CHAPTER 17 - You're My Angel
When Royce finally opened his eyes, he saw nothing but blackness and wondered briefly if he had gone blind.
"At least it's in both eyes." He mused darkly. "At least there's something symmetrical about my face now." He moved his hand over something soft and dry, it felt like fabric.
"Maybe I'm in a coffin." He paused. "Well, I know I'm in one, my body at least. But this doesn't make any sense." Royce tried to sit up and caught movement to his right.
"Uhhn.." He tried to speak but the words weren't forming. All that escaped his dry lips were weak sounds of protest and confusion.
"Shh, quiet Royce. You're okay now."
He recognized the voice immediately and felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Broadway. Broadway is here to save me, just like she always is. The one person I can rely on to be there."
"Cold." Royce struggled to get the word out of his mouth and it came out forced and slurred, as if his lips were numb. Broadway lay her hand on the side of his face.
"You've been unconscious for a few days now, Prince. Everyone's worried about you. I'm sorry you had to go through something like that."
"I..had to watch.." He finally found his voice. "Part of me needed to know what happened. I needed to remember." His eyes adjusted to the dark room and Royce found himself sprawled on Broadway's bed. His jacket was somewhere else though and so was his bat. He could make out her silhouette against the back window. There was a moment of silence before Broadway spoke again.
"You left, didn't you? The other night, I heard you outside my window."
"How did you know it was me?"
"I just did." She paused. "Why did you come back? You were free, you could have left all of this behind."
"I.." Royce didn't know how to answer her question. He found himself wondering if Susan hadn't of stopped him, would he had kept on driving, or would he have come back anyway? "I just did. Mind you, a needed a little shove, or pull." More silence passed between the two.
"How did I get here?" Royce asked slowly.
"Dennis." Came his simple reply. "He brought you here after you blacked out." Royce suddenly felt very glad that the room was dark, as he could feel the redness in his cheeks.
"Oh..Is this your room?"
"Yeah."
"Where have you been, you know, sleeping?" Broadway chuckled a little at his question.
"Oh Royce, you're so wholesome. I've been bunking with my sisters when I'm not here. I haven't had much sleep I the past few days, but I guess that's what coffee was invented for."
"Sorry."
"Sorry? What for, Royce?"
"For taking over your room, among other things." He replied, letting the last few words dissolve into nothing.
"Other things? Like what?"
"Oh, lets see, where should I start? How about at the part where I got you involved in all of this? Then almost killing you and finally making you cry? I think that about sums it up." Royce felt vulnerable lying there, looking up to Broadway and he didn't like it. He pushed himself onto his elbows so he was at eye level with her. "And then I have to go pass out and fall into you and take over your room for a few days." Broadway chuckled again. "What's so funny?"
"You're blushing, you know that?" Royce let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back down. Broadway's smile faded.
"You're too hard on yourself, Prince. In case you've forgotten, I was the one who got my family involved in all of this. I followed Arthur to the house because he didn't stop to help us when he had some road troubles. Everyone kept telling me to leave, but I dragged them all behind. I was the one, Royce, not you. That's why I've been keeping mostly to myself since we've been here, because I can't face the fact that I've put my family in danger. I'm used to putting myself in danger, it's how I survive and not go crazy! But I know my siblings, and they're nothing like me. If something ever happened to any of them, I don't know what the hell I would do." She hesitated for a moment. "So don't go blaming things on yourself just to find a reason for feeling a certain way."
Royce sat up again. "Oh? And just what exactly am I feeling that would cause me to act this way?"
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" A glint of something almost upsetting flashed in Broadway's eyes. "Is it maybe because I remind you of her?" Royce found himself at a loss for words again.
"Of all the things you could have possibly brought up at a time like this.." He trailed off.
"I didn't mean it like that. I just want to know." Royce stared at Broadway for a long moment. She did remind him of Freiya in some ways. They both had dark hair and eyes, but that was about as far as it went. Broadway was free spirited and..just..different from girls he was used to.
"No. You're completely different people."
"Then why do you treat me differently from everyone else?"
"Because you ARE different from everyone else - I told you that. You give a damn! Other people didn't-"
"Those people thought you were already dead and still do! You heard it yourself, the newspapers, the official coroners report told everyone that you died on impact, and quite honestly, if I had of been there, I would have thought that too."
