by Linsey Hall
The guy nodded at Ares. “What about him?”
“Him too.”
“Must be someone bad then.”
“Isn’t it always?” I accepted my drink from the bartender and handed him a few bills, then turned to the man. “So, do you know anyone who could guide us across the valley?”
“First, it’s through the valley, not across.” He sipped the whiskey I’d bought him.
I held up a hand. “My mistake. Through the valley.”
“Now that we’ve got that straight, yeah. I know a gal. My nieces lead people through. But it’ll cost ya.”
“That’s all right. Where can we find her?”
“Down at the end of the road toward the west, turn right and look for the house with the buggy out front.”
“The buggy?”
He frowned. “Did I stutter?”
“No, I just…” I nodded. “Okay. Look for the house with the buggy out front.”
“Yeah. Got a pink ribbon tied on the back.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded and sipped the whiskey. “Be careful now. The valley ain’t no place for the timid.”
I grinned. Timidity wasn’t my problem. “You have a good day.”
I got up, met Ares’s eye, and we left. The day had warmed up in the time we’d been in the bar. It might be winter, but Death Valley cooled for no season. I found the rising sun and headed down the street in the opposite direction. We passed a crossroads and a vehicle parked on the dirt side street caught my eye. I pulled to a dead stop, staring. “Whoa.”
“What?” Ares turned to look.
The car was actually a tricked out beast of a machine, painted gunmetal gray, with massive wheels, spikes all over the hood, and the headlights contained in cages. There was another one just beyond it, a similar style but customized differently.
I glanced at Ares. “So I guess they’ve traded up from horse and buggies.”
“An understatement.”
We continued down the street, reaching the end and taking a right. There were only a few houses in this part of town, and one had a massive tricked out gray hummer sitting next to two similar machines. The tires were almost as big as I was. They made the one we’d seen earlier look like kid cars. A pink ribbon fluttered off the back of the biggest, meanest one.
“That’s the buggy?” I asked.
“Looks like.” Ares chuckled.
The body almost looked like an old-school Hummer, boxy and big, but the top had been sawed off to make a convertible. Except that a platform had been erected high over the front seats, big enough for a person to stand on while holding onto a rail that had been fixed to the front. The driver could sit in the seat underneath. There was a similar platform off the back as well. Spikes protruded from the sides, as if it would repel any monster that tried to ram it.
A girl walked out of the house. She was tall and thin, with bleached hair styled in a mohawk. She wore brown leather from head to toe, but it was more apocalypse-chic than anything else. Her tank top was a strappy thing that looked like she’d made it herself, along with leather fingerless gloves and metal bands around her forearms. Black eye makeup streaked around her eyes.
I looked at her, then at the awesomely crazy car. “Holy fates, we’re in Mad Max.”
Ares chuckled low in his throat.
“Need something?” The girl’s voice was rough, her posture so clearly saying Don’t fuck with me.
I approached, realizing as I got closer that she was only sixteen or seventeen. Another girl walked out of the house. Her hair was black, but otherwise, she had the same aesthetic.
“Who are they?” she asked the blonde.
“Don’t know.”
The girls looked tough, almost feral, ready to fight or curse at the least provocation. Frankly, they reminded me of Cass, Del, and I at their age, living on the edge and just trying to make it.
“We’re looking for a ride across Death Valley.” I nodded at the buggy with the pink ribbon. “That yours?”
“Yeah.” The blonde watched me with steady eyes.
“I like it.”
“Me too.” She propped a hand on her hip. “But no can do on the valley.”
“We’re desperate.” My voice reflected that. “Your uncle said you could take us.”
“Sure, normally. But the third member of our team is out sick. Wouldn’t be the quality of ride we like to guarantee.”
I glanced at the “buggy”. It was bad ass, but… “What kind of quality ride?”
“The kind where you get there alive.” She grinned, but it was more a baring of teeth.
