Page 54 of Reverie
“You cannot unilaterally make decisions for other people.” She enunciates each word as if I were a child.
“I don’t need to consult Ella because it’s a stupid idea,” I say.
Winter scoffs. “Yes, however, don’t you think Ella should make that decision forElla?As a full-grown adult, I think she has enough brainpower to determine if something is for her or not.”
I sit up more on the bed.
“It’s a moot point, Sunbeam.”
She throws up one arm, clearly angry. “Is it really?”
I release another short breath. “You want to brainstorm, yes? How about we talk about how to get out of this mess because I see only one way out that gives us the best chance of survival.”
“Which is?” she asks.
I sit on the edge of the bed, and she takes a step back to give me space.
“We go underground.”
She blinks at me for several moments before humming in response. I prepare myself for her arguments, standing to steel myself against them.
“It would be easy for us all to get new identities. We can start over. I think we get a Cessna—one from someone we’re not very connected to. Then we can fly to Mexico before setting up a decoy and going the opposite way. We can stop in Paris for a while, then go over to London and Japan. You said you wanted to go to Tokyo, right?”
She remains silent while I speak, and an emotion that feels a lot like terror wells up in my chest as I keep talking. “We could do Indonesia and then Fiji. Have you been to Fiji, baby? It’sbeautiful. Then Australia, New Zealand, we can go where they shotThe Hobbit?—”
“Stop, Hunter.” Her words are soft, but they stop my monologue because of the gravity in them.
I stand to cradle her face. “I want us far away from this, Sunbeam. I know that you want to fight, and I love that about you, baby. You’re my warrior, and I love the fuck out of you for it.”
She rubs her cheek against my palm.
“But I’m so sorry, Sunbeam. Because the thought of something happening to our family makes me want to die on the spot.”
She kisses my hand in response. “Hunter, I think you know as well as I do that running won’t work.” She gazes directly into my eyes, into my soul.
“It will work, Winter?—”
“No, it won’t, Hunter. And what’s more is, we shouldn’t run. We need to face this.”
I step away from her, dropping my arm. I try to keep control of my body.
“What are you saying, Winter? That we should just all be martyrs to the cause?” I run a hand through my hair, pushing it away from my face and channeling my agitation.
She sighs, but it’s patient. “No, I’m not saying that. I very much want to live.”
“Then what the hell are you thinking?” My voice rises to a near shout, and her lips press into a firm line before releasing.
“Iknowthat running will only get us so far. I know that there’s no way we can live—really live—if we’re looking over our shoulders. We are trapped in this now, Hunter. We were trapped even before the raid happened. Youwere trapped as soon as you got off that plane and took responsibility for August, and I was trapped when I laid eyes on you.”
Her words…her words make me want to throw myself from a tall building because while I’ve always known that I’ve been on borrowed time and my father and his influence will always be there in the background, the fact thatsheknows that being with me means death and destruction makes me want to rip my heart from my chest.
“Sunbeam,” I start, but no other words come out.
“Hunter, I wouldn’t change any of it. I wouldn’t trade any of it if it meant that I could have you and August. If it meant that I could have our family. And so…I want to live. I want to livefully.And the only way to do so is to face this head-on, fight, and win.”
She brings herself close to me, molding her body into my chest. The contact is the thing I need most desperately right now.
“The only way we’ll do that is if we do it together. And not just me and you, but all of us.”