"You're telling me that people couldn't hear me scream?!"
"How long were you alive after the car stopped moving, Royce?"
"Long enough!" He shot back.
"Long enough for people to get close enough to hear you scream?" Again, the ghost found himself speechless. "Royce, I know you don't believe me, but I understand what you're feeling. I have my past too, remember?" Broadway tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled. "We all have a past - some are just darker than others."
"You could put it like that." The Prince muttered.
"Are you feeling alright? Are you hungry or anything..do ghosts even HAVE to eat?"
"I'm alright, and no. Ghosts get all their energy from sleeping. It called regenerating. We're not actually sleeping, just replenishing the energy we use to stay visible to you."
"Sounds complicated."
"Not really."
"How do you do that though? You know, walk through walls and fade out of sight?"
"Phasing? Hmm. How can I put this.." Royce looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ghosts are everywhere, right? Except they - we - exist or 'live' so to speak in the spiritual realm. Think of it as an exact duplicate of your world, only it's populated entirely by ghosts. When I phase, all I'm doing is switching between those two worlds. Walking through things is just the same, since I don't really have a solid form while phasing, nothing can block my way. It's like being underwater. You can only be under for so long until you have to come up for air unless you keep popping your head above the surface for a mouthful. It's exactly like that."
"Wooow. I never thought of it like that."
"Ghosts can also travel quicker through the spirit world since there's no concept of time. That's why it was so easy for me to lose track of what year it was, or how old I was..am..whatever." Royce trailed off at the end, grinning slightly.
Broadway scooted closer and lay back against the headboard. "I wonder if I'll become a ghost when I die."
"Maybe. It's not terrible, I mean the whole tortured realm thing kind of sucked the root, but all other things aside, it could have been a lot worse."
"I'm not even going to ask about the 'tortured realm' part." Broadway mumbled.
"And you're a dolly for it."
"Thanks. I think." Royce grinned slightly but then paused, realizing the position he was in. He was lying precariously close to a girl he respected and liked in her bed in a dark room with the door closed. "Oh boy." A thousand thoughts that he shouldn't have been thinking raced through Royce's head. The memories of the last days making them seem much worse. "Okay, lets calm down a bit here." He thought. "Snap out of this right now! You. Are. Dead. She is alive. Dead, dead, dead. Alive, alive, alive. She has a face. You have some of yours on a good day." Royce began to feel very warm, an odd feeling considering he had no bodily functions that would make him feel warm. He became conscious of the fact that it was because Broadway was so close to him. Close enough to keep him warm. He glanced around. It wasn't a tiny bed, and there was lots of room on her side- "Oh boy." Royce mentally kicked himself for not having anything better to think of to save him from the situation he was falling into.
His head began to hurt again and the tiny webs of pain slowly crawled down his neck and shoulder, and down towards his arm. "Great. Not now, just for once, stop hurting." Royce was tired, tired of being in pain and tired of never knowing what the feel. He only closed his eyes for what seemed to be a moment but when he opened them again, sunlight was poking in through the drawn curtains.
He let a long empty sigh escape his lips before becoming aware of the weight on his torso. He lay there for countless minutes more, not willing or wanting to wake Broadway up as more thoughts passed through his head. How good the rise and fall of her chest felt against the stillness of his own and how powerful her heartbeat resounded within her ribs. How peaceful the sound of her breathing made him feel and how much warmth he felt. All on his right side; his bad side. Royce stole a look down his arm and frowned. In the patches of light he could see just how littered with scars it was. He imagined his face and torso were much the same and frowned even deeper.
Broadway made a soft noise in the back of her throat before falling silent again and Royce wondered whether he should wake her or not. Her fingers closed around the fabric of his shirt, just below the collar, almost as if she knew what he was thinking and Royce decided that a few more moments wouldn't hurt. He was enjoying himself far too much.
"And all you're doing is lying there." His inner voice said bemusedly. Royce cocked an eyebrow at this and debated with himself over doing something about it. Slowly, he wrapped his right arm around her waist and held her gently. His other hand coiled around her shoulders. Broadway made another contented noise and her head tilted back slightly, lips vaguely parted. Her soft breathing blossomed across his face in slow, even exhalations. Royce watched her sleep and studied her face closely. Though he had never noticed it before, she had a faint scar running the length of her cheek, close to her jaw line, and he wondered how it had gotten there. He liked the way her eyelashes fanned out under her eyes, so dark and thick there was never any need for makeup.
