Mortal Obligation (6 page)

“No, I didn't. I decided to not take it,” Bryce said, his tone distracted. Ree noticed that he kept checking his mirrors.

“Okay, does this mean you have a quicker way to get to Shipyard Road?” Paden said icily.

“No. It means I'm trying to lose the car that’s following us,” Bryce said as he whipped onto another road, the tires making a noise a lot like they did in the movies. Everyone in the back braced themselves as the SUV leaned far to the right.

“Following us!” Juliette squealed.

Everyone in the car but the driver turned to look out of the rear windshield. Sure enough, a red sports car ran a red light and swerved into place behind them. That horrible cold sensation crawled across Ree’s shoulders as the car came closer to their bumper. She looked down at the floorboard, willing herself to stay calm as she felt that answering burn in the pit of her stomach.

“Who do we know that has a red car?” Melanie asked. She looked back up front, her eyes wide.

“It’s Michael and his friends,” Paden said from up front. Ree raised her head to look at Paden’s profile. He had spoken very slowly and carefully. It sounded like he was trying to talk around the fangs he had developed earlier. He must have been responding to the presence in the red car as well. He looked at her for just a moment, his eyes worried, before looking back at the road.

“Uh, we might need to go faster if we’re trying to outrun them,” Weylin said sarcastically from the back.

“It's a damn SUV, Wey. What do you want me to do? It's not like I have nitrous or anything,” Bryce said, his voice strained.

“Oh, no. You hafe got foo be kidding me!” Juliette said suddenly. Ree didn't have time to ask what was wrong because the red car accelerated, slamming into their rear bumper. Everyone slammed forward against their seatbelts before jerking back against the seats.

“What the hell man! What the hell!” Bryce hollered. He jerked around a slower car and swerved down another road.

“We've gotth to losthe them!” Paden was gripping the handle above his door. Apparently

Bryce glanced over at him. “Really, is that what we need to do? Way to be helpful, jackass.”

“Hey, I don't think the red car is alone,” Melanie said. She hadn't taken her eyes off the car behind them. “There’s a black Mercedes following them really closely. “

“Great, a horde of angry misfits,” Weylin said. He turned and looked at Ree. He paused for just a moment, his eyes narrowed as he studied her face. “Huh, they do glow. Well, what do we do? I mean, can we
do
anything? What about some of your green stuff? Or maybe have Paden bite them?”

“Har, har,” Paden said sarcastically from upfront.

“I don't know if I can do anything with all of these people around. What if I accidentally hurt one of them instead? I'm not sure I could even do anything at all. I'm really not sure what I would be doing if I did it!” Ree was working herself up into a mini-rant. Why were they being followed? Hadn't Sophie said they would be fine for the rest of the night?

“Jules? You're being awfully quiet,” Bryce said from up front. He still didn’t take his eyes off of the road as he swerved around a delivery truck.

Juliette made a noncommittal noise and shrugged her shoulder. Ree looked at her and was surprised to see she had her arms crossed, her face set in angry lines.

“Jules?” Ree touched her shoulder, but Juliette jerked away. “C’mon Jules. What’s wrong? Are you carsick?”

Paden turned in his seat and looked at her. He searched Juliette’s face and then smiled, showing his fangs. “Openth upfth and let us fthsee.”

There was a gasp as Melanie turned around and saw the light glinting off of Paden’s teeth. Juliette waved an inappropriate finger in Paden’s direction and clenched her mouth shut even tighter. The SUV lurched to the side as Bryce avoided another car, throwing them all into the windows.

“Jules?” Bryce said in a quiet voice. He was the only one that could get through to her when she had a stubborn moment. Juliette’s eyes looked rebellious for a second, and then she slowly opened her mouth. Ree watched, fascinated as Jules exposed the extended teeth.

No one said anything for a moment and then Bryce chuckled. His dark eyes were watching them in the rear-view mirror. “That’s actually pretty sexy, Jules.” She closed her mouth with a snap, but her eyes twinkled.

“Vine, but it iv very hard to talk vith them,” she said. Someone in back smothered a laugh. Ree really wasn't sure whether it was Weylin or Melanie. When she glanced back, they both wore pained expressions as they tried to stay serious.

“Well, at least you can hide them if you need to. My eyes are glowing like a night-light back here.” Ree said.

“Vell, vhat’s true,” Juliette sighed.

“Not to break up the moment and all, but the red car is coming in for another hit,” Melanie's voice was tense. Sure enough, the little red Eclipse slammed into the bumper again, this time causing the SUV to fishtail. Bryce cursed loudly from the front seat. He spoke colorfully about the driver’s mother, grandmothers, and siblings before swerving into an empty parking lot.

“Whath the fhell are you doing, Brythce? We can'th get outh and check the car fhright now!” Paden hollered.

