They walked through the city, Jacob keeping his eyes open for wolves. Aloren had been talking almost non-stop since they left the store. He tried to control his frustration, realizing she was probably just excited to be leaving Macaria. He paid little attention to what she was saying, only offering an “Uh-huh” or “Yeah” when he felt they were necessary. He just wanted to get out of the city.
“You know, you really don’t need to worry about the people in this town,” Aloren said, putting her hand on Jacob’s arm.
Jacob startled, pulling away. He hadn’t realized she’d noticed him glancing up and down the alleys. “I’m not worried about the people—I’m worried about the wolves.”
“They’re not here anymore. I already told you.”
“But you couldn’t tell me why. I’ll feel much better when Akeno can confirm it for us.”
“Anyway,” Aloren said, “as I was saying, this used to be a glorious city.”
“Really?” Jacob quickly looked down another alley, his eyes having caught a movement.
“You should’ve seen it at night. I barely remember it—there are paintings, though. If we get through this, maybe someday I’ll show them to you.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The dust from the road blew into Jacob’s face, irritating him. Come to think of it, everything was a source of irritation at this point, and he was still nervous about having Aloren on the trip.
They walked past the last of the buildings and Jacob let out a breath, relieved to be out of the city. He realized Aloren had stopped talking. Had she asked a question? He wracked his brain, trying to remember the last thing she said, but was unable to come up with anything. He risked a quick glance in her direction, but she didn’t seem to be waiting for anyone to say something. She had a smile on her face, though—her dimple was showing.
It was nice not to have to pretend to be listening. He felt bad for that, but his brain could only handle so much conversation before he went crazy.
On the other hand, there were so many things he wanted to talk to Akeno about, and Aloren made that difficult. Gallus might trust her, but Jacob didn’t want to just open up and talk about things with her around—at least, not until he knew more about her.
His thoughts turned to the experience they’d had while running through the tunnel. Those things in the water—what were they? Something Aloren had experience with and that scared the Dust.
Something tickled Jacob’s head, and he scratched it. He glanced at Aloren again—she was still smiling. What could be that funny? Or maybe her face never relaxed—maybe it was frozen in a smile. He almost stopped walking as this thought occurred to him. Maybe she had a muscular disorder that made her face look like that. Jacob made a mental note to check to see what her face looked like while she was sleeping. He almost laughed out loud when this thought formed in his mind, realizing how awkward it would be if she woke up with him in her sleeping place. He could only imagine what he'd say. “Uh, I'm checking to see if you have a muscle problem in your face that makes you smile all the time.” That would make for an interesting conversation.
Scratching his head again, he looked around, not at all surprised that the Minyas were nowhere to be seen.
His head itched again, and this time he felt something crawling in his hair. He jumped, swatting his head several times.
“Hey!” a tiny voice cried out. September flew down from somewhere up above him, joined by Early. “Don’t hit us!”
Jacob jerked to a stop, scowling. “Were you in my hair?”
“We’re just playing a game,” September said.
Early flitted in front of him. “Is that okay?”
“No, it’s not okay!” Jacob pointed at Akeno. “Why can’t you play in his hair?”
“It isn’t as thick as yours,” Early said. “Besides, his lies flat on his head. Yours doesn’t.”
Jacob scoffed. “That is seriously the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s not dumb—it’s fun to play in your hair,” September said.
“Fine. Play. I’m warning you right now, though—don’t blame me if I forget you’re there and one of you ends up squished.”
“We’ll be fine!” Early said, giving Jacob her most winning smile. She and September disappeared from view, and Jacob felt them land on his head. He rolled his eyes again, glancing sidelong at Aloren. She grinned at him. Scowling, he started walking again and let out a breath of pent-up frustration. This was going to be a long trip.