I peek behind me at Donatello, then reach out for his hand. He wraps his fingers around mine, gripping tight and bringing them to his mouth. He kisses my knuckles, catching his breath, and I ache for him. The emptiness inside me is less painful when I’m next to them.
Relief takes us for all of two minutes. A car screeches just behind, and we all look over our shoulders at it.
“It’s them,” Donatello says, bracing himself on the seat. “Faster, Apollo.”
Apollo does as he asks and takes the street at breakneck speed. Even trusting his senses, I have to hold on to the panel, my body sliding from one side to the other, bumping with every turn. We fly out of the city. There’s no security at the exit tunnel, which makes sense. Once you’re in, they don’t care what happens. The tunnel is yellow-lit like when we arrived, and then we’re on the surface, the night sky opening ahead.
The car behind flashes its headlights, blinding us for a moment.
“Fuck,” I hiss. “How are we going to outrun them?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Apollo’s voice is so steady I relax. Holding onto the seat, I let him do his thing. The car moves to his every will, and he slows down to allow them to catch up to us, even when I can’t see why. The vampire driving smirks, and that’s when Apollo attacks.
He hits the brakes, and the vampire doesn’t have long to halt himself. The moment he does, Apollo hits the gas and angles the car to hit him in the back. The car slides on the wet ground, and the vampire must try to take control back because the tires turn to the other side. It works the opposite way. The car flips like a toy, then overturns out of the road, and we rush past it.
I gape at the car’s wheels facing the sky, my jaw on my lap. “Wow,” I breathe out, then snap my gaze to Apollo. “That was amazing.”
He flashes me a smile. “Thanks, mate. I loved watching cop shows.”
Relief washes over me, so hard I have to laugh. I can’t believe he learned that from watching TV shows.
We drive for hours on end. It’s a good thing Donatello packed some food and blood bags for him. We snack, and then Donatello takes the driving so Apollo and I can rest. I snuggle on the passenger seat, a smile on my face as I doze off.
Morning comes. The sun starts to rise, and Donatello wants to put his shirt on the window to keep the rays from slipping in. Since the shirt is white and won’t be of much use, I convince Apollo into lending his. The dark shirt is impressively effective on shading Donatello, and I don’t mind looking at the rearview mirror to obsess over Apollo’s rippling muscles. He catches me gawking every time and just winks.
“Do you remember how it felt when you tried to use your magic?” Donatello asks once we’re done snacking.
I half-turn to face both him and Apollo. “The first time, it was like a fire, and there was the pain on my shoulder. But I think I used it yesterday on the mage, and it was more like cold water running through my veins.”
Donatello nods. “Try to focus on that, then. Remember the feeling. Embrace it.” He licks his lips, shooting a reassuring glance my way. “It might take time, and I promise you we’ll find someone to teach you properly, but it’s always good to do it yourself.”
I nod, searching for Apollo’s gaze. He observes me, and I know he doesn’t have much to add. He’s not a mage either, but he believes in me as much as Donatello.
Closing my eyes, I try to relive that sensation. I remember the cold, and I force myself to pull it closer. To approach the place in my mind where the sense triggers. A trickle starts in the base of my spine, climbing my back and reaching for my shoulders. I take a deep breath in and force my eyes closed. More cold trickles down my arms. A headache blooms in my forehead, between my brows. The cold intensifies, reaching my fingers. I clutch the seat and open my eyes.
“I think it’s working,” Apollo whispers, staring at my fingers. Darkness moves beneath my fingertips, coloring my nails black. It’s the weirdest thing. “I’ve never seen magic like this.”
“Me neither,” Donatello says as he watches me.
Then the cold explodes in my chest. I gasp, knowing it’s getting out of hand, slipping from me. Not disappearing but taking over. It burns my throat, and I can’t swallow.
The shadows of the car rush into my hands. My eyes widen. Sunlight pours in.
Donatello screams. The car jerks left, and I slam against the window. Pain explodes in my back. The car jerks to the other side, Donatello’s scream piercing my ears. I try to reach out for him, then I see the tree ahead of us, but it’s too late.
The car hits the tree, and I fly through the windshield.
There’s no pain for a moment, just the shock. My back hits the windshield, then the ground. My eyes slam shut when my head hits the grass, but I don’t stop. My body rolls and rolls, and then I’m falling. I reach out, trying to find my balance. Instead, I hit the ground. I try to use my feet to stop the momentum, but I collapse again at the wrong angle. Pain explodes, starting from my ankle like a fire.
My back hits the ground one last time, driving the air out of me. I just stay there, soaking in pain, too confused to understand what’s going on. When I open my eyes, I can only see the copse of immense trees, the wind whispering in my ears.
What the hell did I just do?
CHAPTER18
CASSANDRA
My heart thunders harder than ever in my chest. Even with the vampires chasing us and that one that attacked me back home, I never felt this much panic in my life. Maybe because it happened so fast, or because I had no way of running from it.