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“Let’s get out of here,” I said. “We should probably let Gideon do his magic to find out more about the possible Storm headquarters before we go barging in there anyway.”
Kaige gave a relieved sigh and gunned the engine to pull back into the road. But he was distracted enough by Axel that he didn’t notice he nearly cut off another driver zipping past us right then.
The other car’s horn blared. Kaige hit the gas, and the car swerved around us, but Axel and his two companions had all jerked around to stare in our direction.
Shit. “Go, go, go!” I said, sliding down in my seat so I wouldn’t be visible through the windshield.
Kaige jammed on the gas pedal again and spun the wheel. The van lurched forward and spun around. We roared off down the street in the opposite direction.
“Do you think they saw you?” I asked Kaige.
“With all the special stuff Gideon got on these windows, I don’t think they’d be able to make out much of anything, and they were still pretty far away,” Kaige said. Then he glanced at the rearview mirror. “Fuck, he’s jumped into a car to come after us.”
“He must have figured anyone who took off like that is up to something,” Roy remarked.
My pulse hiccupped. If Axel caught me and Kaige together, all our lives were going to get a hell of a lot harder. “Can you lose him?” I asked Kaige.
“I’ll do my best. Hang on!”
Kaige rammed his foot down, and the van roared, throwing me back in my seat. I grabbed the door to steady myself.
The van wasn’t built for racing. The engine groaned in protest as we tore down the streets, turning corner after corner. But the white sedan we’d seen Axel get into was matching us turn for turn.
As we sped toward the next turn, a low, grassy embankment came into view ahead of us. A narrow road below it ran parallel with the adjacent street. The embankment was steep, but Kaige made no sign of slowing down or turning. Instead, he pushed the engine even harder, staring straight ahead.
“Kaige,” I said. “What are you doing?”
He flashed me a grin. “Losing him. Just trust me and brace yourself.”
“Man, you’re crazy,” Roy said from behind us, but he sounded at least as impressed as he was worried.
“I know,” Kaige said just as we hit the curb of the embankment.
The van jerked forward violently. For one instant, we were suspended in the air. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact.
When it came, the sudden jolt wasn’t half as bad as I’d been expecting. My eyes popped open to check the rearview mirror. We were speeding away, leaving all sign of Axel’s white sedan in our dust.
Relief coursed through me. Kaige gave a triumphant cheer, and I grinned back at him. Sometimes, a little bit of crazy was good.
After a couple more turns, I realized we’d ended up in a particularly familiar neighborhood. “We’re near my old house,” I said. “The Steel Knights might still be hanging around there.”
Kaige’s expression darkened. “Maybe we should give them a run for their money, then.”
“Hey, we’re not here to get into any fights, remember? Wylder definitely wouldn’t forgive me for that.”
Something flickered across Kaige’s face and vanished. He nodded.
As we cruised by the house, I couldn’t help peering out the window at it. I didn’t see any men standing guard on the sidewalk nearby, but a couple of guys were standing on the porch. As we passed, two more came out, swaggering like they owned the place.
My teeth gritted. “I guess the Storm’s people have totally taken it over now.”
Kervos shifted on the bench to get a better view out the back windows. “I don’t think those are Storm men. Look at the graffiti outside.”
I jerked around in my seat, craning my neck to stare through the tinted glass as the view of my father’s house dwindled behind me.
Someone had marked a different red logo on the telephone pole outside the house—a gaping mouth full of pointed teeth.
“Pretty sure that’s the Red Shark’s guys,” Kervos added.
One of the men had looked kind of familiar, hadn’t he? Was he one of the Red Shark’s people I’d watched fighting with the Storm’s forces?
“What would the Red Shark’s men be doing at your house?” Kaige asked, his forehead furrowing.
As I settled back into my seat, my stomach sank. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s one of their wins over the Steel Knights?” But I was pretty sure the Steel Knights had only been watching the house because Colt had hoped to catch me coming there. What possible value could it have to these newcomers?
I wasn’t totally sure I wanted to find out the answer to that question.
