Page 88 of Twisted Ties

“Hands behind your back,” the man says next, eyeing my twitching fingers. I note the accent in his voice. He’s not from here.

“What do you want?” I ask, but none of them answer. One of the men steps towards me and I flinch. Immediately, they all raise their hands.

“One false move …” the one in charge says, as if I’m a dangerous animal, as if I’m some kind of threat to them.

I nod my consent. I don’t have a lot of choice. I curse myself for being so damn foolish.

The man takes another step toward me, reaching for my arms. He’s going to bind my wrists. Panic bubbles in my chest and that magic simmers in my veins. Dark, begging me to use it. Could I? Would it be strong enough?

I close my eyes and hear the sudden roar of an engine, followed by frantic cries of the men, bodies falling on the ground.

I snap open my eyes to find Winnie has driven right at them.

For a split second we gape at each other through the dirty windscreen.

Then I dive into the car as a bolt of magic explodes on the road beside me, creating a crater the size of a bowling ball. Winnie screams as the car rocks from side to side with the blast. Then she floors the accelerator and speeds us the hell away, spinning the car around and yanking on the shift stick.

More magic crashes around us and Winnie stamps on the accelerator again, shooting us forward and away from the men. More magic explodes around us and Winnie weaves the car this way and that, narrowly missing explosion after explosion while Pip whimpers and scrabbles in my lap.

“Barone’s men? The Wolves of Night?” Winnie yells over the noise.

“No.” I say, “No, not them. They’re soldiers,” I say in confusion.

“You don’t say,” Winnie says, her eyes darting to the rear-view mirror. “Shit!”

I turn my head around and find we’re being chased. Two cars following us. There’s a man leaning out of the window of one, firing magic at us.

A bolt hits the back of the car, jolting us forward, and we both scream.

“What do they want?” Winnie yells and the car shakes again as she battles with the steering wheel to keep us on the road.

“I don’t know,” I say. “Me, I think– Watch out!” I scream as magic hits a building and rubble tumbles towards us. Winnie swings us left and then right.

“Can’t you get us out of here?” I say.

“Not until I find us a decent stretch of straight road.”

“Right.” I pump down the window and lean right out.

“Rhi, what are you doing?!”

“Fighting back,” I shout over the noise. The wind assaults my face and my hair whips about. But I narrow my eyes, waiting for the first car to screech around the corner after us. Then I fire magic of my own. That dark magic sizzles in my veins, desperate to come out and play. But I tamper it down. It scares me. I know it’s bad and I don’t like the way it makes me feel. Powerful. Destructive. Dangerous. Instead, I send magic that explodes on their car, shattering the wind screen.

Unfortunately that just makes it a hell of a lot easier for the man firing back at me.

I swear and send fire his way, scorching through the air. For a moment the cars are lost in a bellowing flame before they emerge unscathed.

“Winnie!” I cry, “where’s that straight bit of road? They’re gaining on us!”

“Up ahead! Rhi,” she says, “keep firing!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” I say, as Winnie yanks on the gear shift and shoots us forward. I fire more magic. It hits the other man’s magic head on and explodes into a million shattering colors in the air.

“Rhi, get in!” Winnie says.

I duck back in the car as Winnie punches buttons and I grip Pip tightly in my arms. The car lurches forward. I close my eyes and we explode through space. The car spinning over and over, the two of us thrown around in our seats. I hit my head on the dashboard and then the car roof. But I cling to Pip, not letting him out of my arms, as I’m slammed into the car door and then the roof again.

The car groans and there’s the screech of metal scraping along tarmac. Then we skid to a halt.