Page 75 of Ghostlighted
“Crap!”
I wrenched the handle andshoved.As usual, the damn door stuck.
“Come on, come on.” I threw my weight behind my shoulder and bashed it again. It didn’t budge at first and I heard the Porsche’s engine rev once, twice, three times. “Comeon, dammit!”
Something flew past my face and suddenly I was tumbling out of the car and rolling across the ground, gravel digging into my arms, back, and finally chest as I came to a halt, face down, just as the Porsche crashed into the Civic with a deafeningwhamand a sickeningcrunch.
Avi appeared, kneeling next to me, his chest heaving. He peered down worriedly. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Is he getting away?”
“Not in his car, he’s not.”
“He could still run.” I tried to push myself up.Nope. Not happening. “We have to stop him.”
Avi glanced away for a moment before gazing down at me. His smug smile was hampered by his ragged breathing. “I think that’s taken care of.”
“What? But—” Flashing blue light washed through Avi and into my eyes as Kamilla’s patrol car screeched to a halt at the curb, blocking the end of the driveway. She and another officer were out of the vehicle in an instant.
“Maz? You all right?” she called.
I lifted one hand in a feeble wave. “Never better. Don’t mind me.”
“Is he armed?”
“No gun.” Avi wheezed. “Or knife.”
“If you’re wrong?—”
“I’m not.”
“Not armed,” I replied to Kamilla. “But he’s got a lot of stolen property on him, so watch out for him trying to destroy it.”
“Got it.” She disappeared into the garage, and a moment later, I heard her recite the familiar Miranda words in a clipped tone, followed by Liam’s curses.
Avi peered down into my face. “Are you sure you’re fine?”
“Fine-ish.” I gritted my teeth, pushed myself onto my hands and knees, and then sat back on my heels. “Damn. I’m gonna feel that tomorrow.” I flashed him a pained grin. “Ziv Harcourt may have no trouble jumping out of moving cars, but even a stationary one is tough for me.”
“Harcourt is a fictional character.” Avi was still trying to catch his breath, which interfered with his usual acerbic tone. “You’re not.”
I squinted at him in the twilight. “Areyouokay? You’re panting like you just ran the 400 meters at an Olympic pace.”
“I… I don’t know.” He stared past my shoulder. “I think I just opened your car door.”
“What?” I twisted to look behind me andow!Yeah, that was a mistake.
“When I saw that you were stuck, and that Liam was going to ram you, I just”—he thrust his hands forward—“and it opened. You might have done it yourself and it was just a coincidence, but?—”
“Nope. I was well and truly stuck.” I peered at my palms and dislodged a couple of pieces of gravel, a grin slowly dawning. “Avi, my friend, you are no longer restricted to manipulating only dust, cat fur, and paper products. You’ve just added metal to your repertoire.”
He gazed at me, lips parted and eyes luminous, even though periodically washed by blue light. “What if it was just a one-time thing?” he murmured. “A response to an imminent threat of death or serious injury, not something I can consciously control?”
I met his gaze. “Assomeonerecently said to me, stop gaslighting yourself. You’ve got this.” I pointed to his wedding band. “Metal, remember? You’re just getting started.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Somehow, despite being pitted in unfortunate places by gravel, I managed to push myself up until I could wobble onto my feet. I was upright in time to see the glorious sight of Kamilla frog-marching Liam out of the garage and turning him to the wall. This time, when she produced her cuffs, I didn’t protest—they couldn’t get slapped onto a nicer guy.
