Chapter 69: The Long Drive

LYCHOS

Book Three of the Lychos Cycle

My legs ache, my whole body, really. I've been one tight, tense knot since leaving the train behind in the Northwest and stealing this family car. The long drive from southern Washington has given me nothing but time to think about what we've left behind-good friends, uncovered secrets-and about what's to come. I crack open a window, allowing the cool Pennsylvanian night air, crisp with the promise of frost, to stir the heaviness inside. Heaviness matched by the weight in my heart, the burning need to reach this destination.

To reach Syd.

The small car smells of cat urine and spoiled milk. I ignore the stench, absorbed instead in the feeling of witch magic pulsing from the tree line before me. A secluded lane often visited by young lovers offers shelter as I block off my magic even further, just in case.