The more he watched her, the more Royce found himself unwilling to let go and wake her up. The more he wished that time would stop around them and that he could stay like this until who knows when. It felt good to hold her, to feel warmth in his body that had been absent for so many years and to feel a heartbeat again. It felt better than good, it felt..right.
Broadway stirred again and her hand slipped around the back of his neck. Royce dropped his train of thought and glanced down at her, his cheek brushing her forehead. If he tilted his head down just a little further..
"Don't even go there." He thought. "But, then again, why not?" Royce tilted his head down agonizingly slow and brushed his lips against hers. The sleeping girl sighed again in contentment and muttered something barely audible. She was beginning to wake up and he brought his head up again, feeling more than a little disappointed. Broadway's eyelids fluttered open and she gazed at him groggily.
"Prince? What time is it?"
"Morning. I don't know what time it is exactly, but you've been sleeping for quite a while."
"On you?"
Royce nodded. "Yeah."
Broadway pushed herself up on her elbows and felt a blush spread across her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's alright, dolly. I didn't mind one bit."
Broadway stared at him. She had never heard him sounding so sincere. He locked eyes with her and she looked away, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and looking at the floor, keeping her back to him. A million thoughts raced through her head at what might have been clocked at Warp 3. She slept with Royce, well, ON him at least, and he didn't mind. Mind you, this was after he had told her quite firmly that they should steer clear of each other.
"What does he want?" She thought. "What do you want, is more like it." She glanced over her shoulder and caught his eyes again. Royce crossed his arms behind his head and blinked, a slow and deliberate gesture as if he didn't have to and was for the hell of it. Broadway admired the strength his arms possessed, the result of so many hits with ever-present bat. She studied his face closely, looking past the scars to the boy before her. He was handsome. God was he ever. She felt her cheeks growing warmer and brushed that train of thought side.
"I - we - should get up. People might start wondering." Broadway trailed off and stood up, stretching her arms above her head.
"You've very warm." Royce said plainly.
She turned to look at him once more. "Yeah, it comes with having a pulse among other things." The ghost let a soft chuckle escape his lips and he sat up, examining his arm in the light. He pulled the side of his shirt up and studied the rest of his body wordlessly. "Does it still hurt?"
Royce nodded. "It never stops hurting, but it feels better. It doesn't hurt as much, and the wounds are closed at least. He touched the side of his face thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't think she was alive."
"Your sister?'
"Yeah."
"Do you remember your family now?"
"I remember everything now." Came his short reply. "But, I don't really want to think about it right now."
Broadway nodded in agreement. "Alright, I didn't want to push or anything, I was - I am - still worried about you."
"Broadway..?"
"I mean, I haven't really been anywhere other than here since you blacked out and you didn't even move. You lay there still for two days, never making a sound, or moving even once. I was scared." She pushed the words out of her mouth as if they were poison.
Royce tilted his head slightly and moved to sit in front of her. "You stayed here for two days? You were..worried about me?"
"Of course I was, Royce!" Broadway softened. "I won't lie anymore Royce, I'm glad that I met you and I don't want to have to lose you before I have to."
The spirit of the Torn Prince reached out his hand traced her jaw line, his features softening tenderly. "You're not going to lose me, Dolly. Not for a long time, anyway." Broadway searched his face for a second before she threw her arms around his neck, knocking his slightly off balance. He returned her embrace wordlessly, the feeling of something long forgotten returning to his consciousness.
The loud knock on the door broke the encirclement suddenly, and Mallory stepped into the room.
"Hey! I thought I heard voices in here; it's about damn time you woke up, Royce. How are you feeling?"
"Better than I could have imagined." He replied smoothly.
"Good, now that everyone is conscious and together, we can get things in motion. Dennis has a plan, and he needs everyone together ASAP. Are you two up for that?" Mallory smiled and tossed her head to one side, ignoring the glare from her younger sister.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Broadway replied with a nod. "It feels like things are going to get dangerous from here on in."
