For A Moment, I Was Captivated As

The Door Opened, And We Were Met By A Fifty-something Man With A Grizzled Blond Beard. He Was Wearing Bermuda Shorts And A Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt. Also, He Had An Eye Patch. "this Is Incredible," I Heard Adrian Murmur. "beyond My Wildest Dreams.

I Knew You Were A Badass," Continued Adrian. "but I Didn't Realize Just How Much Until I Saw You Dropping Guardians Out There." "does That Mean You're Going To Be Nicer To Me?" I Teased. "i'm Already Nice To You," He Said Loftily. "do You Know How Badly I Want A Cigarette Right Now? But No. I Manfully Suffer Through Nicotine Withdrawal—all For You.

We're Going On A, Um, Windmill Tour Later This Week." If I'd Wanted To Shut Them All Up, I'd Definitely Succeeded. They All Looked Stunned. Adrian Spoke First. "i'm Going To Assume That Means He's Flying You To Amsterdam On His Private Jet. If So, I'd Like To Come Along. But Not For The Windmills.

It Was One Thing To Accept I Couldn't Have Dimitri. It Was Something Entirely Different To Realize Someone Else Could.

Who Else Is Going?" I Asked. He Shrugged. "just You And Me." My Mood Promptly Shot Up Past 'cheerful' And Went Straight To 'estatic.' Me And Dimitri. Alone. In A Car. This Might Very Well Be Worth A Surprise Test. "how Far Is It?" Silently, I Begged For It To Be A Really Long Drive. Like, One That Would Take A Week. And Would Involve Us Staying Overnight In Luxury Hotels. Maybe We'd Get Stranded In A Snowbank, And Only Body Heat Would Keep Us Alive. "five Hours" "oh." A Bit Less Than I'd Hoped For. Still, Five Hours Was Better Than Nothing. It Didn't Rule Out The Snowbank Possibility, Either.