Page 30 of Resting Witch Face
“So, a week tops.” It could’ve been worse, I guessed.
“Where are you going? The house we are visiting is in the other direction.” Danika twisted to look behind us like that would give her an answer. “You are going downtown.” It was an accusation.
“I’m going to get us some food because my stomach is eating itself.” No one applauded me when I parked like a race-car driver in one go. “You can all wait here. I’ll be two minutes max.”
Four doors slammed shut instead of just mine when I stepped on the curb. Three pairs of eyes dared me to bitch about it. The whole follow-the-leader tactic was going to get old real fast, I just knew it, but I bit down my protests and seethed all the way to the pastry shop and through the line at the counter. My anger evaporated when a tendril of bright light zapped from my finger, flinging a chair across the shop. River pretended like he stumbled on it so they didn’t notice the idiot unable to control her magic.
To make me feel more like shit, seven women of all ages rushed to help him right himself, although he was planted like an oak on both feet. Sissily stuffed a sample of some pastry in my mouth to prevent me from making an asinine comment. Blondie flashed me a smile at that, and I chewed the flaky dough like a cow on a mission. Until Danika stabbed me in the side with her pointed, well-manicured nail.
River chuckled the entire time.
Twenty minutes later, I felt less bitchy and more like my old self. Hangry was a real thing, so after stuffing my face until I couldn’t breathe anymore, even I noticed I was more pleasant to be around people.
“The place we are going is her uncle’s house?” My attempt to break the silence was short lived.
“Yes, on her mother’s side,” my grandmother answered, but I could tell she was distracted.
Sissily snatched shorts and a tank top from my closet, which worked on her shorter body better than anything else of mine. I kept myself entertained in the quiet car, yanking a pair of leather pants and a corset top to spite Blondie for prancing around my house wearing only a towel. Danika and he, however, looked like royalty on their way to a business meeting, perfectly put together. My best friend and I at least brushed our hair, so we had that going for us. Plus, my newly formed glowing decorations all over my skin.
Distantly, I was aware that I did everything just so I didn’t think about it. If I didn’t keep my mind busy, there’d be an opening for a freak-out session, and no one wanted to see that. Me being blunt and snarky on the best of days was hard to deal with. Me in a full-on freak-out mode was a nightmare, even to myself. So, I scrutinized the people with me, muttered at idiots driving too slow or too fast—like I was one to talk—and drove. When I couldn’t handle the anxiety filling up the car any longer, my gaze found Danika in the rearview mirror.
“What’s going on?”
A small smile quirked the corners of her mouth, and she breathed a sigh. “I believe we are being followed.”
That put all of us on alert.
“The silver Honda on your right.” My eyes locked on the unassuming car in the mirror sticking out on Sissily’s side. “They are keeping the same distance since we left the pastry shop.” Danika didn’t sound accusing, but guilt stabbed me anyway.
“What are the odds of them going in the same direction unrelated to us?” my friend muttered, pretending to check her eyeliner so she could get a better look. “Something is not right with that car.”
“I don’t want to turn and make it obvious we know what they’re up to.” My grandmother squirmed in the back seat. “Hazel you need to buy a larger vehicle instead of this sardine can.”
“Let’s not insult my car, mm-kay?” My hand petted the steering wheel lovingly. “She is perfect. Yes, you are, don’t listen to the mean witch.”
River snorted, then coughed to cover it up.
I bared my teeth at him in the rearview mirror.
“Well peeps, hold onto your breaches because we are about to hit warp speed.” Wiggling to press my back further into my leather seat, I ignored Sissily’s threats of dismemberment if I dared speed up.
Pedal to the metal, everyone slammed back into their seats, and we zoomed down the street at top speed. Our surroundings blurred while my grandmother mumbled a protection spell that wrapped around the car. If the driver of the silver Honda didn’t find his gas pedal too, I would’ve been insulted.
We faced the problem of having a car chase in a residential part of town where the speed limit was thirty-five at best. Not many humans were out, but one of them was one too many for my piece of mind. My car fishtailed when I took a sharp turn left with an immediate right, praying to Hecate to guide me further away from the family homes with white-picket fences and toys sprinkled in their front yards. Strings of very colorful curses spilled from my lips when the jerk in the Honda rammed my car from behind. Sissily screamed loud enough to bust my eardrum.
My friend’s comment about something being wrong with the car chasing us became apparent now that it was close enough. Short of climbing on top of my Mercedes, it couldn’t be closer if it tried. The Windows of the Honda had glamour, preventing anyone from seeing who was inside. My jaw clenched hard enough to crack my teeth. The car swiveled left and right when the road under us trembled, answering my anger.
“Hazel, calm yourself or you will kill us all,” Danika barked at me. “Not even a witch can heal a broken neck or a cut-off head.”
My head bobbed as I nodded, sucking in deep breaths and blowing them out slowly. My arms were a lightshow fit for the fourth of July with all the light I was giving off. Just as I came down from my tipping point, the Honda slammed our back harder. Shards of glass rained over River and my grandmother, the impact shattering the window. Blondie gave up all pretenses and flipped on his knees to face the jerks.
“It’s not even a Honda.” River pushed through his teeth. “It’s a glamour over an SUV is my guess. No way a Honda can do this much damage.”
My brain stuck on the word damage, and my vision bathed in red. I saw the flames coming from River hitting the silver car that was riding our ass. His magic made impact, but it only forced the spell hiding the real vehicle to flicker, not causing any real damage for them. He kept at it, aiming the streams of flames to hit from different angles while I desperately searched for somewhere to stop.
“They have a protection, too,” I told Sissily. “River can’t get a decent hit.”
That was all it took for her to crawl over the armrest and squeeze herself between Danika and River. Her ropes of electricity joined the flames, uncaring at that point who saw the magic. Staying alive was more important than humans freaking out at the light show. Air whooshed out of me when the road spat us out on a long stretch of highway with corn fields on either side. With a firm grip on the steering wheel, I jerked to the right, the car plowing through husks until the front wheels dipped into a ditch and we jumped up and down harshly. I killed the engine, yanking on the seatbelt to scramble out. River and Sissily were next to me before I blinked.
