by C. T. Adams
Ivan was still shaking his head as he began to dial a number. “I hope you know what you’re doing, old friend. I fear this isn’t over. And I fear you will regret this choice.”
Eric clapped him on the shoulder with a wry smile, which was a lot like slapping a rock. It made his hand sting. “Regret is the price we all pay for charity, Ivan. Charity doesn’t save the world, and often doesn’t save a single life. But it’s a chance. Then it’s up to the people being helped to move forward. It’ll be up to Derek whether this second chance means anything.”
The only reply was a rumbling growl.
Eric got out of the car to allow Ivan to make the call in private. Frankly, he didn’t want to know the details of the arrangement. He was coming to grips with the fact that he was probably going to have to make some sort of peace with his brother. If Derek didn’t die, he was going to be losing his pack, he was going to be exiled from the place where he grew up—the only place he’d ever lived, and moved from a major city to the wilderness. After the initial gratitude wore off, and the shock to his system from the binding had faded, there would only be . . . desperate, angry loneliness.
Gee, won’t that be fun?
Eric had reached Tatya, who was carrying a clear plastic clipboard with what looked like a questionnaire tucked under the clip. The standard white lab coat over her outfit was a little big for her small frame. But with her hair rolled into a coil at the back of her neck, she looked every inch a doctor. It seemed a shame that she was going through the very same thing Derek was about to. The Boulder pack was no more, she was moving to Paris, and was in trouble with the council. And from what Eric had been able to see, she had that same alphic egotism that Derek possessed—which Eric seemed to have been spared. Thank God.
“We’re ready to start.”
“We?” Was one or more of the humans still inside?
She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh that said as clearly as her scent that she was still annoyed and frustrated. “Okay . . . I’m ready to start. The machinery can be handled by one, but I’ll need some help from Ivan at the start and finish. There won’t be any danger to you. I promise.”
The British anthem began to play in the distance. Eric didn’t bother to turn his head. No doubt Ivan’s life had gotten much more complicated with his move up the political ladder. Eric shrugged and glanced toward the machinery. “I didn’t think there would be. I’ve had an MRI before. My ankle got screwed up when I was a kid, and it took forever to heal.” No need to mention it was Derek who screwed it up. Just one more reason why he’d need to start the new relationship on his terms. Not his brother’s.
“Good. That will help speed this up. The machinery’s been improved since then, but the experience will be the same on your end. Of course, we’re going to be taking images of your chest and throat, so you’ll need to be completely inside. You’re not claustrophobic, are you?”
“No. I—”
Ivan strode up behind them. his power moving air ahead of him so hard it was like a semi passing on the freeway. “We must go. Eric, get in the car. Tatya, destroy any record of us having been here. You have two minutes.”
Tatya was obviously taken aback by the clipped words. She furrowed her brow with an annoyance that matched her scent. “Ivan, what in the world?”
He flicked his eyes her way and then abruptly slammed a wall of power against her so hard she stumbled back and dropped her clipboard. “I will not tolerate arguments from you anymore, doctor. Not as a council member, and not when I speak for Charles, as I do now. When he says we evacuate, we do so. You now have one minute if you value the machinery inside, or I will simply destroy the trailer.”
There were some things in Sazi life that nobody questioned, and one of them was that Charles Wingate ruled absolutely. He was not only the Chief Justice of the council and de facto king of their kind, but a powerful seer. Unfortunately, his gift of seeing the future was unpredictable. He might see an event only moments before it happened. But it would happen. So, if he said move, you moved and quickly. Her eyes widened and she sprinted up the stairs so fast she was a blur. Eric followed Ivan back to the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. The big man didn’t argue. While he was a perfectly adequate driver, he was a better shot—if it came to that. It bothered Eric that he didn’t have a weapon. Magic was great for avoiding humans and for fighting hand to hand, but it didn’t stop a bullet. But after the show of power outside, he decided it was better to be cautious, former partner or not. “Any idea what we’re up against, or was that just a message to Dr. Santiago to start treating you with more respect?”
