Page 56 of Marked By Night

“Um, yeah. Susie Sullivan always thought it was rock, paper, scissors, fire. That bitch would throw out a sign for fire to beat my rock, declaring herself as the winner every single time. Like what even is that? I can’t tell you how many matches I lost to her, and now I have photographic evidence she was wrong.”

The vein in Elian’s temple throbs before he turns away without a word, stalking over to the pancaked Wrangler. His face scrunches and he punches the rock full force. When he wrenches his fist back there are angry red gashes across his knuckles and the blood steadily drips onto the pavement. He stares at it for a moment, seemingly lost in thought before he wipes it on his pants and stalks away. Kaos takes off after him, giving me a placating look.

“That was real smooth, you moron!” I call out and then turn my attention to the matter at hand.

“I hate to do this, but you can’t send that picture out, Ash,” Dante says, plucking the pink phone out of her hand. He promptly deletes the photo before she can hit send and stuffs it into his back pocket.

“Aww, come on, Dante. You were my favorite until now,” she whines, playfully jabbing him in the side. She reaches around him and tries to snatch the phone from his back pocket, but he’s too fast and dodges out the way.

The jealous monster inside me pokes her head up, making my eye twitch at their banter, and for a moment I have to resist the urge to stab her with my switchblade.

Gods, Sadie.This is your best friend you’re thinking about. Ash may be a little promiscuous, but she’d never go for someone you’re interested in. You’re not even sure if this whole mate bond is real yet. Calm your tits.

They go back and forth a few times before Ash finally relents and promises not to give away the whole magical community.

“Sorry, not sorry,” he says to her while handing her the device back. “We can’t let the humans get wind of the Weavers and what better way to draw attention to magic than a giant flaming rock?”

“He’s got a point, babe. A flaming boulder isn’t realistically possible. At least I don’t think it is. Somebody google it. My phone is dead and now I’m curious.”

Dante whips out his own phone, typing away at the search engine. “Huh. What do you know? Technically rocks can catch fire but not like this.” He waves in its direction. “More in the lava sense.”

“Wow, they weren’t lying when they said you learn something new every day.”

Kaos and Elian return a moment later and my eyes dip to Elian’s unblemished hand. There are no gashes or scrapes anymore which leads me to believe Kaos healed his hand for him. Ah, well, I was hoping the bastard would have to deal with the consequences.

“I hate to be the bearer of unwelcome news here, but I’ve sensed twelve Elites heading this way,” Goldie says, watching our spectacle with interest.

Yeah, I’ve got to give him a name besides Goldie. It doesn’t suit him at all.

“Dammit,” Kaos curses, taking the lead on the situation. “Okay, Dog, scoot over. Elian and Ashley pile in the back. Sadie, you can ride in Dante’s lap up front where I can keep an eye on you.”

The smirk Dante shoots me is downright scandalous and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t send a thrill straight down to my lady bits. “I like this plan,” he says with that devilish smirk.

Elian looks like he wants to protest, but he doesn’t push it, despite the vein that’s still throbbing in his temple. He gets in and Ash files in behind him. Then Dante scoots the seat back into place and tugs me into his lap. I’m not expecting the sudden motion and barely avoid smacking my head against the side. I swear I have better reflexes but being around these men seems to make me extremely off-balanced.

As soon as everyone is inside, Kaos shifts into reverse, doing the quickest—and probably most dangerous—U-turn ever.

“Incoming!” Goldie calls out seconds before we come face to face with a sleek black car in our lane. Kaos swerves narrowly missing the bull bar that would’ve likely done a lot of damage as we fly past each other in the wrong lanes. He flexes his fingers on the steering wheel, throwing the shifter into sport mode as he guns the gas.

“Wonderful,” I mutter. This car is not meant to hold this many people. A crash would likely be the death of me.

Dante buckles both of us into the seat. “Don’t worry, Angel. I’ve got you,” he whispers in my ear, his hands tightening on me as Kaos takes another curve at lightning speed.

“Evasive maneuvers, Kaos. You know what to do,” Elian barks, leaning forward to watch the scene. Gods, he’s a backseat driver too. Fucking twat.

Kaos nods, changing his grip on the steering wheel. He takes his buddy’s commands in stride as we race down another hill, coming into a straightaway that dips into a valley.

Two more black cars crest the hill opposite of us and a man pops out of the passenger window of the one in front, aiming his pistol directly at our front windshield. Thankfully, the bullets don’t penetrate, but they do leave little cracks.

The hair on the back of my neck rises when both cars in front of us come to a screeching halt in the dip of the valley. The one in the back slips over into our lane, turning sideways and the other one does the same in the opposite lane, blocking our path forward completely. Four men in black jumpsuits armed to the teeth step out of each of the cars in unison.

“Gods, they’re trying to capture us,” Dante murmurs, watching the scene with wide eyes.

“Elian, can you use the shadows to get us out of here?” Kaos asks, watching the scene unfold. From what I know about him he’s likely calculating the odds of each scenario.

“No,” he responds with a twinge of regret coloring his tone. “It barely works for two people, let alone a car full.”

In a few seconds, Kaos will have to stop and we’ll either be forced to fight twelve armed men, or he’ll have to plow through them and risk a crash with most of us not properly belted into a seat. Indecision mars his face, as he taps the brakes, slowing our momentum.

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