A train whistle sounded and Riley’s eyes fluttered open. At some point the rhythm of the train and his crashing adrenaline had lulled him to sleep, though he wasn’t the only one. A warm body nestled into his side, Dash’s blue-black hair flopped across Riley’s chest. He’d snuggled in so close, causing Riley’s arm to shift and half-wrap around him. 

It was the first time Riley thought he’d seen Dash absolutely still. So far in their brief acquaintance, he'd radiated so much energy Riley would expect him to fidget even in his sleep, but now he was perfectly at peace, his limbs relaxed, his full lower lip just slightly parted.

Cute, Riley thought.   

Looking out the window he saw that they’d left the city behind, and were traveling through mostly farmland. He could feel the train slowing down, and knew they must be approaching a stop; a moment later an announcement confirmed it.  

“Wake up,” he said, pulling his arm away and gently shaking Dash. The younger man grunted then stretched, letting his arms drape across Riley’s midsection.  

“We there?” he asked sleepily.  

“We’re pulling into Carsington,” Riley said, repeating the announcement with some relief-- he’d checked the route and the small town was the first stop. He hadn’t missed anything during his accidental nap.  

“‘Kay,” Dash said, dragging himself upright. His hair stuck up at all angles, and in spite of himself Riley let out a quiet laugh. 

“Hey,” Dash said, turning to him curiously. “I didn’t know you do that.”

“Do what?” Riley asked, suddenly alarmed something had happened during their nap.  

“Smile,” Dash said with a cheeky wink.  

“Of course I smile,” Riley grumbled as they readied themselves to disembark.

Carsington Station was about as different from Covenant Square Station as you could get. There was a single platform, with only a few dozen people waiting. Still Riley and Dash scrambled out of the train, hurrying to discover any sign that Gabe might have departed here too.  

There was nothing obvious at first, no flashing neon sign, but in such a sparse area Riley suspected Gabe would have had to be especially subtle to evade the notice of his captor. Still, Riley wished he had any sense of what they were even looking for.  

“He can’t use magic here, right, or your thingie would have caught him?” Dash asked quietly, inspecting the station sign for any defacement. Riley skimmed through a magazine rack, with the idea that Gabe might repeat a trick. 

“UAMS is only in a few major cities, they wouldn’t have anything like that out here,” Riley murmured. “Telling elementals they can’t be their true selves in nature would be… I don’t know, a recipe for an uprising, probably.” Riley cringed, remembering past dealings with elementals who had wanted exactly that. The balance between human and elemental relations was more fragile than he’d ever realized, and this summer had been a rude awakening.  

“OK, so that’s good, right? If he can leave that kind of sign, it’ll be way more obvious.”

Riley put a finger to his lips as he and Dash stepped into the bathroom, in case anyone else was inside. The last thing their harebrained journey needed was to get caught talking magic in front of humans. A quick search revealed nothing and they returned to the platform.  

“The trick will be him doing something without Kade spotting him,” Riley explained. “No way would he let Gabe get away with leaving a trail; Gabe must have used a distraction at the diner, to do that.”

“That’s so his style,” Dash said, laughing in spite of the worry etched across his face. “People think I’m the troublemaker, but he’s the one who’s good enough to not get caught.”

Riley knew that wasn't always the case, but he didn't think it would reassure Dash now to hear so. Not that he ever planned to share the details of how he'd met his brother, in any event.  

“He’ll find a way,” Dash said, sounding a little like he was trying to convince himself.  

“Yeah,” Riley said, hoping more than knowing it was true. “But I don’t think he was here.”

“You think we should get back on the train?” Dash said, and Riley nodded. Gray eyes flashed nervously once more around the station as the train whistle summoned them.  

“OK, yeah,” Dash said finally. “You’re right, he didn’t get off here. I think... I think I’d know. Let’s keep going.”