Well that didn’t sound good. Not that I had a lot of choice. “Come on, help us out. Please. We really have to get across. I’ll pay double.”
Interest glinted in her eyes. “What are you?”
“Conjurer.” And a whole lot more. I pointed to Ares. “Vampire.”
“Can you fight?”
“Yeah.”
“Got weapons?”
“I can conjure anything. He’s got a shadow sword.”
“Willing to risk your life?”
“Every day.”
She grinned, and this time the smile was real. “Then we’re in for a good time. I’m Ana”—she hiked a thumb at her friend—“this is Bree.”
Bree approached, dark hair gleaming in the sun. “That’ll be twenty grand.”
I nearly swallowed my tongue. “For real?”
“We just told you that you might die on the crossing. Which means we might die. So yeah, it’s expensive. Especially when you’re paying double.”
“Fair enough. I don’t have any cash on me though.”
“No problem. I’ll give you my bank details, transfer it online.”
These girls knew what they were doing. And I had the money, though barely. Our shop paid well. Really well, considering the value of the magic we sold. But I was always funneling the money straight into my trove, so it was rare I had cash in the bank.
At least I was covered this time. I pulled out my phone, finding the signal to be unexpectedly good, and she rattled of some numbers. I made the transfer, then looked up.
“Ready to go now?” Bree asked. “If we leave now, we can make it to the crater by early evening. Should give you enough time to make it across before dark and for us to get home.”
“We need to get to Hider’s Haven, not the crater,” Ares said.
“Crater is as far as anyone can take you. After that, you gotta cross on your own,” Bree said.
Damn. “Crater it is, then.”
“Give us ten,” Ana said. “You can sit in the back.”
They disappeared into the house and we climbed up into the vehicle. It was a good four feet off the ground, so I had to use the tire to haul myself up into the buggy. It really should have been called The Beast, but I liked the incongruity of “buggy”.
“This thing is awesome.” I climbed all over, checking out the construction of the platforms and the sturdy bars that held them lofted over the driver. The spikes on the side panels looked like they were coated in something thick and black. Poison.
“With this as our ride, Death Valley deserves its name,” I said.
“It’s an impressive machine.” Ares looked at me, eyes sharp. “You like cars?”
“Yeah.” I almost said Duh, but then realized he hadn’t been in my trove. “But yeah, I do.”
“Careful!” Ana shouted. “That Ravener poison will kill you in a second.”
I turned to see her striding out of the house, a bag hanging from her hand. Her sister strode along at her side, heavy boots thudding on the sand. Climbing harnesses were wrapped around their legs and waists. Aviator goggles were propped on their heads. They looked like badasses—skinny, teenage badasses whose eyes were too old for their age. But I’d been the same once.
They climbed up into the buggy, Ana taking the wheel and Bree sitting next to her. Ana cranked the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life, a throaty
growl that would have given my Challenger Hellcat Fabio a hard-on.
She peeled out of the town, heading for the mountains in the distance, then shouted back over her shoulder. “Bree will take the front platform. One of you on the back when I say so.”
“What’s coming at us?” I shouted.
“Anything! The valley changes what it throws at us.” I caught sight of her grin in the rearview mirror. “The humans call it Death Valley because of the heat. Little do they know.”
Bree laughed. “We’re headed off the main track. Away from the tourists taking pictures. There’s a parallel valley—the real Death Valley—that only supernaturals can access.”
“They say it’s where the magic of hell seeps up from the ground,” Ana shouted as she stepped on the gas. The buggy flew across the desert, the huge tires eating up the ground. The mountains looming in the distance grew nearer and the heat more intense.
When Ana reached the first valley, mountains rose up on the left and right.
“This is the main valley,” Bree shouted.
She pulled a right, speeding over the scrubby ground toward the first row of mountains. She drove straight for one of the shallower inclines—which was still pretty danged steep—and the buggy climbed onto the mountain, tires digging in. She was a pro, weaving around boulders or steeper bits until we crested the ridge and got our first good look at the real Death Valley.
