“Wha—?”
He shoved my head down and turned the truck hard left.
As if the night couldn’t get any worse, freezing rain fell from the sky, making the road slippery.The truck fishtailed before Darius found control again, and before I could ask what he’d seen that I hadn’t, an unearthly shriek split the air.
The hair on the back of my neck went up.I knew that sound.Mirego, the wraith, had made a similar sound before Sin Garu had killed him.
Unable to stop myself, I peered over the dash and saw four wraiths flying at us, their white eyes glowing in the darkness.Something large rammed the passenger window, and I screamed, shocked from the blow I’d expected to come from the front.
“I said get down,” Darius snarled.
I drew back and watched him throw a ball of fire through my window at the threat, blasting the wraith that had hit my door into oblivion.The rain above didn’t seem to have any effect on the flames.
Fortunately, the fire didn’t scorch me or the truck, and after destroying the wraith, it cleansed the creature’s remains from the vehicle.Ah, magic fire.Sure, why not?I laughed hysterically, aware Darius gave me an odd look.
I could only stare in morbid fascination at the dwindling flame until Darius shoved my head back down.
“Get off of me,” I tried to roar but only managed a muffled shout.
Part of me wanted to quiver in fear, hugging my knees.But terror made me angry.Screw these wraiths and Sin Garu.Struggling to see, I peered out the front windshield that suddenly cracked under a ball of ice.
As if the floodgates had opened, hail the size of my fist began raining down, denting the truck in so many places it would be lucky not to resemble Swiss cheese by the time the hail ended.
Darius swore in that language I didn’t understand, but I comprehended the gist well enough.Clenching his teeth, he wrenched the steering wheel to the right while blasting two of the wraiths, this time with streams of fire shooting from his fingertips.They burned up in seconds.
Glad to see the last of them, I tried to warn Darius about the remaining two wraiths now flanking his blind side, but the truck suddenly went airborne.
I screamed.The seatbelt kept me from flying out of the truck, and I felt Darius’s arm across my waist.I thought I heard him yell my name, but we landed hard.
The vehicle rolled, making me dizzy on top of sore.We spun for what seemed like forever, my entire body aching from the force of the restraining seatbelt.The truck came to a stop on its wheels, the frame intact enough to have protected us from major injury.
Dazed, I tried to release my seatbelt.And I would, just as soon as my hands stopped shaking.“Darius?”
He didn’t answer, and I saw why.The windshield had cracked in front of him, a large tree limb penetrating the glass.The right side of his face was covered in blood, and he sat limply in the driver’s seat.
Fear beyond anything I’d ever known knotted in my belly, and I yanked at the seatbelt, growing more hysterical when it refused to budge.
“Darius?Wake up!Wake up, right now!”
After a minute of futile tugging and cursing, I realized the seatbelt wouldn’t open, likely damaged in our crash.
I prayed Darius would soon wake.What if he had a concussion?What if he never woke up?An inhuman shriek rent the air, and I knew the worst had yet to pass.
Though the softball-sized hail had ceased, if I didn’t soon get us free from the vehicle, the wraiths would kill us.Sudden regret pierced me, that I hadn’t made the most of my time with Darius.
How hard was it really to say “I love you,” to take a risk and let the future unfold as it may?Now I might never have the chance.
Yellow talons appeared by the driver side window.I had do something, but what?Time was running out.The creature smashed the glass and yanked Darius’s door off its hinges.With a slash of its claws, it freed Darius and tossed him out of the truck as if he weighed nothing.
The other wraith appeared at my window and grinned, exposing three rows of sharp, blackened teeth.Dark red stained its chin and cheeks, and flaps of tissue had stuck in its teeth, leading me to believe Darius and I might soon find ourselves on the wrong side of dessert.
“Come with me, pretty,” it whispered, the echoed softness of its voice as frightening as its appearance.The thing didn’t wait.It sliced my seatbelt and yanked me out of the truck.
I stumbled to my knees, full of aches and pains, trying to cope with too many shocks at once.Dragged behind the surprisingly strong creature, I tugged at the bony hand clamped around my arm and winced when it dug its claws through my flesh.
“Not yet.Save some fight for later,” it said before laughing.It threw me next to Darius, who had at least gained consciousness enough to sit up and witness the danger we faced.
I darted into his arms, almost knocking him over.I wanted to feel bad about taking comfort from an injured man, but screw it, I wasn’t used to fighting monsters or getting into car accidents.I clutched Darius’s warm body and took a moment to look around.We sat on a grassy area at least thirty feet below the road, the rocky decline littered with broken branches and mangled shrubbery from where we’d rolled.
