Persie Merlin and the Door to Nowhere by Bella Forrest Page 0,139

I grimaced as she put her foot down, the car bunny-hopping forward.

Frowning as she revved the engine, Charlotte cast me an apprehensive look. “Not exactly, but I know how it’s supposed to work. In theory.”

The car shot forward, making her yelp in surprise. Yanking the wheel sharply to the right, she spared us a head-on collision with the drystone wall and screeched into second gear way before the car was ready for it.

Undeterred, she pushed down on the accelerator until the car had no choice but to obey. Still, if this car didn’t overheat or give up before we reached our destination, I knew we’d owe a debt to the automobile gods.

“I think you’re supposed to change gear when it sounds like the car is about to explode,” I suggested, the revving sound splitting my eardrums.

She shot me a dark look. “I know.”

I watched as she rammed the gearstick into third, not too proud to try out my advice. Sure enough, the car settled into a more bearable sound, moving along the road without the startling lurch.

“Can you guide us?” I looked at Boudicca’s forlorn face.

With none of her usual sass, she fluttered to the dashboard and pointed dead ahead. With her back turned, I could’ve sworn I saw her shoulders shaking. As for the other two pixies, they’d settled in the back, hugging one another.

As Charlotte picked up the pace, I realized there was one other factor we hadn’t considered. While the road we started on was fine, with enough width for Charlotte to try her hand at drag racing, it quickly gave way to Irish country roads that might as well have been labelled “deathtrap.” With drystone walls lining both sides, there was just enough room for the car, and shallow shoulders every so often so cars moving in the opposite direction could pass. Only, the lack of space hadn’t done anything to slow Charlotte down. She sped along as though she were on a freaking freeway, giving me a coronary every time a curve came out of nowhere.

“Charlotte! Wall!” I braced against the dashboard as she made a hairpin turn down a very narrow road with walls on either side. I could only pray another car wouldn’t come in the opposite direction.

“There’s plenty of space,” she replied confidently. But a squeal of metal on stone said otherwise, sending shivers down my spine as sparks erupted from the side of the car. “Okay, so not as much space as I thought. But at least I didn’t lose the side mi—”

The mirror snapped off, dangling limply from its base.

I took a deep breath. “You were saying?”

“I’ve still got one wing mirror.” She smiled, hauling the poor car into fourth as she barreled down the road. “Nobody needs more than one.”

“The manufacturers, that driver, and I would all beg to differ.” I slammed into the car door as Boudicca gestured right and Charlotte took it without even braking. Forget the car surviving, I wasn’t convinced I would. I could see the headlines now: two young women, a sack of bones, and three pixies crash into a field of sheep. No survivors.

Charlotte chuckled. “Relax, Persie. I know what I’m doing. I’ll get us there.”

“In one piece?” I shot back.

“Not guaranteed, but you’ll be mostly intact, unlike Mr. Bonejangles over there.” She nodded to the sack, and I screamed.

“Watch the road!”

Her eyes flitted back. “Sorry. I forget how tricky these country lanes can be. Pretty though, in the daytime, and especially in the summer. If Victoria lets you stay, you should head out and take a walk sometime. It’s good to get out of the Institute for a bit, whenever you can.”

“If?” What was that supposed to mean? I’d explained everything with the pixies. Surely, she didn’t think I’d get booted out once the truth was revealed.

Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Okay, so the pixies didn’t kidnap anyone. We were wrong about that, but that doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods.” A half-smile lifted the corner of her lips. “One of those little schmucks definitely screwed with my hair dryer, and I want revenge. Half a ton of talc puffed out of it this morning, and I had to take another shower to get it out. And I definitely saw one of the little buggers in my room.”

I heard a snort from the backseat and turned to find the she-pixie grinning mischievously at the other pixie. I thought it best not to point out the culprit to Charlotte, not when we were