“If he could jump, he would have done it already,” Garret said. “Look. He's telling her to pull over. As soon as they stop, he's gone.” He looked in the rearview mirror. “Gage is back.”
A second later, Gage's ghost form appeared in the truck's bed. I breathed out in relief even though it made sense that nothing could hurt him when he was in that form. I mean, he went through solid objects. But anxiety doesn't always make sense and when you add love to the mix, that senselessness triples.
Garret rammed Jackie again, just hard enough to keep her moving. Up ahead, the lights of Boulder appeared.
“We need to end this now,” Gideon said. “We can't keep it up through a city.”
Then another car came down the road on the opposite side.
“Fuck,” Garret growled. “Gage!”
Gage went invisible.
The car came abreast of Jackie, and Jake grabbed the wheel. She screamed and fought for control as the other car veered off the road. It nearly hit a tree, but avoided it at the last second and somehow got back on the road. The car came to a screeching halt, and a guy got out. But we weren't stopping. When he realized this, he shouted after us, shaking his fist.
“He'll be calling the cops,” I said.
“It's fine,” Gideon said.
Jackie was still fighting with Jake over the steering wheel. Finally, Jake undid his seatbelt.
“He's going to jump!” I shouted. “Out of the car, I mean. Not bodies. He's going to jump out of the car!”
Michael didn't care about his host. What would it matter if Jake got hurt or even died from jumping out of a moving car? Michael was going to leave anyway. My breath caught as the passenger door of Jackie's car opened. Jake. Oh, poor Jake.
Jackie screamed and reached for him. The door slammed shut as Jackie jerked Jake back. Jackie is stronger than she looks, and she had the added strength that being scared out of your mind will give you. Her car swerved across the road, the momentum helping to keep Jake in the car, but it also slowed. She was going to stop.
“Gage!” Gideon shouted.
Gage's spectral body glided over us, so beautiful against the starry sky. For a second, I could see his silken fur undulating and even the claws of his feet, all pearly white and translucent. And then he was sailing across the distance between us and the half-wrecked sports car. Just as Gage came down, the car stopped, spinning to end up stretched lengthwise across the road. Garret cursed and slammed on the brakes. But I was watching Gage. And praying.
It was like magic. Like a dance. A magic dance. The car door opened and Michael/Jake emerged, unfolding his large frame. Just as he reached his full height, our headlights hit him. The light made it difficult to see Gage. He became nothing more than a shimmer for a second, but I knew he hit his target. Because Michael/Jake jerked, his body bowing backward and his arms going wide as if welcoming Gage. Garret's truck came to a full stop, the headlights shifting to the side right as Gage left Jake's body. I saw him emerge with something nebulous in his teeth—something as misty and transparent as him.
And then Gage vanished.
“Thank Hades,” Garret whispered and fell forward to lay his forehead against the steering wheel.
“He got him?” I asked eagerly. “Gage got Michael?”
“Yup,” Gideon said with a grin. “Look. Jake is coming back to himself.”
I looked up and, sure enough, Jake was swaying on his feet, his expression one of shocked relief. He met my stare through the windshield and his eyes filled with tears. I jumped out of the truck and ran for him.
“Jake!”
“Indie!” Jake opened his arms.
I ran into his embrace, but instead of sweeping me up as he used to, he sort of crumpled around me.
“Oh, fuck,” Jake whispered. “Is he gone for good?”
“Yeah. Gage took him back to the Underworld. No more hosting ghosts for you.”
“Holy shit. Oh, fuck. Thank you, God. Thank you.”
I stepped back and laid a hand on his chest. “Not God. Not any of them. You've got the Hounds of Hades to thank. It was Gage who tore Michael out of you and took him back to the Underworld.”
Jake stared at me for a second, then lifted his stare to something behind me. I didn't have to look to know it wasn't a thing Jake was looking at. It was a man. Two men.Mymen.
