Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,56

is. We have to abandon it and get out of here.”

“Abandon?” she said, sounding a little out of it. “Why?”

“Because I said so.” Impatience edged my voice. We didn’t have time for this. “You’ll have to climb over the console and get out through the passenger door—your door took the brunt of the collision.”

She muttered something under her breath, but nevertheless undid the belt and unsteadily obeyed. I quickly undid the tether points on the kid’s car seat, slashed through the top point because I didn’t have the time to fiddle, and then dragged the whole thing over to the other side of the car. It would be damn awkward to carry, especially with Reign still strapped inside.

Gianna stood next to the open passenger door, the old teddy gripped firmly in one hand as she looked around a little owlishly. “Where are we?”

“Outside Penrith. Can you see the blue truck behind us?”

She glanced that way. “Its windshield is broken.”

“Yes. Get into the passenger seat.”

“I can’t leave Reign—”

“I’m bringing him. Go.”

She walked away unsteadily. I grabbed my backpack and her shoulder bag, then sucked in a deep breath that did little to ease the growing tide of aches and weariness. After wrapping my arms around the car seat, I hauled it free of the car and lugged it over to the truck. The world was spinning by the time I reached it, the pain in my head so bad my sight was blurring. Given everything also had a reddish tinge, I suspected my eyes were bleeding. No surprise, given just how much I’d called on the inner power over the last twenty-four hours.

With a grunt of effort, I placed the car seat into the back of the truck and attached the two still viable points before hauling the regular belt over the top to make doubly sure it was secure. I dumped my pack in the footwell, then tipped the contents of her purse onto the back seat. A quick ferret through didn’t reveal anything unexpected, but I nevertheless checked the purse’s side pockets. The tracker was in one of them. I tossed it onto the ground, crushed it underneath my heel, then scooped everything back into the purse and dumped it beside the pack.

Once I’d brushed away the ashes of the previous occupant, I climbed into the driver seat. Gianna was blinking owlishly, and her skin was pale. Concussion, I suspected.

“Gianna? You need to belt up.”

As she mechanically obeyed, I checked the mirrors and then pulled out. We’d barely passed the overhead sign when a car came around the corner. I kept an eye on it, but it neither sped up when it saw us nor slowed down when it saw the remains of the Estate.

I released the breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding, and my inner strength washed away as quickly as a tide. I swallowed heavily, tightened my grip on the wheel, and did my best to concentrate. We had to get out of here; had to get somewhere safe. Nothing else mattered right now.

By the time we were close to the center of Penrith, I was barely holding it together. I spotted a big golden M through the elms lining the right side of the road and swung into the parking area. It was reasonably full, which meant the only spots available were the ones at the back of the parking area—perfect for us. I reversed into a spot and then switched off the engine and leaned my forehead against the steering wheel, sucking in great gulps of air. The inner shaking had expanded to the rest of me, and my stomach felt like it was about to unleash.

“Where are we?” came Gianna’s soft question.

I glanced at her. She’d been floating in and out of consciousness for the last fifteen minutes, but for the moment looked lucid. “Penrith. I think you’ve got a concussion—do you want some Panadol?”

She nodded and rubbed her forehead. Flakes of dried blood fell away, which at least meant the wound on her head had stopped bleeding and couldn’t have been too serious.

I twisted around, grabbed my backpack, and retrieved the bottle of painkillers. After handing her two, I popped a couple out for myself. There was no way they’d be strong enough to calm the mad orchestra inside my head, but maybe they’d take the edge off.

She frowned at me. “Why are your eyes red?”

“It’s a consequence of using my powers.” I grabbed my phone, then dumped the pack behind the