Chapter Eight
A long valley stretched out in front of us. It had to be at least a hundred miles long and several miles wide. The ground swirled in different colors and seemed to shimmer with heat. An aura of danger hung over the place, dark magic that made my hair stand on end.
“Welcome to hell!” Ana cried.
“She sounds happy about it,” Ares muttered.
I grinned. These girls were nuts, but I could relate. Cass, Del, and I had mellowed a bit, but not that much.
The buggy ate up the ground as it sped toward the valley floor. Once we hit the bottom, Bree tossed a harness into the back seat. “Back platform person, put that on!”
Ares grabbed it, shoving his legs through the straps.
“Hey!” I shouted.
He buckled the thing around his waist and grinned wryly at me. “I’m sure you’ll have your chance to kick some ass.”
“I’d better.” I’d see to it.
“Hook the harness to the bar on your platform in case you get knocked off the vehicle—the heat of the sand can kill you if you lay on it too long.” Bree pointed to the red button on the front of the harness. “Hit that if you need to release the harness quickly.”
“Got it.” Ares climbed up onto the back platform as Ana drove like a bat out of hell across the flat, arid land. He latched his harness to the bar.
“I recommend kneeling on one knee,” Bree shouted as she climbed onto the front platform and hooked her harness off. Her black hair whipped in the wind. “If you end up on the ground, keep running. Don’t stand still on the hot ground.”
The sky was a cloudless blue as the buggy raced across the planes. The mountains rose high on either side of us. Ahead, the ground almost appeared white.
“Badwater coming up!” Ana shouted.
The buggy hurtled toward the white surface. It looked a heck of a lot like the Rann of Kutch, the salt plains I’d gone to in India last week.
Until a massive crystal of salt speared out of the earth, right in front of the buggy. Ana dodged it by an inch, driving like a pro, but another one speared out of the ground in front of us. There was no time to dodge without the buggy rolling.
My heart leapt into my throat. We were screwed.
Magic swelled on the air as Bree threw out her hands. A massive sonic boom hurtled toward the salt spear, blasting it to pieces. Ana drove straight through the rubble, laughing.
But the spears continued to surge out of the ground. Ana dodged what she could. Bree blasted the rest, avoiding a collision that would crush the front of the buggy.
They were an amazing team, but eventually, more spears started to pop up in front of us. More than Ana could dodge or Bree could blast.
My mind raced, trying to figure out what I could conjure. I hadn’t yet learned to throw my destroyer power in front of me, and it was too slow for this.
Ares slammed his hand against the red button on his harness and leapt from the buggy, hitting the ground running. He sprinted ahead of the buggy, his vampire speed in full effect.
My breath caught in my throat. I’d never seen him go so fast. This was Ares unleashed. He hurtled toward the salt pillars in the distance, slamming into them with enough force to blast them apart. They crumbled beneath the brute force.
Bree whooped a war cry at the sight, sending sonic booms at the other pillars, smashing them to bits. Ana dodged the rest, weaving the buggy through the spears of salt like this was a deadly game of Frogger.
Ana and Bree were a hell of a team.
Finally, the salt flats ended. Ana drove by a sprinting Ares, who leapt up and grabbed the rail on the back of the buggy, swinging onto the back platform. Sweat dripped down his face and he was panting, his chest heaving like he’d run a marathon in ten minutes. Which he kind of had.
“Not bad, vampire!” Bree shouted. “Now clip off your harness!”
“Safety first!” Ana cackled as she hit the gas and plowed forward.
We really were in Mad Max—Bree just needed a guitar that shot flames. Though I had a feeling she’d use it as a weapon before making music with it.
Ahead of us, stone arches loomed in the distance. We hurtled toward them, the buggy eating up ground. Ana drove under the first one, which was easily forty feet tall.
“Get ready!” she shouted.
