The Alpha Blue vans slowed down. They must’ve caught sight of him.
Except he didn’t shrink back from them in the slightest. No, Mal opened his mouth, and a stream of fire descended upon the vans.
My heart raced.
“Well, damn,” Sofia cursed as she turned the wheel hard to the left, taking us off the path. Sticks crunched under the tires, and we bumped over rocks as she zoomed us around the Alpha Blue vans.
“If they made it in through the side, that means their sentries are back in action,” Ursuline warned.
“Main entrance,” Sofia said. “Think you can help us out, Elrich?”
“What about Mal?” I asked, twisting around. He released another torrent of flame, a bright orange and gold stream.
“He’ll be flying off,” Sofia said. “He was just buying us a few minutes.”
I swallowed hard, my throat impossibly dry. “I can try at the gates.”
Ursuline squeezed my hand, and their eyes met mine. “Thank you.” The seriousness there settled on me like a weighted blanket, offering a security I craved right now, even though the panic threatened to carry me away.
Sofia turned right at the fork in the road onto a pathway I knew by heart, one I’d traveled a thousand times over. Approaching it from this foreign place, after living outside of here…my head buzzed like I’d stirred a hornet’s nest. And the guards stood at the gates, Michel and Jeremy, guys I’d waved hi to for years, given a smile and a greeting on a regular basis.
We’d already left a trail of bodies. My gut churned. I couldn’t stomach more—not them.
Sofia slowed upon her approach, and Michel lifted his walkie-talkie to his mouth, seemingly in discussion. Had Alpha Bluealerted them? Had these men known about the holding cell my parents had on their property? They had to. My insides curdled.
She rolled down the window and hung halfway out. “Just heading out.”
Jeremy strode over, dressed in his black turtleneck, black exercise pants. His head was shaved, and a glower twisted his features. “How did you get in?”
“The other entrance,” Sofia said, eyebrow arched in challenge.
“I’ve been told to hold you here,” Jeremy responded.
I pushed up between the seats. When his gaze landed on me, his brows rose.
“Elrich?” he asked, glancing between me, Sofia, and Ursuline. “What are you doing here?”
“The short version is that my parents sold me, I escaped, and I’m trying to live my life,” I stated.
Michel stepped around next to Jeremy. “Technically, he’s one of the people we listen to.”
“Was,” Jeremy clarified, but then he frowned again and cast a look in the direction of the manor. My heart hammered hard. Then he heaved out a sigh. “But it’s good enough for me.”
A grin ripped across my face. “Thank you.”
I wanted to believe in the good in people, that not all of them would disappoint, and little moments like these—they helped.
“Oh, fuck,” Michel swore.
I twisted to follow his gaze. Another car rolled up behind us, but it wasn’t Alpha Blue. My gut sank.
For me, it was worse.
“Who’s there?” Sofia asked, looking to me.
Ursuline squeezed my hand again. “Want me to come out with you?”
I shook my head. “I’ll take care of this on my own.” My legs trembled at the thought, but I forced myself out of the car, eventhough I fumbled with the handle a few times. Sweat already burst onto my palms.
