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The diplomat groaned before glancing back in the rearview mirror. “You all right, Healer Everton?”
All right, so he wasn’t looking at me but at Ayla. Not that I could blame him. Her eyes were closed, and there was a faint layer of sweat over the pale pallor of her face. I could tell through our bond that she was exhausted.
“I’m fine,” she said in a raspy tone, licking her lips, and I never wished so hard that I had water to give her. I knew that the lot of us were due for a shock once everything caught up with us, but for the moment, I just wanted to worry about my mate. “Kai, you’re bleeding.”
“Am I?” I hadn’t even noticed, and considering that I wasn’t hit with pain yet, I figured it wasn’t the time to worry about that. Later, once we were safe.
If we’d ever be safe again.
I tried to hold onto whatever was stopping me from feeling just how beat up I felt. I’d been through much longer fights, but there was something about being slammed around by an incredibly powerful alpha that made the injuries so much worse. Except for whatever had happened to my back that I was pointedly not acknowledging, my father hadn’t even gotten his teeth or claws into me. He’d just slammed me around, yet those pangs were beginning to build up within me in a way I definitely didn’t like.
“Where are we going, Aodin?” I barked, perhaps terser than I intended, but no one called me on it. The lot of us understood we were all running off adrenaline and a whole bunch of other chemicals that made us a little less well-mannered than we would normally be, especially to someone rescuing us.
“Concentrating on getting us out of the upper districts of the city before we get cut off,” the fae answered, turning a corner so hard, I was nearly thrown into Ayla. “Be happy to talk later.”
Darla, who was hastily putting on her safety belt in the front seat, nodded emphatically. “You just concentrate on our getaway, darlin’. Where we’re going doesn’t matter if we end up smeared as paste along the road.”
“I think being obliterated by one of the palace magic users is more likely,” Oren muttered, facing backward with his claws buried in the seat. If Aodin cared about the damage to the material, he didn’t breathe a word of it.
“Car is protected from spells. Won’t repel everything, but most…” Aodin’s last sentence was partially cut off when he slammed to a stop, reversed, then peeled down an alley that was so cramped, the mirrors on either side of the car were ripped right off. That wasn’t going to buff out. “Guess you could say us fae never trusted your king.”
“You and me both,” I added as I tried to brace myself. I wasn’t as familiar with the city anymore, but we were about to hit an older area where most businesses were built, and middle-class citizens lived. A historical district, in a way, and while the historic district was beautiful and packed, full of amazing architecture, it also had the unfortunate circumstance of having all cobblestone roads.
Yup. I was right, and I knew I was the moment our front wheels first hit the uneven ridge where the smoother, more modern, and expensive roads gave way to the older cobblestone streets. If I thought Aodin’s previous driving was terrifying, it took on an entirely different level of horror as we rattled this way and that.
Really, more like momentum throwing us violently from one side of the car to the other, all of us trying to resist the whiplash. On top of that, I could feel the wound on my back just beginning to heal, and it was so itchy.
It was a non-sequitur to go from fighting for my life, certain I was about to die, to trying not to squirm as my skin rebirthed itself in the most irritating way possible, but such was life. Usually, healing as a shifter was quick, but greater wounds required greater amounts of time, and injuries made by an alpha packed extra punch.
If it were literally any other situation, I’d have complained to Aodin that he was taking far too many risks, but every now and then, I’d spot a royal car or even infantrymen in the corner of my eyes, or a harpy above, telling me that while we’d gotten some distance, we were far from out of the woods yet.
“They know what our escape vehicle looks like,” Darla drawled as she, too, looked out of the window. “They’ve got eyes in the sky, and who knows what else we can’t see right now.”
“I have a plan,” Aodin said before letting out a long list of swears when two cars suddenly burst out from side streets, blocking the way in front of us. But I noticed he wasn’t slowing down. In fact, his foot was squarely on the gas. While I wasn’t the most familiar with vehicles beyond tanks, this still wasn’t how one avoided a head-on collision. “A little help, Ayla?”
“What would you have me do?”
“A ramp would do nicely if your magic would be so obliged.”
Although Ayla was still pale and shaken, she sat forward, reaching out between the driver and passenger seat. Her eyes closing, once again, I felt the strain on her through our bond as she summoned whatever magic she could use.
I still didn’t quite understand Ayla’s abilities. I knew she could heal. I knew she could summon incredible forces and connect to other magical things in an incredible way, but sometimes it really seemed like my mate could do anything if given enough time and energy. Sure enough, right when it seemed like we were about to drive straight into the impromptu road barricade, we instead launched upward like we’d hit some invisible ramp, sailing right over the pair of cars.
Unfortunately, since our vehicle didn’t exactly have wings, what went up most certainly had to come down, and we slammed back onto the road with a truly jarring thump. I bit my tongue hard, feeling blood flood into my mouth before the wound rapidly healed. Fastening my safety harness wasn’t a bad idea.
Before I could do that, Aodin continued racing forward and then swerved right into a fruit stand. I braced myself, readying for impact, but instead, we passed right through it like it wasn’t even there.
“Faerie magic,” Ayla whispered with reverence beside me, and I had to do a double take out the back window. Sure enough, the fruit stand was still there, and I was looking at the back of it as if it was still taking up the entire entrance of the building.
“You all can do that?” No wonder Aodin’s people had been so reluctant to seek alliances with other countries outside of their own. Illusionary magic that strong? That was a secret worth keeping. Especially since their kind were already considered fairly untrustworthy for their silver tongues and knack for politics.
“There are many things we can do. But come, we must hurry if we want to get away.”
“To where?” I reiterated, not forgetting my earlier question. I doubted that Aodin was leading us into a trap, considering how much trouble he’d just gone through to get us away from the palace, but it didn’t mean I was ready to throw myself wholesale into his hands.
Still, I was going to give him a glowing review the next time I saw my sister. It definitely seemed like she had excellent tastes in beaus.
That’s when it struck me I may never see Seraphina again, and she’d be alone once more against the onslaught of my father, mother, and older sister. The thought was a sour one that made my stomach clench.
