As we run, something flickers behind us.
An orange glow. Fire?
But when I glance over my shoulder to check, it’s gone. Just shadows stretching across the park.
Riven notices my hesitation.
“What?” he asks.
“I thought I saw—” I trail off, scanning the darkness one last time. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”
A cold unease curls in my stomach, but I shove it down and keep running.
Finally, we emerge onto a quieter street lined with brownstones.
“There.” Riven jerks his chin toward the curb.
A red Prius is parked between two trees, and Riven wastes no time unlocking it. He wrenches open the driver’s side door and slides in, and I barely manage to throw myself into the passenger seat before he’s turning the key in the ignition.
“Seatbelt,” he says, not looking at me as he shifts into gear.
“I don’t take orders from you,” I snap back.
He slams his foot onto the gas pedal at the same time as thunder booms overhead, lightning brightening the entire sky.
I curse as the car rockets forward, tires screeching against the pavement. “What the Hell, Riven?”
“My driving is impeccable, but I like you better when you’re strapped in,” he says in amusement, although his eyes stay locked on the road, refusing to look at me.
I glare at him, but buckle in anyway, bracing myself as he weaves effortlessly through the city traffic as the approaching storm fades behind us, swallowed by the ominous stretch of darkness ahead.