The ground ahead of us heaved upward, a massive figure growing up from the dirt. It was shaped like a man, but it was made of gravel and at least twenty feet tall. It grabbed up a scoop of earth, which was really just a giant rock, and hurled it at us.
Bree blasted it out of the sky with her sonic boom, but the next one was aimed for Ares. In a flash, he conjured his shadow sword. His magic flared, the scent of a cold winter morning at odds with the heat all around us. His shadow sword pulsed with the power, and when it collided with the rock, the stone exploded in a blast of powder.
Ana drove through the arches, trying to dodge the rocks that the giant hurled. As we neared the beast made of gravel and sand, Bree shot her sonic boom at a slender spear of rock that protruded right over the monster’s head. It plummeted from its perch, crashing onto him. The gravel that created him crumbled to the ground.
Bree whooped.
But another monster appeared farther in the distance, as large as the first. It hurled more rocks, right at us.
Bree blasted them out of the air.
Ares cut them down with his sword.
I felt spectacularly useless.
Until one of the rocks glanced off Bree’s shoulder, throwing her back into the buggy. Her harness kept her from flying out, but she dangled limply in the passenger seat.
I hit the red button on her harness, allowing her to collapse into the seat, and leapt upon the platform. We were nearly to the monster, but without Bree’s power to blast a rock onto his head, we were in a pickle.
We were nearly to him, a hundred meters away. I had only a second to think.
The arch above his head caught my eye. In a flash, I conjured a bow and an arrow that had a grappling hook end. A long rope trailed from the back of the arrow.
I aimed for the arch, firing. The arrow flew straight and true, sinking into the arch above the monster’s head. I grabbed the rope, leaping off the platform and swinging through the air.
Behind me, Ares roared. I swung for the giant’s head, realizing suddenly how insane this plan was. I neared him, hoisting myself up onto the rope and praying that he was a conglomeration of loose gravel and not a solid rock monster.
Man, I’d be so screwed if he was one big rock.
I swung for him, feet
first, my boots colliding with his head. He crumbled, collapsing through the ground. Victory soared through me, quickly replaced by panic. I was swinging straight for the solid rock wall. An image of the Wile E. Coyote smashing into a cliff while chasing the Road Runner flashed in my head.
An insane laugh welled within me, but I managed to twist myself just enough to plant my feet on the wall and push off, swinging for the buggy as it sped by. I released the rope and landed in the back seat, an awkward pile of shaking limbs and trembling muscles.
“You’re insane!” Ares pulled me up, his gaze frantic with worry.
“You ever need a job, you call us!” Ana cackled, speeding out of the arches and away from the threat of gravel monsters and flying boulders.
Death Valley was insane.
Panting, I climbed up so that I was standing on the back seat, my butt propped against Ares’s platform. Ana was leaned over the seat, looking at me and shaking her head. “Stone cold.”
“Thanks.” I searched the terrain ahead of her. “There’s sand dunes up ahead.”
“The Guantlet,” Bree said. “Haven’t seen that one in a while.”
“The obstacles change frequently?” I asked.
“Depending on the season, or the valley’s mood, yeah.” Ana slowed the buggy to a stop before the sand dunes and Bree leapt out, crouching by one of the tires.
“What’s she doing?” I asked.
“Letting out some air,” Ana said. “Better for sand driving.”
Bree raced around the buggy, finishing the job, then jumped back into the passenger’s seat. Ana took off.
Bree ducked below the seat, looking for something. She popped up again and tossed two pairs of steampunk-looking goggles back at us. “Put those on.”
I tugged them on, the world suddenly going strangely reddish.
“The color will help you see the snakes.”
“Snakes?”
Bree shot me a grin as she tugged hers down. “Yeah. Big ones. Better get those swords ready.”
Ana looked at Bree. “Ready to take the wheel?”
“Yeah.” Ana took Bree’s place—all without slowing the vehicle.
Ana climbed onto the front platform, then looked back at us. “Get ready for some heat. And swords at the ready.”
