Page 54 of The Trouble With Spells
Stifling a yawn, I waited while he unlocked my car door. He had made a big deal about opening my car door when we had left Salem. Once he had me tucked in, he walked around the front and got in. Securing his seatbelt, he leaned over and gave me a kiss before he started driving.
Sitting at a red light, he hit the Bluetooth feature on his phone and the sound of ringing came through the car speakers.
“Michael!” A frantic, deep male voice filled the car as the light turned green. “Where are you?”
Michael checked his rearview mirror, frowning. “We’re on our way back to Salem.”
“We? Who is with you?”
“Callum, I told you about him.”
The car's interior was suddenly illuminated with bright light. Turning to look behind us, I was blinded by the car behind us. The driver was so close, all I could see was the other car's intense headlights.
Blinking, I turned to face the front again, mumbling, “Asshole.”
“Dude, go around,” Michael muttered, and Derek’s voice demanded, “What’s happening?”
“Nothing,” Michael assured him, “just a guy riding my ass.”
“Michael, I need your twenty,” Derek demanded.
The car behind us backed off, then sped up, getting so close I tensed in my seat, afraid he was going to accidentally hit us. My muscles tensed involuntarily, but it was more than just the guy being a dick.
There was an edge to Derek’s voice that caused a chill to race up my spine.
“We’re almost to the highway,” Michael relayed, keeping his eyes on the car’s headlights behind us.
“Michael, Marcone put a hit out on you!” Derek’s voice rose, “What street are you on? I’m sending a black and white.”
My head spun in Michael’s direction, my hands gripping the leather of my car seat. He looked calm, but his grip on the steering wheel was tight. “How sure is your intel?”
“One of our C.I.’s brought it to us,” Derek said, “he’s reliable. And…”
His voice trailed off, and Michael frowned, “What?”
Turning to look behind us, I was again blinded by the high beams of the car following us, but I couldn’t tell how close the other driver was. But I knew he was too fucking close. He very well could just be an asshole driver, and I was being paranoid, but everything inside me was screaming that danger was all around us.
“Shelby is missing.” Derek’s voice was quiet in the car. “She’s been missing since last night. It looks like they were waiting on her when she got home.”
Michael’s face visibly paled, his fingers clenching and unclenching on the steering wheel. I felt the car speed up as he put distance between us and the other car. The street was busy, and I was thankful that we weren’t the only ones out tonight.
“Is she…?” Michael swallowed hard, unable to finish his sentence.
“There was blood, but we don’t know yet if it was hers.”
Michael nodded, “Am I getting on the highway, or am I going past the exit? What do you want me to do, Der?”
Whatever Derek said was drowned out by the crunching of metal hitting metal. The impact felt like it came from two sides, the rear of the car and the driver’s side. The force jerked me forward and sideways, my head banging against the windshield hard enough to make me see stars.
The car spun in dizzying circles, until I wasn’t sure which way we were going. Glass shattered, car horns blared, and there was yelling. So much yelling. Me, or Michael, maybe both of us.
Derek’s voice was yelling through the phone, filling the car’s interior, but I couldn’t make sense of what he was shouting.
Finally, after what felt like way too long, the spinning stopped. Pain sliced through my head, and I blinked to clear my vision. Something wet fell into my eyes and I blinked harder, trying to see.
A hand grabbed my shoulder, frantically pulling on my shirt. “Callum?”
Michael’s voice was low, barely above a whisper, and I rolled my head towards him on the seat. Wincing when pain nearly blinded me.
