Chapter 65

LAN

__

My eyes were trained on the window, watching the places we rode past.

The clouds darkened overhead and the distant rumble of thunder sounded at a distance, an ominous flash of lightning forking across the sky. The noise in the transit increased, humans complaining about the weather.

Time dragged by before we came to a stop at a station. Everyone stood and alighted, chattering as they went by. The noise flew past me, my focus on what I was about to do.

Grabbing my bag from the racks above, I went out into the dark. I hailed a cab and told the driver my destination. And I might as well have told him I had a ticking time bomb on me, because his reaction was astounding. He paled, his mouth opening and closing numerous times, then he settled on a stuttered, "A-are you... are you s-sure?"

I rose a brow, saying nothing. He faced ahead and started the engine, driving down the far side of Uglich.

Reclining, I listened into the silence.

A few moments later, we were driving down a narrow