CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Elysian
It was twelve steps from the front door to the curb outside Elysian’s house. She knew that. It had never looked further than when she stood in the doorway staring out at Walt’s truck.
Walt brushed the small of her back with his fingertips, and she turned to him like a magnet finding north. “It’s like taking any leap,” he said. “The hardest part is setting off. Count of three?”
She nodded.
“One,” he said, lacing their fingers together. “Two.”
She dragged in a breath, steeling herself for the moment that the number three tumbled from his lips.
“Three,” he said, and surged forward. His body nudged her onward, knocking her out of her complacency and into motion.
Wet blades of grass whipped against her ankles as they ran across the lawn, flicking little dots of ice up her calves. The wards alerted her to Willa coming up the side of the house to their left, and her stomach dropped. That was the point, for the hunters to see them and chase them and leave the others trapped in the house alone, but terror still coursed through her.
They reached the gate, which marked the edge of the wards. Elysian didn’t slow down—she couldn’t, she knew that if she paused to think before passing through she would stay there forever.
The truck purred to life as they approached, lighting up in response to the keys hanging from Walt’s belt loop. Walt grabbed the door handle and swung it open. They’d reached safety, but it was also a disaster—because Willa had only just spotted them. If they climbed straight into the vehicle they would be able to lose the hunters instantly, with no way of being sure that they had successfully led them away.
Walt looked back at Elysian, reaching for her hand to help her into the truck, and as their eyes met she saw that he realized it too. She gave him a small smile.
She didn’t have to tell him to trust her, because she knew that he already did.
She shrieked, an ear-piercing scream that definitely brought Willa’s full attention. She twisted her foot in the wet grass and threw her arms out wide, removing the temptation to throw her hands in front of her as she fell. She’d learned the hard way as a child that that was a great way to spend half the summer nursing a broken wrist that her mother had refused to risk a healing spell on.
“DOUG!” Willa screamed.
Out of the corner of her eye Elysian saw the hunter slide a hand to her hip, going for the holstered gun. Elysian pushed herself back to her feet. She lifted her hand and hissed out a spell that she’d planned to use tonight anyway, in very different circumstances. Her palm glowed red hot and then an orb of sparking lights sailed across the lawn.
It hit Willa straight in the chest and exploded in a starburst of silver and gold. Willa screamed again, wordless this time, and clawed at her chest. She wasn’t hurt, but she didn’t know that yet.
Elysian dove head-first into the truck. Walt put a hand on her rear and boosted her into the passenger seat, then scrambled in after her.
“Was that an actual fire ball?” he shouted, releasing the hand brake and slamming his foot on the accelerator. He probably took a decent layer of the tires off as they screeched away, but that was the least of their concerns.
“It was a roman candle,” she shouted. Laughter bubbled out of her, relief mixing with pride to overwhelm her. She flipped down the passenger side visor so she could watch Willa in the rearview mirror. Both she and Doug had made it to their own truck, and were following them. “A fireworks spell.”
“I hope you’ve got more of those up your sleeve,” Walt said.
“Actually, I don’t,” Elysian said. “I’m much weaker away from the house. Our power is focused there, out here I don’t have much to draw on.”
Walt stared at the road ahead. She could tell he wished she’d told him that before he left the house with her. “I guess this next bit’s on me then.”
The streets were mercifully clear. They were closing in on midnight, so everybody in town was already ensconced in their New Year’s plans, either at parties, ready to watch the city’s fireworks display or sitting on their couches in front of the television. It meant they didn’t have to worry too much about other cars and innocent pedestrians as they screeched through the streets, but it also meant that the hunters had the same freedom.
Doug pulled into the oncoming lane, speeding up to bring their truck level with Walt’s. Elysian ducked down, bracing for shots to start flying, but instead Doug threw his steering wheel to the left, hitting the side of the truck bed to try to force them off the road. The truck fishtailed, heading for the median strip.
Walt handled it like a NASCAR champion, sliding his foot off the accelerator and turning his own wheel with a calm that blew Elysian’s mind. They recovered from the spin and slipped back into their lane, pulling ahead of the other truck again.
“Grab that,” Walt said, lifting his chin to indicate the handle above the passenger side door. Elysian reached up obediently and held on.
They entered an intersection. After a quick glance to check for ongoing cars Walt spun the steering wheel, throwing his whole shoulder into the motion. The truck spun 360 degrees. Elysian shrieked as the whole world whipped past her window, grateful for his warning to hold on.
By the time Walt had spun the truck back to its original position, Doug had pulled ahead, and suddenly they were chasing the hunters.
“Why am I so good at this?” Walt whooped, hitting the accelerator again.
“Maybe you’re a race car driver,” Elysian said. She took a deep breath, trying to get her pounding heart to slow to a more bearable speed.
“Maybe I’m a car thief,” Walt said darkly.
Elysian’s phone buzzed with one, two, three messages in quick succession. That was the all-clear signal they had agreed on. Katie and Tila were out of the house and safe.
Whatever happened next, at least Willa and Doug weren’t getting the rest of her circle.
Walt took the next turnoff, keeping his eyes glued to the rear view mirror. “Come on buddy, follow me,” he muttered under his breath. For a heart-stopping moment Elysian thought they had lost the hunters entirely, but after a beat the truck appeared in the mirror.
“Home again, home again?” Walt asked. He held his hand out for hers, and when she grasped it he pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. With their fingers still knotted together, he kicked the truck into a higher gear and they roared on.