“Are you sure you don’t sense a spell?”
“I don’t,” Marcy said. “But that’s not saying much. If it’s anything like what killed the plane, I likely won’t detect it.”
“If the van really stopped because of a mechanical failure, do you think you could fix it?”
“I can try,” she said. “I have no idea how to spell a motor, but it can’t be that hard. But, honestly, who are we kidding? I highly doubt it’s mechanical. It happened too abruptly.”
“Yeah, that would be too easy—”
There was a loud crash in the trees just outside the van. Marcy and I both sprang out of our seats, and right as we opened the doors, both our mates yelled in unison, “Stay in the car!”
“Yeah, right,” Marcy called, answering for us, “like that’s happening!”
We jumped out and headed over to where the guys stood just outside the tree line. “What do think that was?” I asked Rourke. “And why in the world would you tell me to stay in the car? I shouldn’t have to remind you that Marcy and I just took out the big bad ourselves.”
He growled. “It was just a gut reaction. I’m sick of seeing you in danger. The van is the only cover we’ve got at the moment.”
“That gator van is hardly going to protect us against anything—”
Twenty feet in front of us there was another loud explosion and we were all knocked backward from the force.
Each of us was up in a moment, glancing around but finding nothing.
Tyler called, “I don’t sense any magic, but there’s no question something’s coming.”
“We need to move out of here now!” Rourke tugged me back. “Everyone back in the vehicle.” He glanced at Marcy and nodded to James. “Open the hood and see if she can fix it with a spell.”
“Agreed.” James moved forward with Marcy tucked to his side.
I reached the side of the van first and wrenched the door open. I took one step inside and the door snapped shut behind me on its own, locking everyone else out. I turned, rattling the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Jessica!” Rourke shouted on the other side. “What’s going on?” He pounded his fists against the window, but it held when it should’ve shattered.
“I have no idea,” I called through the glass. “The door won’t open—”
The van’s motor turned over.
It revved once and snapped into gear. Before I could do anything else, I was tossed in between the seats as it sped off down the road, faster than it should’ve been able to go. “What do you want?” I shouted into the air as I maneuvered myself up from between the seats and made my way to the driver’s side. I climbed in and sat down, grabbing the wheel, but it wouldn’t budge. I jammed my foot onto the brake, taking it down to the floor, over and over again, but it was useless.
I glanced into the rearview mirror, and to my surprise my mate, along with the others who had run after the van, pulled up short, stopping, looking around confused as I sped away.
“You’re cloaking the van?” I shouted. “Is that really necessary? Come on!” The vehicle veered wildly as we barreled along the country roads, but it seemed to have a destination in mind.
I knew Rourke would follow no matter what, and once Ray landed and was told what happened, he would scout the air. It would help if I could break a window. Then they could catch my scent. I began to pound on the driver’s side glass as my wolf flooded me with adrenaline. I morphed into my Lycan form, but no matter how hard I pounded on it, it wouldn’t break. Jeez. This was heavy-duty magic. And even though all this was happening, I still didn’t detect any magic.
I was about to turn and use my feet on the windshield when the van careened over an embankment and shot straight into the woods. There was barely enough room between the trees for it to maneuver, but it zigged and zagged fairly effortlessly. I righted myself in my seat, grabbing the wheel to steady myself. The van appeared to be heading down a small logging road, but it was hard to know for sure in the dark. The moon was occluded by clouds at that moment and the van’s headlights were dim.
A few more yards and the vehicle sputtered and died.
But the momentum caused it to bounce over a few more dips in the ground, and then with a final snap it jolted to a stop, just short of crashing into a large tree.
I sat for a few minutes catching my breath and peeling my fingers off the steering wheel. It was a miracle I hadn’t pulled the damn thing off. I was in my human form already and I tried the door, but it was still locked. “What do you want?” I yelled, rattling the door handle in anger. “You have me. I’m here! Now show yourself or let me out!”
There was no response for a few beats, and then the doors all popped as they unlocked. I tentatively pushed the driver’s door all the way open.
As I set my foot on the grass, I asked my wolf, Can you sense anything? She had forced all our magic outward as a shield once we’d been kidnapped, now she growled and huffed. She couldn’t detect anything either. It was unsettling for both of us. I don’t know if this is the other Hag or not, I said. But whoever it is, they didn’t take us very far. Our backup will be here soon. Keep our magic ready to go. Whatever we’re dealing with here is incredibly strong.
I moved around the front of the van cautiously, my senses alert, my power jumping out in front of me. I was relieved the headlights were still on. It was the only illumination for miles.