“Shut up!” Bryce roared. He darted behind the abandoned grocery store, into the dark alley. Everyone was muttering, but Bryce paid them no attention. Suddenly he jerked the car to the left and down a small path that had obviously been used for deliveries. The red Eclipse slowed some, because the little road was in such bad shape that the smaller vehicle literally couldn’t make it over some of the potholes. Ree let out a sigh as they pulled back onto a main road and put some distance between them and their crazy pursuers.

“Good thinking, man,” Paden said in apology. His tone was tense and distracted, but you could sense the genuine appreciation.

“I think we lost the Mercedes,” Melanie said. “But the Eclipse is catching up to us again.”

“Fhit,” Juliette cursed, looking back. As the Eclipse neared, the tension in the car escalated and everyone grew silent. Ree felt that power bubbling up inside of her, but she had no idea what to do with it all. Could she lean out the window like they did in the movies? Great, now she was getting ideas from bad movies. The burning was growing, her stomach squeezed in pain, and her head began to ache. She closed her eyes, and gently shook her head in an attempt to clear it. The others were talking amongst themselves, trying to come up with ideas.

“FhRee?” Jules said quietly. She laid a hand on Ree's arm, and some of the headache drifted away. She opened her eyes and looked at the hands folded in her lap. They were glowing again, and she had no control over it. She took a deep breath and met Jules frightened eyes. Paden turned around in his seat to see what was going on.

“I'm not sure what’s happening, but we really need to get to the dock soon.” Paden looked at her hands and his face shifted. Something in his eyes flashed from worried to dangerous. His gaze shifted to Bryce, and his tone was commanding. “When we get to the next stoplight, slow down and let me out. Take everyone else to the dock.”

“No, no, no. There is no way you are getting out of this car!” Bryce yelled frustrated.

“Listen, I think I can handle them. I need to do this,” Paden said his voice tight. “I can't let them get to Ree.”

Ree’s heart did a little leap in her chest when he spoke of her. He was trying to protect her at the cost of his own safety. She couldn't let him do that! Just as she was about to tell him hell no, Bryce answered for her.

Bryce turned onto Waters Avenue, the tires screeching, and hit the child-lock button on his door. “No one gets out right now. And no one is getting to Ree or anyone else.” As they drove down the busy road passing other streets, Ree could feel the power begin to leak from her fingertips. Almost like she could no longer hold it all bottled up. She concentrated on holding it inside and trying to stay calm. Juliette's hand on her arm was soothing, but it did nothing to stop the pain building in her head and chest. The heat in the pit of her soul was still growing, still trying to escape. She felt like there were things pushing on her every time they neared another car or passed a busy store. It was like walking through cobwebs that clung to you as you tried to brush them away. You couldn’t see them, but you could feel them sticking to your face and arms. Now that they were in the coastal neighborhood the feeling stayed, constantly pulling and weighing on her. Emotions warred inside of her head, varying from anger, to amusement, to fatigue, to elation. That by itself might push her over the edge of reason.

When they turned onto Shipyard Road, a black Mercedes sped out of the dark, slipping quietly between them and the red Eclipse.  The smaller car swerved to avoid the larger sedan, but the Mercedes continued to block its path.

“Is that guy on our side?” Weylin demanded. “Or just on crack?”

The Mercedes slammed on its brakes and spun to the side, completely blocking the little red car.

Ree looked out the window and her eye swirled like silver mercury. She felt the being in the black car open its door and rush the others. She knew whoever was protecting them wasn’t human, but also didn’t carry that evil feeling that would make her skin crawl.

“Holy crap!” Melanie said loudly. “He totally cut them off for us!”

“Let's hope it buys us enough time. We're close now.” Bryce turned the car down a small private road, and she could see the glint of silver in the distance that must be water. Paden continued to watch behind them, refusing to take his eyes away from the immediate threat.

“There's a boat,” Bryce said. He slammed the SUV into park next to several expensive models under a shelter. “Paden, Ree, you talk to the guy on the boat. I hope he’s expecting us.”

Everyone bailed out of the vehicle and rushed down the large wooden pier. Ree looked back over her shoulder, but could see nothing through the shadows other than a large Victorian house. When they neared the boat, a large man with a thick beard motioned them to hurry.

“Come on, then. I've been waiting. We got worried when Roland called to tell us that you guys had company.”

No one said anything, just climbed into the boat. Paden and Weylin helped push off the dock and they were out in the water, heading into the dark. It was the biggest boat Ree had ever been on, much bigger than her grandfather’s bass boat. The large hull gleamed like a slick pearl in the moonlight and Ree knew this was not a cheap boat.

“You should be safe now. I don’t think anything could get through our protection,” The large man said almost kindly when Ree neared him. He had a thick Southern dialect that roughened his already gravelly voice. Coming from a mouth buried deep inside of his thick beard, it made his words even harder to understand.

“Thank you,” she replied as the ball of tension in her stomach began to unravel. The man looked large and intimidating, but there was something comforting in his tone. He reminded her a great deal of some of her uncles.

“I'm Eric,” he turned and offered her his hand.