When Royce finally opened his eyes, he saw nothing but blackness and wondered briefly if he had gone blind.
"At least it's in both eyes." He mused darkly. "At least there's something symmetrical about my face now." He moved his hand over something soft and dry, it felt like fabric.
"Maybe I'm in a coffin." He paused. "Well, I know I'm in one, my body at least. But this doesn't make any sense." Royce tried to sit up and caught movement to his right.
"Uhhn.." He tried to speak but the words weren't forming. All that escaped his dry lips were weak sounds of protest and confusion.
"Shh, quiet Royce. You're okay now."
He recognized the voice immediately and felt a wave of relief wash over him. "Broadway. Broadway is here to save me, just like she always is. The one person I can rely on to be there."
"Cold." Royce struggled to get the word out of his mouth and it came out forced and slurred, as if his lips were numb. Broadway lay her hand on the side of his face.
"You've been unconscious for a few days now, Prince. Everyone's worried about you. I'm sorry you had to go through something like that."
"I..had to watch.." He finally found his voice. "Part of me needed to know what happened. I needed to remember." His eyes adjusted to the dark room and Royce found himself sprawled on Broadway's bed. His jacket was somewhere else though and so was his bat. He could make out her silhouette against the back window. There was a moment of silence before Broadway spoke again.
"You left, didn't you? The other night, I heard you outside my window."
"How did you know it was me?"
"I just did." She paused. "Why did you come back? You were free, you could have left all of this behind."
"I.." Royce didn't know how to answer her question. He found himself wondering if Susan hadn't of stopped him, would he had kept on driving, or would he have come back anyway? "I just did. Mind you, a needed a little shove, or pull." More silence passed between the two.
"How did I get here?" Royce asked slowly.
"Dennis." Came his simple reply. "He brought you here after you blacked out." Royce suddenly felt very glad that the room was dark, as he could feel the redness in his cheeks.
"Oh..Is this your room?"
"Yeah."
"Where have you been, you know, sleeping?" Broadway chuckled a little at his question.
"Oh Royce, you're so wholesome. I've been bunking with my sisters when I'm not here. I haven't had much sleep I the past few days, but I guess that's what coffee was invented for."
"Sorry."
"Sorry? What for, Royce?"
"For taking over your room, among other things." He replied, letting the last few words dissolve into nothing.
"Other things? Like what?"
"Oh, lets see, where should I start? How about at the part where I got you involved in all of this? Then almost killing you and finally making you cry? I think that about sums it up." Royce felt vulnerable lying there, looking up to Broadway and he didn't like it. He pushed himself onto his elbows so he was at eye level with her. "And then I have to go pass out and fall into you and take over your room for a few days." Broadway chuckled again. "What's so funny?"
"You're blushing, you know that?" Royce let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back down. Broadway's smile faded.
"You're too hard on yourself, Prince. In case you've forgotten, I was the one who got my family involved in all of this. I followed Arthur to the house because he didn't stop to help us when he had some road troubles. Everyone kept telling me to leave, but I dragged them all behind. I was the one, Royce, not you. That's why I've been keeping mostly to myself since we've been here, because I can't face the fact that I've put my family in danger. I'm used to putting myself in danger, it's how I survive and not go crazy! But I know my siblings, and they're nothing like me. If something ever happened to any of them, I don't know what the hell I would do." She hesitated for a moment. "So don't go blaming things on yourself just to find a reason for feeling a certain way."
Royce sat up again. "Oh? And just what exactly am I feeling that would cause me to act this way?"
"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" A glint of something almost upsetting flashed in Broadway's eyes. "Is it maybe because I remind you of her?" Royce found himself at a loss for words again.
"Of all the things you could have possibly brought up at a time like this.." He trailed off.
"I didn't mean it like that. I just want to know." Royce stared at Broadway for a long moment. She did remind him of Freiya in some ways. They both had dark hair and eyes, but that was about as far as it went. Broadway was free spirited and..just..different from girls he was used to.
"No. You're completely different people."
"Then why do you treat me differently from everyone else?"
"Because you ARE different from everyone else - I told you that. You give a damn! Other people didn't-"
"Those people thought you were already dead and still do! You heard it yourself, the newspapers, the official coroners report told everyone that you died on impact, and quite honestly, if I had of been there, I would have thought that too."
