Page 79 of The Wicked

Chaos.

From the rearview mirror, I caught the cars behind us ramming into each other, and then there was fire; people were screaming, fighting to run away.

No.

No, no, no, no, no.

Dread painted my stomach, making it dip with a sense of urgency and regret. I stepped on the gas, and our vehicle sped forward, my heart hammering as I tried to get us away before—

Boom!

I flinched at the explosion, and Elio slipped back to the seat, stretching his neck from left to right, looking like he hadn’t just…

Wasn’t it—wasn’t there another way? How many innocent people were caught in that explosion?

I drove us out of the market, entering an unfamiliar road, the car steady again. Quiet.

The music from the speaker had long since stopped, probably damaged like the car was.

I didn’t know how long we drove for, but I felt my body calm down from the adrenaline.

I glanced at Elio to see that he still held the gun in a tight grip. His knuckles were white, but he looked ahead with a calm expression.

“You okay?” I asked, but was met with complete silence from him.

I concentrated back on the road, letting out a breath.

We reached the highway, and the wind blowing inside the car calmed my nerves as I drove away from our pursuers.

Trees littered the sides of the road, and I was pretty sure we had lost the fuckers.

After what seemed like thirty minutes, the car started slowing down—its movements jerky, like it wanted to fall apart.

Soon after, it slowed to a stop with a jolt, headlights flickering off, the night enclosing us like a thick black blanket as the engine stopped, and quietness followed.

“Shit.”

“I’m guessing your phone is deep inside the water with Casmiro’s car?”

“Yup.”

“And no one knows where we are?”

“Yup.”

He nodded, his head falling back on the headrest as he closed his eyes, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down when he swallowed and cursed.

“Fuck.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Zahra

Elio was the first to get out of the car, and I followed suit. No other vehicles were passing by, and the road seemed like a dead end from where we stood, so I was guessing we would have to walk a great distance before we found a motel.

I exhaled, hugged myself, and walked around the car to Elio’s dark figure on the other side. The moon painted fine shadows over his features, and I let my eyes drink it in.

“Walking or waiting out here for a travel vehicle would be careless when we have the Russians on our tail,” Elio stated.