Page 50 of Deadly Lineage
“Probably why they chose this path,” I agreed. “Aurelia, I don’t suppose you could pop on over and mess with their vehicle?”
Aurelia’s answer danced with laughter. “Why would I wish to do so when this is so much fun?”
I twisted enough that I could give her an incredulous stare. “It won’t be that much fun when we crash into a fence post.”
“Perhaps not for you. Such an event would not harm me,” Aurelia answered with a smile I found unnerving.
Franklin and I shared a look before his eyes transferred back to the road. I wasn’t sure which one of us caught the gleam of metal first. I thought we both screamed, “Gun!” at the same time.
Ducking was pure instinct. As the driver, Franklin didn’t have the same luxury. He scrunched lower, but that was about all he could do while still seeing the road. Several shots were fired. I could hear most of them hit metal. One shattered the front windshield. I wasn’t sure where it hit, only that glass littered the interior.
Another round of gunfire rang out, and Franklin let lose a litany of curse words. The car weaved and slid as he lost control until finally diving into a nearby ditch. The airbags deployed and for a moment, time stood still. My head felt fuzzy and ringing filled my ears. Everything ached and yet nothing felt seriously damaged.
“B-Boone? Erasmus?” Franklin’s voice sounded increasingly frantic.
“I’m okay. I think,” I managed.
“They are turning around.” Aurelia’s voice was too close and when I searched for it, I found her outside the car with her head peeking through the blown-out front window.
Franklin groaned and I could hear him pushing and yanking at the deflated airbag and his seatbelt. “Gotta get to my gun,” he murmured.
We were about to be in a shootout, and I had no illusions as to who had better weaponry and numbers. I didn’t care how good of a shot Franklin was. If his brain felt as rattled as mine, his aim wasn’t going to be great. We needed a better option and thankfully, I had one.
Wiggling, I managed to get my right hand free enough to dig into one of the many pockets of my cargo shorts. My fingers grazed against a keyring filled with charms until I found the one I was looking for.
Pressing my finger into the charm, I ruptured its inner contents, mixing the chemicals needed to activate it. Within a matter of seconds, false police sirens filled the air. Flashing redand blue lights lit up the distance, the lights flickering brighter as the seconds passed. It looked like the whole of the Mississippi State Police were on our tail and closing in fast.
I silently prayed this would work—and thank Gaia, it did.
“A well-played ruse, necromancer,” Aurelia praised. “They have turned around and are making haste in the opposite direction.”
Franklin leaned back, his chest heaving. “When did you call in reinforcements?”
“I didn’t,” I answered. “We can thank Pops later.”
“A charm?”
“A good old-fashioned obfuscation one.” Now that I was calmer and able to breathe, I managed to get out of my seatbelt and pushed the remnants of my airbag away. “You okay?” Now that I was turned and could get a better look, Franklin had a large gash on the right side of his forehead. Blood dribbled down his temple and across his eye. The smear told me he’d already wiped at it a few times.
“Nothing major,” Franklin answered. “At least, not that I’m currently aware of.”
The flashing lights closed in on us, surrounding the area and making it look like our car was surrounded by the boys in blue.
Franklin winced. “That’s handy and I’m not complaining, but it’s pretty fucking loud.”
I chuckled. “It is that. Sorry, but once it’s activated, I can’t turn it off. Pops probably could, but since he’s not here, we’ll just have to put up with it until the charm runs out of steam.”
“And that will be when?”
I shrugged. “Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.”
“Lovely,” Franklin lamented before leaning his head back and releasing a heavy sigh. “Might be a good idea to call in the real thing.”
“I’ll leave that to you,” I said. Turning slightly, I was surprised to see that Aurelia was still present. She leaned her hip on the car, her back to me.
“Thanks for the heads up, Aurelia.” I wasn’t sure I was coherent enough earlier to realize the guys we were chasing had turned around and were coming back for us. “If you hadn’t—”
Metal pinged against the hood of the car, little bits of lead rolling until they settled into a particular groove and stopped.
