Chapter 64
The sign for Morgantown blurred past as the sky deepened into the bruised purples and burnt oranges of late afternoon. The harsh glare of the morning had surrendered to long, stretching shadows that crawled across the highway like reaching fingers. For a town of thirty thousand, the energy felt claustrophobic after the open stretch of the interstate; it was a dense pocket of brick and steep hills serving as the final gateway before the wilderness took over.
Aries guided the rental SUV into a local gas station on the outskirts, the engine ticking with heat as he killed the ignition. The cooling air of the mountains was starting to roll in, clashing with the heat radiating off the asphalt.
“Fifteen minutes,” Aries announced, his voice like gravel. “Fuel, fluids, and food. Move.
