Page 42 of Fighting With Light

“Someone is following us,” he mutters and switches lanes again.

I glance behind us and don’t see anything, then another car comes speeding towards ours. Adrenaline shoots through me and fear ices my veins. We don’t have guns. We have a fast car, my knife, and Liam’s fists. There is a reason they say not to bring a knife to a gunfight.

Liam switches lanes again and begins weaving in and out of traffic, trying to lose our tail. It’s a large, black SUV and it’s so dark I can’t see who’s driving. The SUV gains on us.

“Liam,” I gasp.

“I know,” he grunts and switches lanes again. He maneuvers the car around a semi and, at the last second, takes the off-ramp. Liam speeds up the ramp and yanks the emergency brake, drifting the car to make us go right down a dark road. He pushes the brake down and speeds off into the night. We’re surrounded by farm fields and nothing is visible within miles. We keep driving at a breakneck speed down the straight road. Then he slows down, constantly checking his rearview. With nothing behind us, he turns onto another road with fields on either side and skids to a stop.

His chest moves up and down, attempting to catch his breath while his hands are still tightened around the steering wheel. I remain quiet. I’ve been in too many situations like this and I learned to keep my mouth shut.

“Are you okay, princess?” Liam asks me.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I rasp.

He releases the wheel and turns to look at me. His eyes skate all over my body, checking me. I nod and he relaxes a little at my silentI’m okay.He takes a large, deep breath, and the car is so snug I feel it on my cheek. Then he surprises me by grasping the back of my neck, smashing our mouths together so hard my lips bruise. The kiss melts me from the inside. It ignites a fresh dose of adrenaline in my veins as he rips his mouth away.

“Good?” he asks again.

I nod, dazed.

He swings the car around, doubling back the way we came. No one else is on the road as we drive down the dark street, but then an SUV with bright lights surprises Liam, cutting in front of us, forcing him to slam on the brakes. The smell of rubber wafts into my nose and he looks between me and the SUV.

“Aelia, take your shoes off and give me your phone.”

I startle at the odd request. I give him my phone and he opens it, typing in a phone number. Frozen in my seat, I don’t take my shoes off like he commanded.

“Call this number. It’s my brother, Emerson. I want you to run and he will find you. Don’t stop for anything. Find a place to hide and wait until Emerson can come and get you.”

A car door opens and I glance at it.

Liam grabs my chin, forcing my eyes on his. “Do you understand me?” he asks.

I nod.

“Can you reach into the glove compartment and grab my knife?”

I slip my hand into the little compartment and pull out a switchblade.

“Yourun, don’t stop, and don’t look back.”

I nod again and he brushes a tear from my cheek I didn’t realize had fallen. I didn’t even know I was crying.

“I really wish this was different,” he says, almost as if he’s resigned to the fact that he’s going to die tonight. I shake my head. He presses a kiss on my forehead.

“No, no, I’m not leaving you, absolutely not. I’m—”

“Aelia, we can’t move faster than bullets,” he says.

I shake my head again.

“No, but you can turn this car around and drive us away.” He looks at me and the road behind us. It would have to be so fast and bullets can fly faster than cars. Bullets can put holes in tires, too. Liam’s eyes flick to my side and I turn to see a man walking towards us. Liam tenses as the man comes to my side of the car.

“Maybe they are here for me, maybe I can—”

A knuckle knocks on the window and I can see who it is.

Ben.