Page 10 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

The minutes ticked by, but no bus came.

“Dude, let’s just walk to the terminal,” said Mina, her impatience showing.

As a pair of headlights splashed over us, relief spread through me. The last thing I wanted to do was deal with my aunt if we missed the flight.

I lifted my suitcase. Then I realized the headlights weren’t wide enough or high enough to be the bus. Dread began to creep into my gut.

“Seriously, let’s just walk,” said Mina.

“The airport is not as close as you think,” I reminded. It wasn’t our first time flying out of Detroit. Since it was close to Toledo, it was the one we normally left from. “The bus should be along soon.”

I hope.

ChapterFour

Willa

With a grunt,Mina plopped onto the bench, only to stand fast as she looked in the direction of the oncoming vehicle. “Willa?”

I turned somewhat as the same large white van that had been in the parking lot before came running up and onto the curb. It came to an abrupt stop and rocked heavily. A cloud of black smoke shot out of the van’s exhaust. The smell burned my nostrils, stealing precious moments of reaction time. The side door of the van swung open, and three men poured out.

One of them looked around swiftly. “Hurry up!”

The other two ran right at Mina and me.

Mina groaned and rolled her eyes. “Not sure what you’re planning, guys, but seriously, did you ever pick the wrong girls.”

My gaze swung to her. Why wasn’t she freaking out? It was what I wanted to do.

She shook her head. “Don’t worry.”

Easy for her to say. She was a walking weapon.

Me, not so much.

She waved a hand dismissively. “Seriously, not a problem. Don’t panic.”

Another man got out of the van, this one from the passenger side. “Hurry up, man. Another car is coming!”

The man nearest me grabbed for me but missed. He caught my suitcase handle instead. I was still holding it, and we ended up in a tug-of-war challenge over it. Ultimately, neither of us won because the latch gave way, and the suitcase popped open, spilling the contents all over the curb and street.

Two of the men went at Mina, and she used her suitcase as a weapon, spinning with it and whacking one of them hard enough to send them careening to the pavement. It sounded like it hurt.

One of the men bear-hugged me, lifting me off my feet as he rushed me toward the van’s open sliding door. Mina’s words about white vans and kidnappers filled my head. There was no way in hell I was getting in that van.

I kicked wildly, and he dropped me on the unforgiving ground. I scrambled to my feet, only to have him grab my backpack.

He yanked hard. The force left me falling into him and the still partially open backpack falling to the ground, the contents spilling out as well. My copy ofDraculaskittered across the pavement, and my necklace fell free from it. My journal went in the other direction, and the remainder of the items sprang free as well.

My greatest concern was the necklace and my copy ofDracula, not being thrown into a white van by a kidnapper.

The man grabbed a handful of my long dark hair and yanked me upright with such force that my glasses went flying off my face. Everything around me was suddenly blurry and out of focus.

He lifted me off like I was a sack of potatoes and carried me toward something large and white that I assumed was the van.

I planted my feet on the side panel of the van and pushed back against the man holding me, trying to keep from being thrown into the vehicle. It didn’t go as planned. I ended up falling into the van all the same.

I went wild, acting like a cat getting a bath. That did the trick. I got free and fell out of the van, onto the ground, only to have the jerk grab me by my hair again.

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