He frowns. “You didn’t get that far, did you?”

I shake my head, my cheeks still squeezed between his hands. “Sorry. The last thing I can remember is Monarch saving me.”

He sighs and starts walking. “Do you remember anything that happened after?”

I shake my head again and the wind carries on the silence for a while.

“If you want,” he finally says. “We can try the minte on you when we take a break.”

I trip over my own feet, an awkward movement for me. “You have a vial of it?”

He swings off his bag, unzips it, and shows me the small vial, full of clear liquid. It doesn’t look like anything, yet it’s everything.

“Maybe we shouldn’t get into that right now.” I gesture at the desert, at the rocks, at caves delving into the rocks. “Considering where we are.”

“We’ll make it quick.” He zips up the bag and swings it back over his shoulder. “Don’t you want to know what’s trapped in that head of yours?”

I hesitate. “It depends.”

“Hey.” He stops, smoothing my hair back. “Sometimes you have to take in the good with the bad. But trust me, it’s worth it.”

“Okay,” I say. “When we take a break, we can give it a try, I guess.”

He smiles, his honey eyes lighting up, the bangs of his hair gusting in the wind. “And remember to think of me this time.” He gives a pause. “But you might not want to focus on remembering the rest of that street thing just yet, if you’re not ready for the bad.”

We head to the right, putting the hillside so far behind us it’s like it doesn’t even exist. The sky grows greyer with each passing minute. The wind picks up, swirling the sand and the sage brush. A bug smacks into my lips and I spit it out, coughing and gagging.

“A bug flew in my mouth,” I explain when Aiden looks at me strangely.

He drags his thumb across my bottom lip, wiping the sand away, taking in my lips with great attention.

“How did you know about the kissing thing?” I ask, tucking strands of my stray hair behind me ear.

He doesn’t answer, because he can’t.

“It’s because you’ve kissed me before, isn’t it.” I touch my lip. “We’ve kissed a lot of times, haven’t we?”

His eyes burn hot with desire. “You remember?”

“No. Sorry it was just a guess.”

He brushes his hair out of his eyes and keeps his hand there to block away the blowing sand. “Don’t worry, you will.” And that’s all he says.

“Can you at least explain to me what it is?” I ask. “Because when we kiss it feels like…”