Ivan shook his head and a harsh breath vibrated his lips. “I’ve allowed too much familiarity in my role as Charles’s bodyguard, Eric. It’s not just the doctor who doesn’t show proper respect to my new office.”
Ouch. But he didn’t reply, and add to any possible punishment.
Ivan sighed and started to open his mouth when movement across the parking lot caught his eye. Tatya had turned off the light in the trailer and was racing down the stairs. She pushed shut the metal door just as Eric heard tires squeal in the distance.
They all looked the same direction and could see a black sedan coming toward the clinic at a fast clip. Plain human sight might not have noticed the three masked figures dressed in black and wearing flak jackets that were visible through the open windows. When he saw automatic weapons poke into the air, Eric turned his head toward Ivan, damn any familiarity. “Do we stay to fight or leave?”
Tatya reached the car and climbed in the back, nearly echoing Eric’s words. “Fight or flee?”
“We leave.” The words were barely out of Ivan’s mouth before Eric had the car in gear and they were burning rubber across the asphalt as he turned to get back on the road. The scent of hot rubber, along with the variety of emotions filling the car, nearly made him sneeze. He coughed and snuffled to fight past the urge. He couldn’t afford to be blinded while driving. He was glad now that they’d filled the tank on the way to the appointment. Tatya had complained, of course, but he’d always found it best to take advantage of slow times to prepare. And as they raced into the night, he noted with satisfaction that the station they’d visited was closed for the night.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just call nine-one-one?” Not only were the authorities better equipped to deal with masked gunmen, the three of them weren’t doing a thing wrong that they could be stopped for.
At least Ivan’s reply sounded more like him than this new persona. “Nyet. It would only mean more bloodshed and long delays. I asked Charles the same question. His instructions were to lose them so we don’t lead them back to the site of the new pack.”
“Lose them?” That was a lot easier when the driver knew their way around the area. He didn’t. “That might be easier said than done.” He raised a hand to take in the darkened, deserted landscape. “Any idea how to manage it? Maybe I should switch places with the doctor. These are her stomping grounds.”
“Uh, no,” said an amused voice behind him. “Cortez isn’t my stomping grounds. Boulder was. I’m as lost down here as you two.”
“Should we ditch the car and shift forms? I can lose them in the dark among the trees. But it’s tough to take a car into canyons and through streams.”
“I vote for stopping and fighting,” Tatya said from the backseat, her words edged with a snarl that spoke of the moon’s influence. He felt it too, sultry and tingling on his skin. He could resist it, but he didn’t really want to. “I’ve defended myself against guns before. We’re all alphas and I’m a healer. They don’t have enough bullets to take us down before we can take them down.”
That sounded good to him too, but Ivan shook his head. “Those aren’t our instructions. Charles was very clear. Lose the car and then make our way with all haste back to the new headquarters.” He peered through the windshield. “Is there enough starlight to drive as we did in Kiev?”
“With the lights out?” Eric mulled. He’d don
e it before, but not recently. Still, it could provide an advantage, unless—“Are we dealing with humans here, or other Sazi?” If their pursuers could also see in the dark, it didn’t make any sense to risk it.
Ivan shrugged. “I do not know. Charles could not see that part. He only saw it was imperative that we lose their car and make it back safely.”
One corner of Eric’s mouth turned up as he glanced in the rearview mirror to see the sedan gaining on them. “I sort of consider that imperative too. Okay, we’ll give it a shot.”
Speaking of shots, there was a series of pops in the distance with resulting tings as the bullets entered the trunk. He pressed down on the accelerator and watched the landscape come at them faster. Yes, they could shoot back, but it was better to let the others waste their ammo and save what they had for when it was critical.
Eric took a deep breath. The tricky part was immediately after the lights went out. He’d have to get his eyes to adjust quickly. He focused on the long stretch of straight roadway and then closed his eyes. He felt a moment of panic, as he always did, driving completely blind. But he kept the wheel frozen in place, so there was no way to go off the road unless he did something stupid. He let the breath ease out of him and flicked off the lights.
