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"Eden, I will keep us safe, I promise you that," he affirmed seriously and then walked casually in the direction of the twenty-year-old bike

"Would you like me to take your picture?" I approached the couple carefully

They turned at the sound of my voice and smiled blankly at lish I didn't have tie barrier, so I pulleda picture and then pointed at theest, fakest, and ic tugged softly atmy senses that the Titan Guard was on the move I waited, i deeper for ly slowly to me and handed over his camera He pointed at the button to push and then walked back to his girlfriend at the edge of the cliff

I snapped a couple quick pictures of the happy couple while Jericho moved into place I looked at Jericho as ready to hop on the bike and then sed h into the air and just over the couple's heads

They both instinctively turned to grab their flying camera before it fell over the cliff-side and into the unreachable abyss below Instantly, I sprinted the distance between the bike andJericho

The minute I was on board, he pushed down on the throttle and ere speeding down the winding roads of the ed innocent couple behind us

We were free for now, er at the fastest speed we could I had not factored helmets into my plan, so my hair, loosened from its ponytail holder, whipped violently aroundhis labored breath and wildly beating heart

I buriedwind, closing er of the hair-pinned turns and steep drop-offs just a few feet from us, but mostly thankful to be near Jericho I could smell him, I could touch him, he was really here with me I wasn't alone anymore

"Where are we going?" Jericho shouted over his shoulder, taking his eyes off the road for only a ht in hter

"Urubamba, there is someone I have to see," I yelled back into his ear, the wind assaulting o passed it first, and then we'll head back towards it toht

I laidat his deep knowledge of the Andes er and far from Machu Picchu I worried about Silas and his people with the Titan Guard so close to theht to them, but I forced myself to trust that Silas could protect his own people I couldn't go back for them and to check on them would be an insult to one of the only allies I had

Towards dusk, Jericho drove the old motorcycle up the drive and to an old Monastery that was turned into a hotel The building was a long white rectangle with a red Spanish roof and a large courtyard in the middle The rooht blue doors that stood out vividly, even against the setting sun

I checked us in at the front desk in a quaint lobby, and paid cash for one rooe walked us to our roo and I wondered if it was because he did not speak English or because of the frantic way our eyes darted about the roo stares we used with him

Either way, once our door was open and the key was inback to the lobby and leaving us alone

Jericho stu into the sh of relief I followed hi the blue door behind me We were safe For noere safe

I turned around to take Jericho in, to allow ainst the opposite wall and I restedat each other, not a hispered, not a sound uttered

His hazel eyes smoldered with hope even while his shoulders slumped from exhaustion and his hands trembled at his sides His lips turned upwards in the smallest of smiles and I couldn't take it anymore I couldn't bear the separation

I crossed the roo ainst his His arut reaction that would not let o, even if that hat I wanted

But it wasn't

I would never let go of Jericho again

Chapter Six