Page 59 of Suncatcher

Her mother flinched, and then hardened. “She an outlaw? I didn’t expect that of you, Pearl.”

“She’s no outlaw. Besides, we aren’t exactly abiding, are we?”

“We abide by our own. Don’t dodge the question. Why the secrecy? Or is it me you’re ashamed of? You got yourself a fancy lady?”

“Leave it.” Pearl shoved past but Sheriff Oak caught her arm.

“I don’t want you out at night with this goyle around.”

“Too bad.” Pearl gentled her tone. “I’ll be fine.”

The sheriff finally let her go, but Pearl sensed her eyes following her back. Instead of heading straight for the ravine, she detoured through the salt fields and all the way up to the mines before cutting back through the brush to disguise her destination.

It was fully dark by the time she got there, and so Pearl was a bit surprised when Driz didn’t greet her right away.

Unbidden, her stomach knotted. Was this it? Had Driz decided not to return?

Pearl hadn’t expected her to abandon her so fast. Especially not after their last meeting. She quelled the swell of hurt and panic, replacing it with anger.

Pearl would feel nothing if Driz left. Good riddance. It was too complicated anyway.

She was about to leave, to prove to herself she didn’t care, when she heard the whoosh of wings.

Her heart leapt and she spun back around.

Driz landed right in front of her, straightening to her full height so Pearl had to tilt her head back.

“You’re late,” Pearl snapped.

“I am?”

“Yes.” Pearl cupped the back of Driz’s head, pulling it down. “But I’ll forgive you if you kiss me.”

Driz watched her for a moment. Then she surged forward and covered Pearl’s mouth with her own. But before Pearl could get too excited, Driz retreated again. “Your mother came here last night.”

Pearl stilled. “What’d you just say?”

Driz’s wings twitched, her shoulders bunching and tense. “I thought it was you, but it was her.”

“What happened? Did she see you?”

Driz shook her head. “She was looking for someone else. Someone she seemed to know. I hid.”

True anger flared at that, along with an unsettled sensation. Pearl glanced back at the entrance to the ravine. What did her mother suspect? Was she looking for Driz? How much did she know?

Driz took her hand. “I have another surprise for you.”

That distracted Pearl, and she gratefully focused on it. “What sort of surprise?”

“I will show you.”

Pearl pushed her mother irritably from her mind and climbed into Driz’s arms.

She almost enjoyed the flight this time, the sensation of the wind rushing over her limbs beneath the sky illuminated with stars.

She wasn’t certain what she expected, but it wasn’t for Driz to bring her to a ruin. She blinked at the crumbling old ghost town, clearly from before the war, half-destroyed in a basin still barren with raw blight. That any of it remained standing amazed her.

As a coyote howled from the ridge, she swallowed, the moonlit scene a bit spooky. Not exactly the romantic gesture her mind had been conjuring.