Tension sang through the car, and Tayta made a small noise that wasn’t quite panic. Eric totally understood the feeling. It was one thing to see in the dark while standing still or running. Wolves did that every hunt. But to be speeding into the darkness with so little time to react was a different thing entirely. Eric opened his eyes and was pleased that they had adjusted in the small amount of time. He could just make out the edges of the roadway—the landscape dimly lit by the headlights behind them and the starlight above. Two more blinks and he felt confident he could get them there safely. Of course, they couldn’t avoid any deer they might encounter, but . . . “Could one of you extend your magic in front of the car to chase off any game that might get in our way? I would, but I have to concentrate on driving. And some illusion would be nice too. I won’t have to work so hard to lose them if they think we’re already gone.”
“Very clever,” said Ivan with approval in his voice. “I can remove the sight and sound of us easily enough if the doctor would push away any animals.”
Eric could see Tatya’s bemused expression in the shadows of the rearview mirror. “First time I’ve ever chased away prey, but I can definitely put the fear of God into anything in the area. I’ll try for a wedge shape off the front bumpers—I can probably give you a couple of car lengths. Much past that and it’ll lose potency.”
“No arguments from me,” Eric said with a shrug as he added a little pressure to the pedal and watched the needle climb past ninety. “I’ll take anything at this point.”
He shuddered as magic began to fill the car, slowly at first and then with ever-increasing strength. Ivan’s magic was as powerful as he remembered, and there was no denying that the former Alpha Female of the Boulder pack was a power to be reckoned with. Even his own skin began to crawl with an unnamed fear that had nothing to do with hurtling through the darkness at ever-increasing speeds. His fingers twitched involuntarily on the steering wheel and he could sense the movements of bodies in the darkness as they fled from the roadway.
The vehicle behind them began to fall back. Likely they were confused now. Their headlights should reveal the rear bumper and reflectors of the car Eric was driving, but with the illusion magic Ivan was providing, it would appear only as inky blackness.
But they weren’t easily fooled, because they suddenly stepped on the gas and began to inch closer. Eric could see the concentration on Ivan’s face as he stared into the passenger mirror intently. In the next instant, flickers of light caught Eric’s attention in the driver’s mirror and he heard a popping noise. Tatya let out a little scream and everybody ducked as the rear window exploded into fragments of glass. But their concentration didn’t waver. The pursuers wouldn’t see any sparks as metal hit metal. There would be no sound of glass to the pursuer’s ears. As far as the gunmen were concerned, they’d just wasted a clip of ammo on nothing. Eric could only hope that the glass had fallen inward, or they’d spot it glittering on the roadway.
Tatya remained carefully in place on the seat, while wiping glass from her shoulders and legs onto the floor. She shook her head and Eric could hear a rain of glass bounce off the vinyl.
Unfortunately, it seemed the other car had a more powerful engine than theirs, and unless the magic worked soon to make their adversaries doubt themselves and double back, they were going to catch up. Eric pressed the pedal down harder, but there was nothing left and the needle on the speedometer had topped out at ninety-six.
The magic flowing from the backseat suddenly faltered and Tayta let out an anguished cry. “Lucas! No!” Ivan’s attention was pulled away from the mirror and Eric also looked into the rearview in alarm.
“Vat is wrong, doctor?” The accent was creeping into his voice, reverting as it always did under stress.
“He’s . . . I don’t know. Ivan, we have to get there soon. Something’s very wrong. We only have a one-way mating, but he’s just . . . there was a flash and now—” She shook her head, tiny movements that matched the abrupt scents that told of her fear and worry. There was a frantic look on her face and her blue eyes were wide. “We have to go faster.”
Eric’s attention returned to the road as he saw a flash of movement and realized they’d just very nearly hit a deer. Obviously, whatever was wrong, her attention was distracted enough that she wasn’t putting out the same kind of energy.