"You're telling me that people couldn't hear me scream?!"
"How long were you alive after the car stopped moving, Royce?"
"Long enough!" He shot back.
"Long enough for people to get close enough to hear you scream?" Again, the ghost found himself speechless. "Royce, I know you don't believe me, but I understand what you're feeling. I have my past too, remember?" Broadway tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and smiled. "We all have a past - some are just darker than others."
"You could put it like that." The Prince muttered.
"Are you feeling alright? Are you hungry or anything..do ghosts even HAVE to eat?"
"I'm alright, and no. Ghosts get all their energy from sleeping. It called regenerating. We're not actually sleeping, just replenishing the energy we use to stay visible to you."
"Sounds complicated."
"Not really."
"How do you do that though? You know, walk through walls and fade out of sight?"
"Phasing? Hmm. How can I put this.." Royce looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ghosts are everywhere, right? Except they - we - exist or 'live' so to speak in the spiritual realm. Think of it as an exact duplicate of your world, only it's populated entirely by ghosts. When I phase, all I'm doing is switching between those two worlds. Walking through things is just the same, since I don't really have a solid form while phasing, nothing can block my way. It's like being underwater. You can only be under for so long until you have to come up for air unless you keep popping your head above the surface for a mouthful. It's exactly like that."
"Wooow. I never thought of it like that."
"Ghosts can also travel quicker through the spirit world since there's no concept of time. That's why it was so easy for me to lose track of what year it was, or how old I was..am..whatever." Royce trailed off at the end, grinning slightly.
Broadway scooted closer and lay back against the headboard. "I wonder if I'll become a ghost when I die."
"Maybe. It's not terrible, I mean the whole tortured realm thing kind of sucked the root, but all other things aside, it could have been a lot worse."
"I'm not even going to ask about the 'tortured realm' part." Broadway mumbled.
"And you're a dolly for it."
"Thanks. I think." Royce grinned slightly but then paused, realizing the position he was in. He was lying precariously close to a girl he respected and liked in her bed in a dark room with the door closed. "Oh boy." A thousand thoughts that he shouldn't have been thinking raced through Royce's head. The memories of the last days making them seem much worse. "Okay, lets calm down a bit here." He thought. "Snap out of this right now! You. Are. Dead. She is alive. Dead, dead, dead. Alive, alive, alive. She has a face. You have some of yours on a good day." Royce began to feel very warm, an odd feeling considering he had no bodily functions that would make him feel warm. He became conscious of the fact that it was because Broadway was so close to him. Close enough to keep him warm. He glanced around. It wasn't a tiny bed, and there was lots of room on her side- "Oh boy." Royce mentally kicked himself for not having anything better to think of to save him from the situation he was falling into.
His head began to hurt again and the tiny webs of pain slowly crawled down his neck and shoulder, and down towards his arm. "Great. Not now, just for once, stop hurting." Royce was tired, tired of being in pain and tired of never knowing what the feel. He only closed his eyes for what seemed to be a moment but when he opened them again, sunlight was poking in through the drawn curtains.
He let a long empty sigh escape his lips before becoming aware of the weight on his torso. He lay there for countless minutes more, not willing or wanting to wake Broadway up as more thoughts passed through his head. How good the rise and fall of her chest felt against the stillness of his own and how powerful her heartbeat resounded within her ribs. How peaceful the sound of her breathing made him feel and how much warmth he felt. All on his right side; his bad side. Royce stole a look down his arm and frowned. In the patches of light he could see just how littered with scars it was. He imagined his face and torso were much the same and frowned even deeper.
Broadway made a soft noise in the back of her throat before falling silent again and Royce wondered whether he should wake her or not. Her fingers closed around the fabric of his shirt, just below the collar, almost as if she knew what he was thinking and Royce decided that a few more moments wouldn't hurt. He was enjoying himself far too much.
"And all you're doing is lying there." His inner voice said bemusedly. Royce cocked an eyebrow at this and debated with himself over doing something about it. Slowly, he wrapped his right arm around her waist and held her gently. His other hand coiled around her shoulders. Broadway made another contented noise and her head tilted back slightly, lips vaguely parted. Her soft breathing blossomed across his face in slow, even exhalations. Royce watched her sleep and studied her face closely. Though he had never noticed it before, she had a faint scar running the length of her cheek, close to her jaw line, and he wondered how it had gotten there. He liked the way her eyelashes fanned out under her eyes, so dark and thick there was never any need for makeup.
