The sound of the van wheels screeching prompted Wren to try and enter the fog cloud, but Teddy held firm to his arm, pulling him farther away.
“What are you doing? We need to follow!” Wren said between splutters.
“Not on foot,” Teddy said, already dragging him across the street to where Trace had parked.
They threw themselves into the car and Teddy started it, the engine roaring as he peeled away from the curb and into the night, chasing taillights.
Chapter 14
Teddy
Teddy fished out his phone and passed it to Wren, eyes fixed on the road. “Text Saint or Trace to let them know. The password is the day we met.”
Wren froze for a second before he took it and nodded, quickly typing. Teddy had no time to feel self-conscious, his heart already racing with adrenaline.
Teddy threw a hand in front of Wren’s chest as they took a sharp right, Red really trying to make him overshoot the mark by turning in at the last possible moment.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Is there a gun in here?” Wren asked, putting the phone aside and popping the glove compartment.
“Why would there be a gun?” Teddy asked, a little incredulously.
“Trace looks like the type of person to own a gun.”
“That’s stereotyping, and now is maybe not the time to get into it.”
They blew through a red light, and Teddy was thankful there were hardly any cars around at this time of night.
“Well we have to slow him down; we’re not gaining on him. Is there a way to cut him off?” Wren asked.
“It depends how well he knows Arcstead, and the fact that he’s not taking any one-way streets tells me that’s well enough,” Teddy said, accelerating around an unsuspecting taxi driver who blew his horn at them.
Red really wasn’t playing around. He drove recklessly, hitting trash cans and mounting the pavement. He didn’t seem to care about how far the van tipped as he took the corners at full speed, the wheels threatening to lift off the ground and send it tumbling.
And then he turned off into a side alley.
“Teddy!” Wren gasped.
Teddy braked hard to follow, throwing them both forward in their seats.
He managed to thread the car through the gap, scraping the side door on the brick wall and completely dusting the mirror. They rattled around the interior like beans in a can, but Teddy kept his foot on the accelerator and followed down the dark alley, chasing what looked like two red eyes in the distance.
They flew out of the other side of the alley at speed just as the van turned into a parking structure, smashing through the barrier arm.
Teddy pulled the hand brake. The back wheels drifted out to take the turn, but it gained them precious seconds as they entered behind the van.
“We can cut it off in here,” Wren said, leaning forward and pointing. “Before the next level.”
Teddy nodded, breaking off down a different row of cars to try and beat the van to it.
But when he glanced over to the driver’s window he saw Red smiling. He gave them a jaunty wave before the van split into three.
Each van peeled off in a different direction, one continuing forward, another peeling off left, the third braking.
Teddy had no idea which van was the right one.
“Wren, which one?” he asked.
