I sighed. There wasn’t room to swerve out of the way, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to stop.
“Want to go through a car wash?” I asked.
“The ones with the pretty multi-colored foam?”
“Sure, I’ll splurge.”
“Yes. That’ll be fun.”
“Great! Now hang on.”
Then I floored it.
Chapter 20
Meera
Theghouldidnotstand a chance.
The SUV lurched as we hit it, and I clutched the seat, bracing myself as the impact sent a shudder through the frame. The ghoul’s body exploded against the hood, its rotting innards splattering across the passenger side. Black ichor sprayed across the window, thick and glistening, dripping down the glass in slow, viscous streaks.
I gagged, pressing a hand over my mouth.
I’d heard all about ghouls on the news, and I had no qualms running one over. They were basically undead summoned from another dimension to do the summoner’s bidding. Though sometimes, they ended up attacking the fool, bringing them over instead.
These ghouls were even more rotten than the ones I’d seen in the videos. The ones in the videos had been… fresher? Less decayed. Was it random? Or did it mean whoever cast the spell did a shit job?
Graham continued driving, the tires screeching as we turned onto the main road. I twisted in my seat, watching the road behind us for any sign of pursuit. I saw nothing but a putrefying puddle on the pavement.
We drove in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the pounding of my heart. Graham finally slowed as we approached a gas station. He turned in and parked in a spot at the side away from the pumps.
“You okay?” he asked, killing the engine.
I nodded. “Yeah. Just, um… processing.”
He studied me for a second in the rearview, then reached for his phone.
“Mateo? A new development. We were attacked by ghouls at the farmers’ market.”
I strained to hear the other side of the conversation, but all I caught were muffled words, too faint to make out.
“I’m pretty sure they were after her. They followed us. Ignored everyone else.” There was a pause. “We’re fine. But the SUV is covered in ghoul guts.” Another pause. “Hmm. Thought so. Okay. We’ll stop by Desmon’s, but give us a few minutes to clean this vehicle up.”
He hung up and turned to me. “Come up here.” He patted the passenger seat.
I eyed the disgusting goo trailing down the passenger side windshield.
“Just pretend it’s a giant bird poop.”
That lightened the mood and had me chuckling. Now that Graham wasn’t being all grumpy and trying to ignore me, he was pretty easy to get along with, even after the stress of a ghoul attack.
“That would be one big bird butt.” I unbuckled and climbed into the front seat. “I’m surprised it doesn’t smell like rotten ghoul in here.”
“The Redrock SUVs have heavy-duty filters just in case of chemical attacks.”
“Has that happened?”
“Once or twice. We plan for anything.”
