Chapter 307: Unusual Traffic
Kyle was a twitchy mess, constantly looking over behind his back as he drove slowly. It did not inspire a lot of confidence in me, but at least he wasn’t abusing the accelerator the way Damon was fond of doing. If he did, I might be a splat on the ground before any vampire or hunter got their hands on me.
Instead, now all I had to deal with was good old car-sickness, made worse by Kyle’s jerky driving. I restrained a sigh as my back hit the seats for the umpteenth time, my stomach rolling unpleasantly as Kyle made an awkward turn at the corner bend.
I didn’t want to point it out, because I could tell that Kyle was already trying his best. But did I wish I had taken an anti-nausea tablet before the drive?
Definitely.
Either that or I wished I had the foresight to ask Darach to provide a driver, but Thunderstrike couldn’t even afford to spare a janitor, let alone a trusted individual for an escort mission.
At least it’ll be over soon. Kyle had advised me to take the back seat so that I could relax and sleep on the way. Yet he was the one who was overly jittery with nerves.
"You can relax, you know," I cajoled gently from the back seat as I watched Kyle wrestle the steering wheel as though it was a live bear out to get him. "I’m getting anxious just by looking at you."
"I’m trying, Harper," Kyle said, but his sweaty hands still left prints all over the steering wheel. "I’m not a confident driver. And we might be ambushed on the way. I must be careful with you. What happens if I accidentally crash the car and we go up in flames? If I don’t die because of it, I’ll die after the Alpha gets a hold of me."
Clearly, Damon had told Kyle about Darach’s car accident and warned him not to repeat the incident, on the pain of death.
"He’s already not too pleased with me for not updating him about Dahlia Elrod’s disappearance," Kyle continued morosely. "I hope he doesn’t make me scrub toilets when we get back."
"I’ll put in a good word for you," I promised. After all, Kyle was doing his best to fulfill both Damon’s and my requests― he was effectively trapped between a rock and a hard place. "And in the case of our vehicle exploding, we’ll simply ditch the car and you can carry me back."
Kyle nodded, but he still seemed worried. "If we get separated, please contact me using your phone. If your phone is broken, just scream as loud as you can from a treetop. I should be able to hear you then. In the worst-case scenario, we return to Thunderstrike."
"Sounds like a good plan to me," I said, before realizing that Kyle was slowing down. A quick look out the window showed a few cars stuck ahead, honking irritably in the morning air.
"Hey, is there a car accident ahead?" I asked, wondering why there was a sudden congestion. Nothing like this happened during Damon’s past drives.
Few werewolves drove cars, only when the distance called for it. To see such traffic was odd, to say the least.
"I think so," Kyle said, a frown in his voice. He looked out the window and sighed. "It looks like a couple of trees have fallen on the road, blocking the way." Now that he pointed it out, I could spot bits of green in places lying awkwardly on the side of the road.
"Guess we’ll have to detour?" I asked.
"No," Kyle sighed again. "This is such rotten luck, but there’s no other route but this one. You stay in the car, I’ll go out and check the damage. If the tree trunks aren’t too thick, I might be able to break them and we can pass."
"Alright, but are you sure you don’t want me to come out?" I asked.
"Staying in the car is safer than going outside," Kyle said, "Don’t open the door for anyone that isn’t me, got it?"
I could only agree and watch Kyle leave the car and walk towards the front of the accident site. He seemed to be pointing at something while he looked at the other cars. One of the cars in front rolled down their front windows, and stretched out an arm in his direction.
Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished from view. I jolted up, peering closer to the windshield through the car seats. That couldn’t be possible, but how could Kyle’s body simply go missing from between cars? A human couldn’t have been strong enough to tug Kyle down to the floor.
Something wasn’t right.
It was my turn to get sweaty palms, but I tried to calm myself down. Maybe Kyle had simply crouched down to check something at the bottom of a car. Yes, that was possible. All I had to do was wait and he would reappear―
A sudden knock on the window startled me. I whirled around to spot a pair of haunting purple eyes.
"You!"
My heart flew into my throat.
It was Gus.
That was all the warning I got before his fist struck the window pane with a deafening blow, causing the glass to shatter, their shards flying into my face. Instinctively, I raised my arms to shield myself, but almost immediately I realized what a fatal error I made, for Gus used this moment of distraction to grab me by the hair, dragging me out of the car through the broken window.
I hissed in pain as my entire head seemed to throb. The sharp edges of the broken car window cut into my skin, leaving red streaks that stung in their wake. Yet everything paled to seeing Gus in front of me, his pale skin glowing bright in the morning sun.
How could I have been so blind to mistake him for anything less than a vampire?
This bastard tried to kill Blaise!
"Let go of me, you bastard!" I screamed, trying to fight Gus off. I reached for my weapon, only to realize in horror that it had been left behind in the car. "Kyle, help!"
"Come on now, there’s no need for such hostilities. We were getting along so well before," Gus said, sounding incredibly disappointed. "And don’t worry about your little guard. He’s merely resting now. He won’t be necessary in the next stage of your journey."
"What did you do to him? Let me go!" I screamed again, desperate enough to scratch, bite and kick. Gus merely laughed, like my attempts at escaping were so amusing to him.
"Oh Harper, if I let you go so easily, what would be the point of coming all this way?"
A sharp blow landed at the back of my neck, and everything went black.
