Zizi pressed up against her.
Rui stiffened in surprise. “What are you—”
“Shush.” He was staring out the window. “Something’s not right.”
Outside, a fog had rolled in. Chilly air seeped into the car. In the distance, Rui made out the faint silhouette of Yiran crouching on the ground. He seemed farther away than she thought he would be.
Zizi wound the window down. “Get back in the car!”
Yiran remained in the same position.
Zizi shouted again, but Yiran did not respond.
“It’s like he can’t hear us,” said Rui, uneasy.
“Does he have a weapon or talismans on him?”
Her throat tightened. “No.”
“Do you feel it?”
“Feel what?”
Zizi didn’t answer. Instead, he opened the car door and scrambled out. “Song Yiran—get back here!”
It was the first time Zizi had ever called Yiran by his actual name.
Something was very wrong.
Zizi slammed the door in Rui’s face and stuck a hand in to press a button. The window started to wind up.
“What’s going on?” she asked. “What are you doing?”
Then she felt it. A kind of shiver down her spine like something unholy was scuttling across her ancestors’ graves. The same feeling from four years ago, the same from outside the karaoke club.
Hybrids.
Zizi was whispering something she couldn’t hear.
Was he casting a spell?
“Zizi, wait—”
But he’d taken off into the night.
Rui tugged at the door handle. Stuck. The window wouldn’t wind down either. She crawled to the front and tried the doors. Nothing budged. Zizi must’ve used a spell to lock her in.
Rui punched the seat in front of her. How could he leave her here like this? She wasn’t some helpless damsel to be hidden away at the first sign of danger. With or without her magic, she was still an Exorcist-in-training.A protector instead of the protected.
She grabbed one of her swords, turned the pommel around, and smashed it into the window.
“Comeon.” She bashed the window again and again, half cursing at Zizi, half swearing at Yiran—what kind of windows were these? She should’ve known that any car owned by the Songs would be reinforced for security.
Gradually, cracks formed on the thick glass. Rui dropped her sword and stuck her legs up, anchoring herself with her palms on the seat. She took a breath—and kicked as hard as she could.
The glass broke. Small pieces fell to the ground.
“Yes!” she grunted, prepping for another kick.
