Page 52 of Queen of Ruin

“After our bounty, no doubt,” snarls the bald one and he shoves me against the car once more. “Get the fuck in!”

Being in there with Valentina is definitely preferred, so I stop resisting and scramble into the car just as the bald man opens fire with his shotgun. The blast is deafening, as if the headlights exploded from the pellets littering the front of one of the vehicles.

“Valentina!”

A deep, vibrating voice yells from outside, and she clutches at me with both hands, eyes wide. These bastards aren’t bounty hunters. They’re the fuckers we’ve been running from these past few days.

“It’s okay,” I say quickly, ducking as the next shotgun blast is joined with several deafening shots from the greasy man’s hand cannon. “We’ll be okay, I promise.”

“I’m sorry,” Valentina gasps. “This is all my fault.”

“No, no, it’s not.”

“Go! Go, go, go!” Both bounty hunters leap into the car, and we all lurch back as the bald one slams on the accelerator. We tear out of the parking lot with a squeal of tires.

“Did you get him?” the bald one gasps.

“I dunno,” replies the greasy one. “I shot someone, I’m pretty sure.”

“Motherfuckers. I fucking hate tail hunters.”

Keeping Valentina’s hand clutched in mine, we wrestle with the seat belts while the car swerves dangerously all over the road.

“What’s a tail hunter?” Valentina asks, seemingly trying to keep herself calm with questions.

“Bastards, that’s who,” replies the greasy man. “They basically stalk other bounty hunters so they don’t have to do any of the legwork, then they try and snipe the prize. Fuck that. That money’s ours.”

“Anything we can do to help?” she asks, slightly breathless.

I stare at her, stunned. “Help?” I hiss, grunting as a reckless turn on the road throws me back against the door. “Why the hell would we help them?”

“One problem at a time,” she hisses back. “We can’t escape these guys with a tail on us.”

Oh.

I hate how much sense that makes.

“Just sit back, little lady.” The greasy man snorts. “We’ll be rid of these fakes in no time.”

He speaks with such confidence, but the car remains flooded with light from the tailing cars. No matter how many sharp turns we take or how often we speed up, we can’t shake them. The greasy one ends up rolling down his window and leaning out to take potshots with a gun that makes my ears pop every time it fires. Other than shooting out a couple of headlights and saving us from being bathed in painful, ethereal light, he doesn’t stop the pursuers.

My hand tightens in Valentina’s and she leans against me, breathing heavily against my cheek.

“I’m sorry,” she gasps. “Everything is getting worse and worse. I’m really sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault, okay?” I cup her cheek and smile softly. “We’re clearly very fucking desirable.”

“They knew my name,” she whispers desperately. “Someone there knew my name.”

“If they really came from Mindy, they know both our names.” It’s weak reasoning since Mindy likely only shopped me in for her cut of the money, but it’s easier to think about that than consider another terrifying possibility.

Those people in those SUVs aren’t the ones who posted the bounty. They would have waited for these guys to drop us off. Which means there are two groups we’re running from. Not one.

I briefly meet Valentina’s gaze. Has she worked that out too or does it remain a mystery for her?

I’m not sure what would be kinder.

“Where are you doing?!” The greasy-haired bounty hunter nearly chokes on his yell. “We should head for the bridge!”