#Chapter 383 – Road Trip
Ella
I watch Cora struggle with her choice, biting her lip and trying to figure out how she feels. My heart goes out to her now, because I know that she thinks it is an impossible ask to tell us that she wants to put a coronation on hold so that she can visit a temple.
But suddenly, quite suddenly, it’s all I want for her. Because Cora has been here for us through all of this – and she deserves answers to these questions. And I open my mouth to say this, but Sinclair beats me to it.
“I think we should go,” he says, and I whip my eyes up to see him giving a casual shrug. “It will only take a few days,” he adds, looking down at me to see how I feel. “And, quite frankly, we could…use a break before the madness begins again.”
A little smile creeps over my mouth. “Would it,” Cora begins, and then hesitates again. But we all wait, letting her find her voice. “Would it be safe?” she asks.
“We think it would,” Roger says steadily at her side. “Xander’s on the run, which means he’s scrambling. He’s an old man and we took out the forces that he was using to physically attack us. Even if he’s working to get more, we think that we have…at least a small window of time.”
“We would have to move quickly and quietly,” Henry adds, more cautious now than he’s been in the past – I think spooked, still, by the disastrous results of our last plan. “No planes or anything flashy – just…a small, anonymous family trip.”
I turn my attention back to Cora, wanting to know what she thinks. But she’s still sitting perfectly still and quiet, clearly putting her thoughts together.
“I can’t ask you to do this,” she says after a long, quiet minute. “I – we need to get the coronation going, to keep us all safe.”
“You don’t have to ask us to do it, Cora,” Sinclair answers quietly, and I turn my eyes up at my mate. “We’re telling you we want to do it. Right?” he looks at me now and I nod eagerly.
“Honestly, Cora,” I say, leaning forwards her. “It’s what I was thinking. I think it’s right – I think we should go.”
Roger says nothing, simply staying steady at Cora’s side, letting her make up her own mind. But she just continues to shake her head. “But there’s already so much to do here.” She sighs, putting her head down in her hands for a moment as she collects her thoughts.
“The Cult, and the priests, and Xander – it was already a distraction from the aftermath of a war with the humans that has been terribly complicated. There is still so much work to do here, and Ella,” she looks up at me now, “we could be spending this time going to the refugee camps, actually helping people, now that we have the gift -“
My face falls when I realize that she’s right. That there is so much to do here, that it’s perhaps selfish to consider this possibility –
“Two days, Cora,” Roger says quietly next to her, taking her hand. “Two days, and then you can come back and save the world, and take on those problems and surely everything else that’s going to come along with them. But,” he gives her hand a little squeeze, “it would be okay to take two days. You deserve that. You’ve earned that.”
And I find myself nodding, agreeing. Because as I consider what the rest of our lives are going to look like…it’s going to be a lot of dedication to the people of this nation, of this world. And it will make me so happy to do that work – to help people.
But Cora is one of the people I want to help. She deserves it as much as anyone else. Plus, she’s my sister. And that has to count for something.
“Let’s go, Cora,” I say, leaning forward and giving her an encouraging smile. “Two days.”
She bites her lip and I can see that she’s tempted, even if she hasn’t given in yet.
“Would it help,” Sinclair continues, cocking his head to the side, “if I told you that we’d be going in a very fancy RV? With a real bed that you and Roger could sleep in, and not be wedged together in a hospital bed?”
Cora sits up straight at the idea. “You should have started with that,” she says, her eyebrows going up almost to her hairline. “I was sold at ‘real bed.’ Let’s do it.” And then a little smile creeps onto her face.
I let out a little cry of joy, throwing up the hand that’s not holding my baby to my chest. “Yes!” I shout, laughing now. “Road trip! This is so exciting! I’ve never been on a road trip in my life!”
“Really?” Sinclair asks, smirking down at me, pleased to see me so excited.
“Really!” I cry, looking excitedly between him and Cora. “This will be so cool! I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip! This will be the best vacation ever!”
“Well,” Henry says, laughing a little along with me. “It’s not precisely a vacation -”
“Nope!” I say, getting to my feet, carried away a little by my excitement. “We get two days,” I say, holding up two fingers to everyone in the room. ” Two days before we dedicate our lives to helping the people of this world, and destroying our enemies, and running a nation. So if I get two days respite from all of the awful things that have been happening to us lately? They’re going to be the best two vacation days we’ve ever had!”
And then I’m laughing and dancing around the room, holding Rafe up in the air and asking him if he’s excited for his first vacation. I think my joy is infectious, though, because when I turn back to my family everyone is smiling, laughing a little, and chatting as we start to make plans.
Cora bites her lip again, but I can tell it’s with excitement this time as I move to her side, swooping down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so excited,” I say, grinning down at her. “You’re going to get to talk to mom! And get all of the answers to your questions!”
“I know,” she says, a hesitant excitement building in her now. “I just hope…well, I hope that she tells me what I want to hear, you know?”
“She will,” I say, smiling and placing a hand on her cheek. “Things are going to start looking up for us, sis. I can feel it. Now let’s get packed! Because we’re going on a road trip!”
And then I whoop again and throw my hand up in the air. Sinclair laughs as he comes to my side, his phone already in his hand as he starts putting the plan into action. ”
Come on, trouble,” he says, glancing at me. “Let’s go get packed – we’re going to have to move fast now if we want to make this work.”
“Okay,” I say, and then I glance back at Cora, wanting to make sure she’s all right before I go. But she waves me off, standing up to start making her own plans with Roger. Henry, likewise ready to get started, starts to roll for the door to make his own plans. Excited, I take Sinclair’s hand. “So, where do we get an RV?” I ask, pleased.
“You leave it to me,” he says as we head out of the room and start to walk down the hall. “You go pack our things and I’ll get our ride.”
“Okay,” I say, heading for our little room. But before we part ways, I turn sharply and tug at his hand, making him pay attention to me for just one more moment. “That offer of the big bed,” I say, looking up at him with a frown. “That had better be on offer for me as well. Because if I have to squeeze into another single bed with your gigantic self for one more night,” I add, pointing a finger into his face, “I am out.”
He laughs and grabs my accusing finger, placing a kiss on the tip of it before turning away from me and heading down the hall. “Your wish!” he calls over his shoulder. “My command!”
“Damn straight,” I mutter, smirking and watching him as he walks away from me. And then I sigh a little in excited content. Because my mate has stolen me two days away from this crazy world and I couldn’t be more excited for this trip.
