"Just get us the hell out of here."
The golem's eyes pulse once.
I get us the hell out of there, pushing the motorcycle to the limits of its capabilities as we roar down the battered streets. The golem starts walking again, one gigantic step at a time, but I have a feeling it's not as ponderous as it seems. The thing had been searching for Allison, so it took its time. But now…
Though I shouldn't do it, I can't stop myself. I glance back at the golem.
Its mouth cranks open with a mechanical ratcheting noise. A spark of light flashes deep inside its maw.
Oh no. That spark…
The golem bends its knees and breaks into a run, barreling straight for us. A stream of fire erupts from its mouth, spewing the golem's molten breath over our heads, past where we rush down the street.
And the asphalt melts.
I slam on the brakes, tires squealing, and struggle to keep the bike from flipping onto its side. We come to a stop inches from the seething pool of asphalt. The only way past the barrier is to turn around and go back the way we'd come.
Straight into the arms of the golem.
"Fuck," I growl.
"We need a weapon," Allison says. "Something really big."
"Unless you have a missile in your bra, we have nothing big enough to defeat that thing."
Since we've stopped sideways in the street, we both have a good view of the approaching golem. Does it have a weak spot? If it does, I have no sodding clue how to find, much less exploit, its weakness.
Whump. Whump.The creature keeps barreling toward us.
Allison jumps off the bike and jogs toward the golem.
I leap off the machine, not caring that it tumbles onto its side on the ground, and reach Allison in three long strides. I seize her arm to halt her. "What the bloody hell are you doing?"
"That thing is coming for me. I'm giving it what it wants, to stop it from doing any more damage."
"Have you lost your mind? You can't surrender to Sefton's monstrosity."
She flaps her arms. "I have no choice. If I don't go to Sefton, that thing will kill—" She stares straight into my eyes while hers shimmer with the start of tears. "It will hurt people, I know it."
For a moment, I thought she was about to say she's worried the golem will kill me. No, she wouldn't be upset about that. Not after the way I've treated her.
The golem halts half a block away.
Allison raises her hands and shouts, "I surrender."
She can't—I need to do something. Anything.
The golem slowly raises an arm and points a finger at the building to our left.
"I think it wants us to go in there," Allison says.
That is the last thing I want to do. Sit in an abandoned, partially ruined building and wait for my brother to appear? I assume that's what the golem is directing us to do. But it's insanity. I need to find an escape route so I can—
I glance at Allison, my throat suddenly tight. I need to protect her, though not because I promised I would if she had sex with me. I don't want any harm to come to her.
But we're trapped. So I take her hand and lead her into the building.
Chapter Fourteen