Page 21 of Boxed In

Luke would have edged them toward the vehicle, but Zabastian lifted his head.

“Not here,” he said in a gritty voice. “We shouldn’t stay out on the street.”

Olivia blinked, and he saw her take in their surroundings.

“Let’s go.” He helped her into the car, then walked around to the driver’s door.

Luke hoped against hope that once he’d slid behind the wheel, Zabastian would turn the car over to him. But the warrior stayed in the driver’s seat—literally and figuratively.

Luke tried to wrest away control. He might as well have tried to grab a piece of wood from the heart of a tree trunk.

Alarm flashed through him. What the hell do you think you’re doing?

The warrior didn’t bother to answer him. Instead he reached into Luke’s mind and pulled out the information that he needed to drive the car.

Part of the information, anyway. He started the engine but didn’t buckle up first.

Seat belt! Luke shouted.

Zabastian’s eyes narrowed, but he took the time to access that bit of knowledge, then reached for the belt and pulled it across his chest, before fumbling the buckle into place. He also turned on the headlights.

Then he stepped on the clutch, slammed the gear lever into reverse, and started to back out of the parking space. Unfortunately, another car was coming up the street. As Zabastian tried to pull out in front of him, the other driver leaned on the horn. Zabastian stomped on the brake, making the car rock from front to back.

Olivia had turned toward him.

“You okay?” she asked.

“I’m just a little jumpy.”

This time he looked up and down the narrow street and waited for another set of headlights to pass before propelling the car into the traffic lane.

But it was hardly a smooth exit. And when the warrior jammed the car into first gear, the vehicle lurched forward. Realizing he was going too fast, he braked again.

It’s not as easy as you think. There’s a lot you have to do at once. That’s why you need to pass a driving test before they let you loose with one of these machines.

Quiet! Let me concentrate.

Luke clamped his lips together as the car shot down the street, almost sideswiping a couple of parked cars on the passenger side.

Olivia winced—along with Luke.

Her gaze shot to him, and her eyes widened. “You’re Zabastian!” she breathed.

Finally! She’d figured it out. For all the good it did her.

His answer was immediate—and frighteningly arrogant. “I can do this.”

Her body had gone rigid, and he heard her gasp as a set of headlights cut toward them on the narrow street. Luke wanted to close his eyes as the two cars practically locked chrome while they passed within inches of each other.

But closing his eyes wasn’t going to make the nightmare go away. This wasn’t a dream. He really was trapped inside his own body, forced to take a figurative backseat while a man who knew nothing about the twenty-first century tried to control a powerful sports car.

It’s not like driving an ox-drawn wagon, he inwardly muttered.

Apparently that was exactly the wrong thing to say. He’d dared to ridicule the warrior. And Zabastian was too proud to back down.

oOo

Instead of turning over the car to Luke, the warrior kept driving, picking up speed as he went.

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