Levi cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. “I see you’ve acquired a car.”
“Acar,” Lola repeated, grinning from ear to ear. “Not just any car. AHoussen. In black, of course.” She dangled the keys in front of his face.
“Good. I need a ride.”
“Away from your own party?” she asked.
“I’m not looking for a joyride.” Levi lowered his voice. “Tock should’ve finished by now. I’m worried.”
Her expression softened. “Oh, fine,” she muttered.
A few minutes later, Lola and Enne climbed into the front seat, with Levi and Grace in the back. The car radio played a jazz tune with a heavy bass as they roared through the narrow alleys of Olde Town in the direction of the river.
“How did you afford this?” Levi rubbed his hands over polished leather.
“Vianca gave me some more volts,” Enne said.
“And youtookthem?”
“I wouldn’t have needed to if you hadn’t wagered all of our plans.”
He scoffed. “If you were that desperate for volts, you wouldn’t have bought a swanky motorcar.”
“Exactly what I said when I saw how Lola spent her third of it,” Enne grumbled.
“You said we should be practical!” Lola answered. “A motorcarispractical!”
A crowd gathered about a quarter of the mile from the bridge, where whiteboots had quartered people off to prevent them from crossing. Levi spotted Tock wedged among the pedestrians. Neither of them had expected such a large group of spectators—she couldn’t lay her fuse if she couldn’t get on the bridge.
“Muck,” Levi groaned.
“Levi,” Enne said nervously, “what’s happening here?”
He threw open the door, and the three girls followed him out of the motorcar. “Tock needs to get on that bridge.”
Levi spun around, searching for anything he could use. The apartment buildings were bleak and bare, overlooking a large traffic circle and the riverfront beyond it.
His eyes fell on Lola’s Houssen.
“What are you doing?” Lola screeched as Levi pushed around her to the front seat.
“I’ll buy you a new one.” He closed the door, and Lola reached through the window to grab at him.
“Pup, I willkillyou if—”
“Distract the whiteboots so Tock can get onto the bridge,” he said. “And so I don’t get shot.”
Then, before anyone—even his own logic—could stop him, he slammed his foot down on the pedal. The engine roared, and he lurched forward. As he drove, Levi turned up the radio twice as loud, so loud he felt the bass in his stomach, drowning out all of his fears and thoughts of self-preservation. He aimed the motorcar in the direction of the crowds.
And so he drove, in the direction of his destiny.
The people began to scream and disperse as he roared around the traffic circle, careful not to hit anyone. He screeched to a halt where the crowd had once been and peeked out the window just long enough to glimpse Tock sprinting across the center of the bridge.
And to spot the whiteboots raising their pistols.
He floored the engine a second time and sped around the circle once again. Bullets pelted the back of the car, shattering the rearview glass. Levi ducked his head down and spun the wheel so he didn’t collide with the adjacent building.
As the whiteboots swarmed closer to him, Levi only had a few moments of panic in which to formulate a new plan. Several of the whiteboots had already noticed Tock and begun a pursuit, guns firing. Though the pedestrians were clearing away, many gathered around the edges of the square to watch, and Levi searched their faces for Enne and the others.
