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And there was an odd sense of warning to its touch.
I frowned and glanced around. I was about halfway between Guildford and Castle Rock, in an area that was all gently rolling hills dotted with trees. Aside from the cars on the other side of the road, the area was practically deserted. If there was a threat out here, as the wild magic seemed to imply, then it wasn’t evident.
I drove on, but the pulsing beat of wild magic got stronger, until my skin burned and my heart raced.
Then, without warning, something hit the rear of the car, the windshield shattered, and I was spinning out of control.
Chapter Eight
My first instinct was to hit the brake, but some distant voice in the back of my brain screamed “No,” and told me to steer out of it instead. But that was a hard thing to do when the windshield had become a spiderweb of long cracks. I swore and peered between two of the veins, looking for the road as dust and stones flew high, distorting my vision even more. I caught a glimpse of a speed sign and steered toward it, figuring the road would be somewhere between it and me.
Then the wild magic stirred and the curtain of dust parted, allowing me not only a clear view of where I was in relation to the road and that sign, but also the trees I was rapidly sliding toward. I resisted the urge to wrench violently on the wheel, and instead kept the nose pointed in the direction I wanted it to go. Slowly but surely, I got the vehicle back under control. Once it was, I pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. For several seconds, I didn’t do anything more than shake.
You okay, now? Belle asked eventually.
Yeah. I sucked in a deep breath to chase away the lingering remnants of fear, then released my fierce grip on the steering wheel.
Then what the fuck happened? Why did you lose control of the car?
My gaze went to the cracks and the small hole in the center of the windshield that was their source. One of the cars coming the other way must have thrown up a stone. It cracked the damn windshield.
That doesn’t explain the spin.
Maybe I blew a tire. The rear end slid out before the windshield shattered.
Meaning the stone might have been thrown up as a result of the oncoming cars off-roading to avoid you.
Possibly. And yet that didn’t explain the overt sense of danger in the wild magic, or why it was now absent. I climbed out of the car and walked around to the rear. None of the tires had blown and there was no obvious reason—either on the road or the car—as to why I’d been thrown sideways. I frowned and glanced around. The nearby hills were empty of anything other than cows, trees, and the odd rock outcrop. There was absolutely nothing to suggest anything untoward had happened, and yet a niggle remained that this wasn’t an unfortunate accident. But I couldn’t say if that was merely a lingering effect of the wild magic’s touch, or my psychic skills kicking in a little too late.
I frowned and walked back to the front of the car. The
hole in the windshield was actually quite small, and while there was indeed a spiderweb of cracks radiating out from it, they didn’t cover the whole thing. Which meant that while the windshield would need replacing, the car was probably safe to drive back to Castle Rock as long as I didn’t do insane speeds.
You just don’t want to miss your dinner date with Aiden. Amusement ran through Belle’s mental tone.
True that, I replied cheerfully. With the way fate and this goddamn soul eater are messing with us, it might be days before we get another chance.
The council’s reluctance to call in the RWA is putting everyone in danger.
Aiden said he was going to talk to the council this morning, so I’m hoping someone official will be here ASAP.
If neither he nor the council has called, I’m going to do it myself, she said. Anonymously, of course.
That’s not likely to help, given only the rangers, the council, and the two of us know the true reasons for these deaths.
Well, our position here is already tenuous according to Aiden, so what more can they do to us?
I don’t know. In truth, I really didn’t want to know. Until the worst actually happens, I’m thinking we’re better off not stressing about it.
She snorted. And I’m thinking it’s a little late for that sort of advice.
Also true. I laughed and got back into the car. I’ll ask Aiden about it. That way, we’ll know, one way or another.
Talking about business rather than pleasure—way to spend an evening with a luscious man, Lizzie. Belle’s mental tone was dry.
He’s at work, I reminded her. And call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather not be doing the wild thing in a workplace environment.
Especially when the werewolves who worked with him would be able to smell the scent of sex the minute they walked into the room.
