Page 91 of Shadow Beasts

“Help me push him,” Paige said, struggling to wrangle his body sideways from the back seat.

Dewey backed up, then flew toward him and banged into his shoulder. The man wobbled but did not fall.

“Wait, wait.” He pressed the red release button on his seat belt. “Okay, push.”

Paige wedged her foot against the console and gave his shoulder a hard shove. He toppled to the pavement below in a heap. Dewey grabbed the door and pulled it shut then slammed his paw onto the lock button.

“Okay,” he said, still puffing for air. “You know how to drive, right?”

“Yes, I know how to drive. But…”

“What?”

Paige shot him a pained glance. “We can’t just leave him there!”

“Of course we can. He just tried to kill us.”

Paige flopped into the back seat, recalling the frightening moments she’d just lived through. “You’re right.”

She shimmied forward between the seats and slid into the driver’s position. With a shaky breath, she scanned the dashboard before she nodded to herself.

“Okay, okay.” She tugged on her seat belt, placed her foot on the brake, and pulled the shifter into gear. “Here we go.”

The car rolled forward slowly.

Dewey darted into the back seat and disappeared behind her seat.

Paige glanced in the rearview mirror. “What are you doing back there? Get up here and sit down.”

Dewey popped back into view, the gun dangling from his front paw. “This may come in handy.”

Paige tightened her grip on the wheel as she sat at the stop sign at the end of the ramp. “Put that down!”

Dewey offered it to her as she pushed the shifter into park again.

“I don’t want it! I don’t even know how to use a gun.”

“I think we should keep it.”

“Fine, but stop swinging it around before you shoot me.”

“I’m not going to shoot–“

A loud bang sounded.

Paige clapped her hands over her ears as the gun fired, blowing a hole into the windshield.

Dewey winced and shot Paige a sideways glance, his nose horns wriggling as he carefully set the gun down on the console. “Sorry.”

Paige shook her head at him and stuffed it into the center storage unit. “Okay, now what?”

“Go to the airport,” Dewey said as he tossed the carrier onto the floor and plopped into the passenger’s seat.

“Yeah, but which way?”

“How should I know? I’ve never been there.”

“Oh, great. He could have been taking us in the wrong direction entirely. We may be lost.”