This time Falco takes my hand in his and together we sprint to the end of the garden.
He kicks open the gate, and we stumble out into the alley where a black car rests near the mouth, silent and dark.
Falco sprints toward it with me in tow.
When we reach it, he drops down to one knee and seeks out the key hidden above the back tire, then he shoves it into my hand.
“You have to drive.”
“What?” I gaze up at him in shock. “I can’t drive!”
“Have you never driven?”
“I-I mean I know the basics… Maybe once or twice with my brother around the estate, but I don’t know how to drive properly!”
“You have to—” Falco cuts himself off with a wince and his shoulder sags forward. “You can do this.”
“No, I?—”
“Aerin!” He barks my name again, all power and command as he opens the passenger side door. “I believe you can do this. You have to do this.”
I have no choice.
Clinging to the car through the passenger door, I crawl over the middle and settle into the driver’s seat.
Falco follows and pulls a gun from the glove box, then starts the car with a press of a button.
“Drive.”
“Where to?” I gasp, placing my trembling hands on the wheel.
“Just drive. I’ll guide you.”
My head swims and my heart pounds so hard and fast it’s like a blur.
Nothing feels real as I slam my foot down on the accelerator.
It’s like I’ve been swept away from my own body and am observing everything from above rather than being present.
As I pull out onto the road, it becomes clear why I have to drive.
Several cars are immediately in pursuit and Falco is the only protection I have.
I’m driving through sheer instinct as buried memories crawl up from the depths of my mind and help me with how to keep the car on the road while Falco hangs out the passenger window and shoots at the trailing cars.
He can’t lean out too far thanks to our locked wrists, but it’s enough to shoot out a few tires and reduce the chasing cars from three to just one.
One car that refuses to give up.
I race from street to street, following Falco’s barked directions of when to turn, when to slow down and when to speed up.
Every red light I race through makes my chest so tight I can’t breathe as I await a crash that doesn’t come.
The city flies past in a blur, tears pour down my cheeks, and, every time I swallow, the ghost of that bastard’s hands clench around my throat.
Falco’s at the end of his ammo when the last car finally swerves, clips a parked vehicle, and flips over onto its roof.
We leave it in the dust and Falco finally sags back into the car, panting.
