We remained still, locked together as I waited. He blinked, one hand coming up to run along my back as if to reassure himself I was still in one piece.
“I’m fine thanks to you.” I patted him on the arm even as I winced. I hadn’t lied. He’d protected me from a lot, but I still had several bumps and bruises that were just now making themselves felt.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, pushing out of Liam’s hold. He didn’t relinquish his grip immediately, his hands tightening before sliding away reluctantly.
“I would like to know as well,” he said.
We hadn’t been going that fast, and the way we’d rolled, it hadn’t felt like Nathan had hit a curb.
No, we’d been hit by something. The glass had shattered before we’d started our roll. Whatever it was, I doubted it’d been another car. At least I didn’t think so. There’d been no headlights, no sound to indicate an oncoming car.
“Brax,” Caroline exclaimed, she crawled forward under the seats.
I finally noticed what I should have before. Blood, the scent of it cloying in the small space. The alpha made a high whining sound of pain.
His side of the car was crumpled and bowled inward, like a giant fist had tried punching through the metal.
His head was bloodied and I suspected he also had some kind of laceration on his side or lower body.
“Brax, can you hear me?” Caroline asked, her voice slightly panicked.
“Yes,” he said, his voice tight with pain.
“We need to get out of the car,” Liam said.
I nodded. I had a sneaking suspicion that whatever had done this might figure out they hadn’t completed the job and return while we were vulnerable.
The car groaned and then spun as something rammed it again. A groan of pain came from Brax as his door peeled back. The fingers of a mud-covered hand speared through the metal.
An animalistic growl came from Brax as he swiped a hand turned furry at the fingers.
“Out, out now,” Liam ordered.
Nathan yanked Brax’s seatbelt apart, releasing him from the restriction. Brax’s upper body thunked onto the roof of the car, his leg still caught in the twisted metal under the dash.
Nathan leaned forward, punching the metal several times before reaching in and grabbing a piece, twisting it out of the way. It gave under his hand with a screech. Brax’s leg came free. Nathan grabbed him by the shoulder and hauled him out through the driver’s side door as Caroline and I crawled out after Liam.
I spilled onto the asphalt on my hands and knees, skating back as a giant hand the size of an SUV sprouted up from the ground to reach under the car and toss it into the air.
Liam grabbed me by the back of my shirt and hauled me up, dragging me away as the car crashed down. Caroline scrambled after us.
Guess that answered the question of what caused the crash.
We’d crashed near one of the small, hidden ravines that riddled this part of the city. They were an unexpected gem for those who lived here, a remnant of a time when the river hadn’t been quite so stationary, water carving into the rock and leaving a small slice of nature in the middle of Columbus.
Something or someone had taken advantage of that fact, creating whatever this was. It smelled of Earth with the tangy bite of magic. Made from dirt and leaves and twigs, the hand looked like something that belonged in the deepest parts of a forest, one steeped in heavy magic and prone to giving life to odd dirt creatures.
“What is that?” Caroline asked, a touch of horror in her voice.
“It’s a magical construct,” Liam said, his voice distracted as he examined the thing, analyzing it for weaknesses.
“Guess we know for sure the witches are involved,” Nathan said in a sour voice.
Liam made a small sound of agreement.
We were arranged defensively facing the hand, watching to see if it would try anything else since its first attempt had failed. It was odd to be so afraid of an appendage, less so when it was nearly the size of a house. It looked like a giant’s hand, if that giant was submerged under the ground and was trying to claw its way out.
There was a stillness to the night, the insects silent as if they too recognized how unnatural this thing was.
