Cam howled, and I followed his gaze to see a couple dozen more guards running up the hill from the house. The illusion that the house was vacant had been just that—an illusion.
“Come on. We gotta get out of here.” I leaned down to help Liam up. He stared at me with an inscrutable expression. I couldn’t quite read it, but it made me uncomfortable. I glanced at Elle, who just looked freaked the fuck out. I cleared my throat and urged, “Let’s go!” Now was not the time to get into a philosophical discussion about my new magic.
We took to the skies, Elle and me helping to carry Liam since his wing was damaged, while Cam ran beneath us. I kept looking back to make sure we weren’t being followed, but it was hard to tell with the winding streets. I’d feel better the second we got behind the blue door.
Once we reached the car, I jumped into the driver’s seat and peeled out. Having the top down made for an easy getaway. Racing through the mountains to the blue door, I kept my eyes on the rearview mirror, praying we weren’t followed.
When we finally came upon the house and I saw the blue door, I sighed in relief.
We popped out of the car, and Liam, Elle, and Cam walked to the door as I disassembled the VW. Once the car was in its pen form, I shoved it in my bag and ran for the door to the portal.
“Okay.” My hands shook from the adrenaline. “Let’s get the hell out of he—”
I yanked the door open and peered into an empty house. Not Mara’s home—some dusty old place with orange shag carpet.
Oh, fuck. Mara was gone.
I checked my watch. “I forgot, Mara had to run an errand. We have fifteen minutes left.”
Liam cursed. His wing was bleeding, but it didn’t look too bad. It wasn’t life-threatening or anything. Kira could patch it right up.
“So, how does this work?” Liam growled. “When she leaves, we’re fucked?”
I winced. Not exactly the words I would have used. “Basically. I don’t really understand it, but it will be fifteen more minutes before I open this door and we see her house.”
Cam put his head low to the ground and started to sniff. Then his hackles raised, and he growled deep in his throat.
“Get the car ready,” Liam told me, and bolted to stand at the end of the driveway.
I spun, digging through my bag and pulling out the pen. I began to summon the car while Cam trotted to the end of the driveway.
“Oh, shit,” Elle muttered under her breath, and started to pull knives from her thigh holster and behind her back.
I peered up from my task for a moment, and my stomach dropped. A row of trucks turned down the street, their beds piled with SoDs holding flaming torches, guns, and all manner of weapons.
The VW was nearly fully formed now. Liam stood at the edge of the property line, building up a sheet of ice.
Once the car was done, I leapt in, and Elle flew over to settle in the back seat.
Liam rushed over, Cam at his heels. “They’re going to burn the place!”
Fear pulsed through my veins. Burn the place down? That would mean we couldn’t get back to Faerie.
Bending, Liam grabbed Cam by the ribcage and lifted him up, chucking him into the back seat with Elle before sliding in next to me.
“Ow! You big mutt.” Elle elbowed the black wolf, but instead of growling at her, he just licked her neck like a happy dog.
I glanced at my watch.
Nine minutes.
I put the car in drive, unsure of what to do. “Can we hold them for nine minutes?”
As if answering my question, a ball of fire shot up over the ice wall, and a harpoon slammed into the front door, catching it on fire.
Fuck. We were stuck here.
“Go!” Liam shouted. The wall of ice at the end of the driveway burst into shards as one of the pickup trucks blasted through it.
I gunned the engine, heading to the back fence of the property. It was a horse ranch sort of setup, but with no horses—just a few acres and some flimsy wooden fencing.
“Hold on!”
The VW lurched into the backyard, and I plowed through the fence. Wood cracked, sending bits of two-by-fours everywhere. Meanwhile, Liam popped up onto his knees, and my eyes went to the rearview mirror. The house was aflame…
Oh, gods, what did this mean for Mara? Would she be harmed if she tried to go there? Would it catch her house on fire? These fears raced through my mind.
Liam tossed up ice walls like crazy, crashing them into the trucks that chased us as I drove through the backyard, across the rocky land.
“I feel sick!” Elle roared as the car juddered across the rocky ground.
Spotting a smoother road, I jerked the car left and pulled onto it. The instant change soothed my nerves and probably Elle’s stomach.
Pressing my foot onto the pedal, I started to clock the speedometer at eighty miles per hour. We were on a small back road, but it was paved, so I was able to haul some ass. I turned down road after road with no idea where I was going, as long as it was away from the house.
Finally, I reached a highway. Pausing quickly at a light, I pushed the button to bring the VW’s top up and headed for Spokane. The mountain and lake were growing smaller and smaller in the rearview window, and Liam finally faced forward.
“We lost them,” he said.
“How can you be sure?” I asked, my knuckles white on the wheel.
“Because I’m using my Seeker ability to seek them, and they’re far away.”
My mouth popped open. “That’s really smart.”
He frowned. “How long have you been training?”
That felt like a dig at my abilities. He must have known it, because he quickly backtracked. “I mean, you should have been taught to do that.
