The tires screeched.
Conmager backed into the street, spun the wheel so fast the van almost tipped, and hit the gas. The van sped into the darkness.
“Don’t kill us before Wycliffe finds us,” said Katrina from the front seat, making a show of buckling her seat belt.
“I have experience driving under extreme duress,” said Conmager
Simon watched his house recede into the distance. He had not even had time to turn the lights off. Lithon clutched at his arm. The little boy had gone quiet, though he remained pale and shaking. Simon wondered if he had gone into shock.
“He’s scared,” said Ally. She sat alone in the back seat. “He knows to be quiet when he’s very frightened. I think he learned it when he was with Liam.”
Simon frowned. “You don’t happen to know how to read minds, do you?”
Ally blinked. “Read…minds? What does that mean?”
Simon shook his head. “Never mind.” He turned to the front. “So what now?”
“We get out of Chicago,” said Conmager. “The beast…I think Marugon could see through its eyes.”
Simon shuddered. “Then Marugon has seen us. Me and Katrina, I mean.”
“Not necessarily,” said Conmager. “It was focused on Lithon, and then upon myself. I am only a buzzing fly to one such as Lord Marugon, and you are nothing to him. But Lithon, he believes Lithon is the true threat.” He hit the gas and sped through a red light. Horns blared, but Conmager swerved and kept going. “He may not have noticed you. But Wycliffe will investigate. When he discovers that the door opened near your house…”
“How terribly reassuring,” said Simon. “So can we make it out of Chicago or not?”
“I think we can,” said Conmager. “It shall be easier to escape notice once we are out of the city and on the vastness of the Plains.” A shadow crossed over his face. “And the last chance…I may not be forced to…”
Ally peered out the dark windows.
Simon frowned. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
Ally looked at him. Those dark eyes, so old and so knowing, looked out of place in her young face. “There is…”
Something dark swooped over the street ahead. Simon’s stomach tied itself into knots. “Is…is that…”
The dark shadow sped into sight again, passing through a street lamp’s cone of light. Simon caught a glimpse of sooty black armor and a huge leathery wing.
“What the hell is that?” said Katrina.
“The winged demons,” said Conmager. “They have found us. Hold on.” He spun the wheel, the tires shrieking with the strain. The van almost tipped yet again, but Conmager reversed direction and sped around a corner. Simon clutched at the seat, his heart thundering. The prospect of death in a fiery car crash did not faze him.
It would save him from falling into the hands of the winged demons.
The van sped down a street, dark three-story apartment buildings flashing past on either side. The motor roared as Conmager pushed it past ninety. Simon caught a glimpse of another dark shape circling over the street.
“How fast can they fly?” said Simon.
“Fast,” said Conmager. “But not faster than an automobile. If we can make it to the freeway we can outrun them. But not in the city. There are too many corners. And they may have a vehicle of their own…”
A winged demon swooped towards the windshield, black armor glinting in the headlights, an assault rifle cradled in its arms.
###
Goth turned his seat. “Lord. We have found them. They are fleeing in the red vehicle.”
Marugon smiled. “Kill Lithon Scepteris. But instruct your kin to only disable Sir Liam or whatever wielder of the white magic is with him. I should like to put them to the question.” He spread his hands. “But if they should happen to die with King Lithon…I would not be disappointed.”
Goth rumbled out a laugh and conveyed the orders.
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The Tower of Endless Worlds Page 51
