The Fire and the Sky (Book 3 of the... - Chapter 33: Chapter 33

May and Jeremy didn't speak.
They found the ravine quickly. The walls were stony and steep, so they stayed up along its edge and followed it. They moved briskly, pausing only to hold their breath and listen for any noise that would indicate they were being followed. Satisfied they were still on their own, they pushed onward.
"They're going to find us," May whispered as their tree cover gave way as they got closer to the city. Concrete infrastructure grew up around them as the ravine walls sank, corralling the flowing in the ravine into a slow-moving canal. "I'm sure they know what to do when prisoners escape. How is this any different?"
"Shut up," Jeremy hissed without looking back. "We're going to be fine. Just stay close."
Everything inside of May wanted to snap back at Jeremy for telling her to shut up. She savored the fantasy of shoving him into the water and stalking off without him. But she bit her tongue and hurried forward until she was barely a pace behind him. Her fear was just a shade stronger than her indignation.
A bridge was coming up ahead. Hopelessness squeezed at May's lungs. She could imagine a swarm of cop cars lining the road up top, waiting for the two of them to surface. How did they ever think they could get away with this?
In her mind she rewound over what had just happened. Why had the guards seized her? Had Dawn said something? She tried to remember what it was.
Jeremy came to a dead stop. It happened so quickly May walked right into his back. He shushed her and she waited.
With a tilt of his head, Jeremy narrowed his eyes and peered into the darkness under the narrow bridge. May stood frozen, trying to see what he did. Sure enough, there was something down there. It didn't look like a person, per se, but her blood ran cold anyway.
Jeremy snapped his fingers three times. A beat later, two snaps came from beneath the bridge like a strange call and answer. Something about this satisfied him and he nodded toward the shadows and stepped silently into them.
Against her better judgement, May followed.
The shape turned out to be a motorcycle. Sitting beside it was a young man with scruffy hair and a leather jacket. His eyes locked on May and he scampered to his feet.
"Who's she?" he demanded, his voice low.
"She's with me, Dimitri," Jeremy replied. He was taking off jacket and shirt. "We're going to need to take the bike."
"Are you fucking kidding me, J?"
"We can't get all three of us on there."
"What about me? What am I supposed to do?"
"I know, dude. I'm sorry." Jeremy thrust the wad of clothes out to him. "I'll leave it for you in the spot?"
Dimitri looked at the clothes and scowled. His eyes flicked to May and, though she had no idea what was happening, she did her best to look pleading. Grumbling, he relented.
"Fine." He tossed his helmet at Jeremy and took the clothes.
"Give her your jacket. I'll just take your shirt."
May jumped forward and took the worn jacket when Dimitri offered it. The guys swapped shirts and then Jeremy pulled a second helmet off the back of the bike and handed it to May. "Make sure you get all your hair in there."
Quickly, May tucked her tell-tale rosy hair into the helmet, cursing at how long she had let it get as she fought with a few rogue strands.
Once she had the helmet secured, she looked to the motorcycle and blanched. "I've never ridden one of these before."
Jeremy snatched up a second helmet that hung from one of the handle bars and crammed it on his head. He swung one of his lean legs over the bike and, once he was situated, he hitched a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the extended space of seat behind him. "Don't worry about it. All you need to do is climb up and hang on."
Under different circumstances, May would have hesitated. The idea of riding a motorcycle made her uneasy, but not as much as sliding onto one behind Jeremy did. But there was no time for that now. She scrambled onto the back of the bike and snapped the visor of her helmet down over her face. Her only moment of hesitation came when she was trying to figure out where to put her hands, searching for handles of some kind as the engine roared to live beneath her. But as soon as the motorcycle lurched forward, instinct took over. She wrapped her arms around Jeremy's middle and held on for dear life.
They flew along, ripping up along the canal until there was a break in the concrete that opened up to a set of railroad tracks. Jeremy carefully maneuvered the bike across the tracks and up onto a quiet roadway on the other side.
And just like that, they were in the clear. There were no police cars, no sirens; as far as anyone knew, they were just a couple out for a ride.
Despite their apparently clean break and the tinted visor over her face, May kept her head ducked low. She wondered where Welkin, Dom, and Lety were and how she'd find them again. She wondered where the rest of WIND was and if they were on their way to them now.
She wondered if she was only a few minutes away from being reunited with Em.
It wasn't long before Jeremy slowed the motorcycle and turned it into a small, crowded parking lot outside an unremarkable looking gas station with a diner attached. He navigated around the side and parked the bike behind the cover of a large garbage bin. By the scattered plastic lawn furniture and discarded cigarette butts, May assumed this was where the gas diner staff took their breaks.
Jeremy pulled his helmet off and shook out his flaming red hair. "I can't get off until you do."
"Oh," May mumbled, prying apart her tightly laced fingers that were still gripped around his waist. "Right.
She slid from the bike, her legs still vibrating from the engine's power and aching from the uncomfortable position. Removing the helmet was a wonderful relief, and May sighed as the cooling evening air caressed her sweaty scalp. Jeremy took the helmet and hung it on the handle bar opposite his own.
"Okay, let's move." He kept his voice low and flipped up the hood of Dimitri's sweatshirt, cramming his still-blood covered hand into the front pocket.
It wasn't lost on May that he wasn't looking at her.
"Thank you for saving me," she said softly, barely loud enough for him to hear.
"Well it's not like I was just going to leave you there."
May actually laughed, to which Jeremy pulled a face.
"What?" he asked, scandalized.
"I'm just surprised to hear that," May admitted with a miniscule shrug. "What with you hating me and all."
Jeremy scoffed and shook his head. "I don't hate you."
"Bullshit."
"I don't!" He shot her a tense look out of the corner of his eye. "Not anymore, anyway. Besides, I might be a dick but I'm not a heartless monster."
"Thank goodness for that then."
They trudged along in relative silence for a few minutes, punctuated only by Jeremy's single word direction to squeeze between two buildings and turn left down the alley.
"What were you even doing there?" he asked at last. The sun was getting lower, its light blocked by the buildings that surrounded them. May shivered.
"I could ask you the same thing."
"Sure, but I asked first."
May considered him for a moment. How much was she willing to tell him?
Then she sighed. He had just saved her life, after all.
"I was there to see my birth mother."
Jeremy's eyes grew wide. "Are you fucking with me?"
"Nope." May looked up at the fading light. "I recently discovered that she and my birth father were career criminals. They were captured just after I was born."
"Shit," Jeremy whispered. He sounded genuinely in awe. "And why were you being dragged away by those guards?
May frowned. "I've been wondering the same thing."
"Huh." Jeremy kicked a discarded coffee cup. They watched it skitter and then roll lazily on its rim. "Right here."
"What about you?" May pressed, not about to let him off the hook.
"Believe it or not, I was visiting my mom too," he replied without looking at her. "I always try to see her whenever I end up in Rhettville."
It was May's turn to be surprised. "What in the world did your mom do to get thrown into Gallery?"
Jeremy sucked in a sharp breath. He was back to looking anywhere but at her, his eyes flicking from the sidewalk to shop windows to the streetlight which had just flashed to life.
"She wished for me."