I did read the rest of the files on the road. Well, I tried, but I’d never been in an enclosed space with Evan for hours at a time before. Like a complete freak, I was hyper-aware of his body next to mine. I couldn’t stop myself from drinking in every detail.

He drove with both hands on the wheel exactly regulation width apart, no propping an elbow on the window for Evander St. John. Talk radio rumbled through the speakers. Just for background noise, mostly; he didn’t keep it loud enough to really follow along.

After hours on the road, I could even smell the woodsy spice of him. Saints don’t wear fragrance, so he just smelled like that. Who smelled like that?

If Beni had come with us at least conversing with her could have distracted me, but she and Espy had basically already been ready to go. (They’d only been in Empyrean for my ceremony.) Evan had still needed to swing by the Johns manor to grab his equipment and change, so the girls had hit the road ahead of us.

“You all right?” His voice shot through my thoughts.

I blinked over at him. “What?”

“You’ve been staring at the same page for a while,” he said.

My head fell back against the seat with a sigh.

“Nervous?”

“...Yes,” I said honestly. “Yes, I am.”

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You used to run jobs with your dad, right? It’ll be just like that.”

It wasn’t the job I was worried about, but there was no way to tell him that. Time to change the subject.

“How close are we?”

He jerked his chin toward the window. “See that truck stop down there?”

HOLLY’S PLACE: BAR, GRILL, AND TRUCK STOP a huge neon sign proclaimed at the bottom of the pass. Its red and blue clearly shone in the fading light.

“Yeah.”

“According to Esperanza, your dad’s safehouse is about twenty miles past.”

“Thank Josh,” I said. “I need to get out of this car.”

He shook his head. “You never did like tight spaces, did you?”

“No, as a matter of fact,” I muttered. “Long car rides are the worst.”

“Oh, come on,” he said. “The Jameses are pilgrims. You’ve been all over the country with your dad.”

“Yeah, but I was a kid,” I said. “I slept for most of the ride.”

“Aw, does little Sethary need a nap?”

I closed the file with a huff. “Oh, shut up.”

He chuckled, and let it go. “You can call Beni or Esperanza if you want. They should already be there.”

“Are you really going to keep calling Espy by her full name like she didn’t babysit us back in the day?” I asked.

“She’s the Magda now,” Evan said. “She deserves respect.”

“Respect, sure,” I said. “But I don’t think she stands on ceremony much.”

“That’s her prerogative,” he said. “But the hierarchy exists for a reason.”

I flashed him a jaunty salute. “Yes sir.”

Throughout our journey, the topography had gradually changed the closer we crept to Rossberg. Hills turned into mountains, woodland became thick forests. It was beautiful country, similar to the lands around Empyrean. Maybe a bit more wild. Currently, we were making our final descent, spinning down a long mountain pass. We blew past the sign for Holly’s Place, and I thought I might have some vague memories of it as a kid.

According to a green sign, we passed the turnoff for the town of Rossberg. We wouldn’t actually venture into town until tomorrow since the safehouse was out of town limits.

As we finally came upon the house, I could instantly see a Saint’s hand in the design. A two-story ranch house sat upon a raised plot of land, the only thing visible for miles in any direction. There was only one way for vehicles to approach: a crunchy gravel road that made stealth impossible.

The girls’ car was already parked out front, just as Evan predicted.

“Hey guys,” Beni said as we hauled our stuff inside. “Auntie’s already retired. She took the master since it’s ground floor.”

“Of course,” said Evan. “I would have offered it to her anyway.”

She waved us up the stairs. “There’s two rooms up here. Evan, you can take one as the senior partner. Us juniors’ll bunk--”

“Absolutely not,” he insisted. “What would your dad think if I allowed you to share a room with a boy?”

We both just stared at him for a second.

“Uh, Evan,” I said. “Remember what we talked about this morning?”

He gave me a look. “Yes, but are you willing to have a similar conversation with Saint Philip?”

Turning to Beni, I shot her a please-help-me look.

“Well, if you’re sure,” she chirped. “Good night!”

I glared at her retreating back until the door to her room clicked shut. Would a second-floor jump be enough to kill me?

Evan was already moving down the hall. “Must be this one.”

Slowly, I turned to follow him, hating my life with every step. Sitting beside him in the car had been tortuous, a heliotrope straining toward the light. How could I possibly share a room with him without losing my mind?

And then I walked into the room and saw the bed. The bed. One.

“Nice,” Evan said, setting his stuff down. “Queen size. Plenty of room for two.”

I swallowed hard. Bent over his bags, he didn’t notice. Releasing the quietest breath I could, I shuffled inside.

Neither of us spoke as we readied ourselves for bed. Evan slipped beneath the sheets without a second thought.

I, on the other hand, was reciting the driest bits of scripture I could remember. Please, Saint Joshua, I prayed, don’t let me embarrass myself.

But if I stalled any longer it would be obvious to Evan that I was stalling. Maybe it already was. Gripping the covers, I pulled the blankets back and climbed in before I fled the room in panic.

Evan yawned and rolled so his back was to me. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” I croaked, staring up at the ceiling.

This was going to be a long night.