Chapter 28 #2
I moved as far over to the right side of the passenger seat as I could get, with a clear shot at the male Grigore’s neck. Shoving one hand into my cleavage, I prayed for the stars to finally fucking align while jamming the syringe into the man’s neck and depressing the plunger.
He screeched, and the driver swerved the car onto the shoulder, spraying gravel. Leaving the needle hanging out of his neck, I grabbed the marble, ready to snatch any available weapon.
The man yanked the syringe out of his neck and blood sprayed across the window. He pressed a hand against the gushing wound. The petite agent leapt out of the driver’s side and raced around to his side of the car. She opened the passenger door.
The keys were in the center cup holder. The male agent fell out of the car, yowling like a stuck pig. I moved as quickly as I dared into the front seat. Then in one outrageously easy movement, I closed the car door, started the car, and shifted into drive.
I gunned the engine, mostly ignoring the yelp and the clunk as the open passenger door took down the female agent.
To be honest, I cringed, but I wasn’t stopping to wonder what would have happened if I’d been more careful.
Tearing down the highway like the hounds of hell were behind me, I pulled off at the next interchange and found a parking lot.
Heart racing and giving silent prayers, I got out and ran to the trunk.
Wald wasn’t moving, but he was breathing.
I touched him, but he didn’t stir. I cupped his face and rubbed his jaw, the bristles soft under my fingers.
I was breathing shallow and fast. What if he died on me?
I kissed him gently. He moaned, and his eyelids flickered .
Under his jacket, the wound was weeping but not gushing blood.
“Why isn’t this healing like the other times?” I whispered.
He coughed and said, as if it took all the energy he had to talk, “It is, but slowly because it’s poisoned. The bullets…”
“I know they’re hollow. Packed with something. What do I do?” My stomach plummeted. Idaho was still hours away, and God knew where the nearest hospital was.
“Help me up.” He groaned as he rolled sideways, the sound gutting me. I supported him to get him out of the trunk but ended up half dragging him to the front seat. The deep guttural sound of hopelessness that came from him sank me. I could not lose hope. We would fix this, somehow.
“Rip out the GPS, then drive to Seattle. Two Alder Lane.” His voice trailed.
“Seattle?” Okay. I could do Seattle, but where the hell was the GPS?
“My pocket.” Then he passed out.
Nine hells. I rifled his pockets. There was a whole ton of crap.
One thing looked like a little radio unit.
A sweeper. I’d seen them on TV cop shows.
When I turned it on, the light flickered green.
Without a phone, I was crippled. What did a GPS look like?
How could I want to be a PI and not know this? If we survived, I had homework.
I walked around the car. The light was steady until I got to the hood. I bent down and scanned all four wheel wells. Nothing. As I moved toward the front of the car, the light blinked faster.
This was taking too fricking long. Think, Harlan. What should I do next? I decided I needed to pop the hood.
Cars were not my forte. It took me five minutes to find the goddamn hood release, and then another couple to actually get the hood open.
The engine compartment didn’t offer clues.
I moved the scanner around. It vibrated near one wall where a small black box was magnetically attached.
I pulled it off, super proud of myself, and threw it into the bushes.
Now for Wald.
He was slumped over his wound. “Hey there, how ya doing?” I tugged at his jacket. The wounds had ragged black edges, as if they were burned. My chest tightened. What could I even do?
“Alive,” he said with a cough. His voice soothed me like nothing I’d ever known.
Bandages and ointment from the med kit were strewn across the floor of the backseat. I grabbed what looked useful and shoved it onto the armrest. But the hopelessness of me trying to do any kind of healing gut-punched me.
I had to try.
I poured liquid bandage on the wound and packed it with gauze and some tape. The seatbelt supported the white bump.
“How do you feel?” I brushed my lips against his cheek. His skin was clammy and hot.
“Rough. Let’s drive.”
I kissed him again, this time on the lips, but his response was a close-mouthed weakness that drained my life.
When I got behind the wheel, my hands shook. “I should take you to a hospital.”
“No. Seattle is the best chance. You have to trust me.” He coughed again like it was killing him on the inside.
“Seattle is miles away. You’re going to die on me. You can’t die on me. I can’t do this.” My eyes burned with tears.
“Tails, you are so fucking strong. You can do this. I trust you. Take me home. ”
He thought I was strong? He trusted me? The weight of that slammed me.
“Fine. No hospital for now. But you gotta promise me you’ll stay alive.” I started the car.
“Deal,” he replied, but it was weak and breathy. I shifted into drive, and that’s when I saw the black SUV.
I’d ripped out the GPS and thrown it into the bushes and hadn’t driven off…
I was such an idiot.
I gunned it, and a second car blocked me. No way. No way it was ending like this. I threw the car into reverse.
One of the agents got out of the car behind me. The thing was not human, a writhing creature with scaly skin and a mouth with many mouths, all dripping some sort of caramel-colored goo. Apparently, illusions were no longer needed. Great. Excellent sign.
“Hang on,” I said. I had a plan and no idea if it would work. I was a decent driver but nowhere near the skill level that would actually have a chance of getting around this roadblock. But desperate times.
Praying to unknown recipients, I threw it into reverse and stomped on the accelerator. The mouthed monster blurred as it moved, ripping off the passenger door as the car slammed backwards into the bramble bushes at the edge of the parking lot, leaving me enough space to get around the roadblock.
I switched to drive and floored it. The car shot out of the brambles, screeching as branches scraped off paint. In that split second, the monstrous thing came at us, talons swinging, and one slash tearing through the seat belt and slicing Wald’s side open as I accelerated past it.
I clipped the back bumper of the second SUV but didn’t slow down.
The force ripped the bumper completely off.
I twisted the wheel and grabbed Wald’s jacket to keep him from falling out of the car, not daring to look back or look at him.
In a final spray of dirt, we landed onto the main road, and I tore up the ramp that led to the highway.
My heart beating faster than the speedometer.
Breathing and swearing, I slowed down to legal speed and punched the dashboard screen. The flipping GPS map wanted to know if I was a passenger. “Of course I’m a goddamn passenger,” I screamed at it, letting go of Wald long enough to tap out, Two and Alder , while trying to keep within a lane.
The map software found the address. I blew out a sigh and grabbed Wald’s jacket. This time I wasn’t stopping.
“Hang in there, darling. I’m trusting you to keep up your end of the deal and not fucking die on me.”