Chapter 16 #2
“You too.” Gawel peered at both of us as we stepped out. “Now get the fuck away from here.” He slammed the door, with us barely on the other side.
“You sure you two aren’t related?” Ash smirked at me, already taking off for the hollowed-out structure down the passage from us.
Running after him, the brittle air snapped at my lungs.
There wasn’t a breath of wind, nothing to drown out our movements, every tiny noise resounding with clarity.
We had no time to warm up the bikes or even check if they all worked.
Once a single engine revved, we would draw attention to ourselves.
I grabbed one singly. I would be the lone rider. Everyone else would have to double up.
“Rosie!” Wesley motioned for the redhead to hop on with him. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a moment of hesitation, her eyes sliding to the side to where Killian was, but then it was gone. She bounded behind Wesley, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Come on, my liege.” Birdie cut around Caden like the two hadn’t just fucked each other’s brains out, tugging on Killian’s arm. “You’re with me.”
Caden didn’t respond, but I felt his anger spike, rankling my own, the surge of possessiveness and rage. Caden’s jaw almost cracked, but he kept his expression blank, watching the tiny blonde like he was about to kill or fuck her. Possibly both.
I knew that feeling all too well.
Kek crawled on with Lukas, Hanna with Scorpion, leaving Ash and Caden together.
Ash shot me a look, murmuring, “Great, I get the mini you. Like the original isn’t enough to deal with.”
“Revenge is a bitch.” I grinned cruelly back, then peered around. “We ready?”
The group nodded.
“Follow me. If you get separated or fall behind, you’re out of luck. Stay off all main roads, be diligent and ready to fight. Head back to Killian’s safe house if you lose the group. Got it?”
They all nodded again.
“Okay.” I took a breath, my foot slamming down on the kick starter of the bike.
The engine popped and thundered, the others following in a succession of growls and bangs.
The noise of six bikes starting at once, their engines and styles older, were roars exploding through the brick building and reverberating through the city.
Without a word, I tore my bike out of the crumbling building and down the cobblestone alley, already knowing that we had sent up a flare of commotion, drawing any soldier in a nearby radius right to us.
Five motorcycles pulled in behind me, following as I cut out of the alley, peeling out onto the street, heading for the fastest way out of town.
Bellows shouted in the air, and gunfire sliced through the rumble of the engines, pinging the ground near us.
A truck rumbled up fast behind us, the driver trying to keep up with me while the passengers shot at us.
All I could do was move us faster through the city, weaving and twisting.
Every choice I made, every alley I zipped us through, could have been the wrong one. All our lives depended on my decisions.
A shell pinged off my rearview mirror and shattered it into pieces.
“Fuck.” I turned the bike down another lane, my head whipping around to make sure all were still behind. Air halted in my lungs when I saw the blazing headlights from two armored trucks coming up on us, silhouetting men with guns holding onto the sides, shooting at us.
“Go!” Ash waved me on.
Gritting my teeth, I pressed the gas all the way down, the bike jerking and sputtering, trying to adjust to my demands. The streetlamps were no longer lit in this area, the sun still an hour from rising.
There was only one way to escape—becoming ghosts.
“Turn off your headlights!” I shouted back at Ash. He nodded, screaming the same sentiment to Lukas riding behind his bike.
One by one, their lights went off, plunging us into shadows. The only light was from the truck locked on us, their bullets nipping at our tires.
We had to get out of their line of fire.
Turning us down another tight lane, weaving through the trash bins and passed-out drunks, I heard Ash yell out, whirling my head around.
Lukas had stopped the bike, Kek climbing off.
“Kek!” Ash slammed on his brakes. “What are you doing? Come on!”
The rumble from the truck vibrated the ground, its headlights flooding her with light, gunfire popping the air.
“Kek!” Ash bellowed again.
She lifted her head, her eyes black. A huge dumpster slid across the pavement right before the armored truck, their brakes screeching to a halt.
The demon pulled in every bin near her, building a wall, blocking them from entering the alley, her power dropping the temperature of the already chilly air.
Blocking the truck didn’t stop their bullets.
One cut through, nipping her arm.
“Kek!” Ash bellowed, about to leap off his bike, but Lukas grabbed her, pulling her into his chest. There was a moment I saw Lukas whisper to her, his mouth brushing her forehead. Her body snapped back, breaking her from her trance. Slowly she nodded, both of them climbing back on the bike.
The truck rammed into the barricade, trying to break through, someone ordering the soldiers to go down the lane next to ours.
“Go! Go!” I peeled out of the passage. I didn’t want to waste the limited time Kek gave us. I surged out onto a main street, the motorway only yards away.
Yells and gunfire rang after us as I sped the group up the ramp and away, their trucks too far back to give chase.
In the darkness, the six bikes tore through the last bit of night. The only tell was the roar of the engines, our group becoming ghosts, slipping away from the capital, leaving our city in tatters.
We barely made it out, as our home had fallen under the reign of a tyrant.
Danger behind and peril in front of us.
No place was safe anymore.
Only the battle for our lives.