The more he watched her, the more Royce found himself unwilling to let go and wake her up. The more he wished that time would stop around them and that he could stay like this until who knows when. It felt good to hold her, to feel warmth in his body that had been absent for so many years and to feel a heartbeat again. It felt better than good, it felt..right.
Broadway stirred again and her hand slipped around the back of his neck. Royce dropped his train of thought and glanced down at her, his cheek brushing her forehead. If he tilted his head down just a little further..
"Don't even go there." He thought. "But, then again, why not?" Royce tilted his head down agonizingly slow and brushed his lips against hers. The sleeping girl sighed again in contentment and muttered something barely audible. She was beginning to wake up and he brought his head up again, feeling more than a little disappointed. Broadway's eyelids fluttered open and she gazed at him groggily.
"Prince? What time is it?"
"Morning. I don't know what time it is exactly, but you've been sleeping for quite a while."
"On you?"
Royce nodded. "Yeah."
Broadway pushed herself up on her elbows and felt a blush spread across her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's alright, dolly. I didn't mind one bit."
Broadway stared at him. She had never heard him sounding so sincere. He locked eyes with her and she looked away, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and looking at the floor, keeping her back to him. A million thoughts raced through her head at what might have been clocked at Warp 3. She slept with Royce, well, ON him at least, and he didn't mind. Mind you, this was after he had told her quite firmly that they should steer clear of each other.
"What does he want?" She thought. "What do you want, is more like it." She glanced over her shoulder and caught his eyes again. Royce crossed his arms behind his head and blinked, a slow and deliberate gesture as if he didn't have to and was for the hell of it. Broadway admired the strength his arms possessed, the result of so many hits with ever-present bat. She studied his face closely, looking past the scars to the boy before her. He was handsome. God was he ever. She felt her cheeks growing warmer and brushed that train of thought side.
"I - we - should get up. People might start wondering." Broadway trailed off and stood up, stretching her arms above her head.
"You've very warm." Royce said plainly.
She turned to look at him once more. "Yeah, it comes with having a pulse among other things." The ghost let a soft chuckle escape his lips and he sat up, examining his arm in the light. He pulled the side of his shirt up and studied the rest of his body wordlessly. "Does it still hurt?"
Royce nodded. "It never stops hurting, but it feels better. It doesn't hurt as much, and the wounds are closed at least. He touched the side of his face thoughtfully and narrowed his eyes. "I didn't think she was alive."
"Your sister?'
"Yeah."
"Do you remember your family now?"
"I remember everything now." Came his short reply. "But, I don't really want to think about it right now."
Broadway nodded in agreement. "Alright, I didn't want to push or anything, I was - I am - still worried about you."
"Broadway..?"
"I mean, I haven't really been anywhere other than here since you blacked out and you didn't even move. You lay there still for two days, never making a sound, or moving even once. I was scared." She pushed the words out of her mouth as if they were poison.
Royce tilted his head slightly and moved to sit in front of her. "You stayed here for two days? You were..worried about me?"
"Of course I was, Royce!" Broadway softened. "I won't lie anymore Royce, I'm glad that I met you and I don't want to have to lose you before I have to."
The spirit of the Torn Prince reached out his hand traced her jaw line, his features softening tenderly. "You're not going to lose me, Dolly. Not for a long time, anyway." Broadway searched his face for a second before she threw her arms around his neck, knocking his slightly off balance. He returned her embrace wordlessly, the feeling of something long forgotten returning to his consciousness.
The loud knock on the door broke the encirclement suddenly, and Mallory stepped into the room.
"Hey! I thought I heard voices in here; it's about damn time you woke up, Royce. How are you feeling?"
"Better than I could have imagined." He replied smoothly.
"Good, now that everyone is conscious and together, we can get things in motion. Dennis has a plan, and he needs everyone together ASAP. Are you two up for that?" Mallory smiled and tossed her head to one side, ignoring the glare from her younger sister.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Broadway replied with a nod. "It feels like things are going to get dangerous from here on in."