. "The Cobra Bandits would refit them to use to attack convoys.”
“Oh.” Ether looked from Rix to Justia. "Are you excited to be going home so soon?”
Justia looked at me and shrugged, then looked out the window.
It was going to be a long car ride.