“There isn’t any faster. But I really need you to get your head back in the game if we want to get there at all. A deer just got close enough to hit. If I have to push away the deer too, I’m going to tire out too fast to finish the drive.”
Her eyes got even wider, if that was possible, and then her jaw set with a hot determination that smelled like burning wire. Her eyes began to glow with a blue-green light that was nearly turquoise and fear once again began to make his heart flutter. “I’ll clear the path, but Ivan needs to get rid of that car. Can’t you blow their engine or something? I remember Lucas did that once.”
Ivan’s eyes flicked sideways at the same moment Eric’s did. He felt his brows raise. “Is that even possible, Ivan?”
“For Lucas? Da. But for us? Unlikely.”
Still, it got Eric’s mind working. A car engine was actually a pretty simple thing. Fuel, spark, and air. That’s all it took for a combustion engine. And if you remove one of those—“I have an idea.”
He eased off the gas and saw the lights behind them begin to grow larger. Ivan growled and glared at him. “Vat are you doing, volf?”
“Trust me, Ivan. I might not be able to blow the engine. But I’m betting I can still disable it. No battery . . . no drivie. You just keep them from seeing us, and I’ll do the rest.”
That was all the explanation there was time for, because he could sense the car close in on their bumper. It wasn’t easy to keep his attention on the road and also feel backward with his magic. One thing he’d always been good at was being able to tell the shape of things with his magic, and batteries had a nice regular shape, no matter the vehicle. His magic flowed across the front of the grille, searching for the solid, rectangular mass. And then he found it.
His fingers began to drum a rhythm on the steering wheel as he stared into the darkness. Another touch of the gas kept the other car just a few feet off their bumper. He could only pray that Ivan was doing his job and they didn’t know they were so close. Gunfire from this distance could do some serious damage, and somehow he had the feeling the bullets would be silver. Just right for making sure Sazi didn’t get up after being hit.
He tried to move the battery with his magic, but it was bolted down. Luckily, though, there was a tiny bit of give in the wire leads going to the terminals. The next portion of road was going to be tricky. There were a lot of curves and a couple of them were sha
rp. He gripped the wheel tighter and used his magic as a third hand to pull at the leads. There wasn’t any way to know which was positive or negative, so all he could do was shake them both.
“Vatever you’re doing, it should be soon. Don’t forget about the road construction ahead. I von’t be able to hide the dust we raise on the dirt.”
Shit. He’d forgotten about that. He was thrown sideways against his belt as he jerked the wheel to take the car around one of the tighter curves and the pursuing car got dangerously close. He hit the gas again to give them a little more distance. The amber lights of the road signs were visible. There was no more time.
He gritted his teeth and threw everything he had backward to push and tug the leads frantically. They were budging, but not quickly enough.
The lights were looming and he could see where the pavement had been rototilled down to the base. It would be a bumpy ride for about a quarter mile afterward and with the vehicle headlights that just rounded the curve ahead, he was going to need his own lights to see through the cloud of dust the other vehicle would raise.
“Now!” The word was shouted as he slammed every ounce of power he had backward. He felt metal give as the grille deformed from the pressure and the hood of the sedan flew up. The horn began to blare and the vehicle braked, with no visibility. The leads finally gave in a flash of movement. The lights went out as the car stalled in the middle of the road.
Eric pulled back his magic just as the tires dropped off the pavement and a teeth-rattling vibration began to shake the car. No doubt they startled the driver of the semi approaching, because it blared an air horn as they passed by in a shower of dust and gravel.
“I’m going to leave the lights off for a bit longer and suggest you keep your magic going too. No reason to give away our location after all this trouble—in case there are any others waiting up ahead. Who knows, we may get lucky about the dust.”
Ivan nodded, but there was no response from Tatya in the back. He glanced in the mirror and worried at the strange, vacant expression in her eyes. “You okay, doctor?”
