Page 28 of Cursed
As soon as they could, Seth ducked out a side door with Evan on his heels.
The two henchmen lunged at them. Seth dodged and returned a roundhouse kick, sending his attacker sprawling. The second man grabbed Evan by the shirt-front and punched him in the side before Evan boxed his ears and landed a kick to theknee. Evan’s protective amulet fell to the ground, pulled loose by the attack. He scooped it up and ran with Seth right beside him.
“We haven’t lost them,” Evan said as they picked up speed once they reached the sidewalk.
“Stay close.” Seth veered off the sidewalk into traffic, dodging between cars to reach the other side. The light changed, making it harder for the goons to follow.
The men kept up their pursuit. Seth led them away from the truck but wondered how far the guards would go to follow them. He spotted a city bus pulling up to a stop with a line of waiting passengers and ran for it. The door closed on Evan’s heels, and the bus pulled away, leaving their pursuers stewing angrily on the sidewalk.
“Any idea where this bus goes?” Evan fixed the clasp on his amulet and dropped it back around his neck.
“Doesn’t matter,” Seth replied. “We’ll ride a couple of stops, get out, and walk back a different, not-logical route. Those guys can’t watch every street.”
Seth half expected the men to get on the bus at the next stop, but perhaps the reality of an audience and security cameras kept them from following. When no one suspicious got on after the next two stops, Seth and Evan paid their toll and got off, then used GPS to take a circuitous route back to where they parked.
Seth didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until they got into the truck.
“Wait,” he said as Evan reached for the door handle. “Something’s wrong. I’m picking up a jangle of bad magic. Check to make sure those assholes didn’t plant anything on us.”
Seth didn’t find anything on himself, but Evan froze as he put his hand into his jacket pocket and withdrew it like he had been burned. “There’s something in here I didn’t have before.”
Seth tried to look calm despite a spike of panic. “Okay, don’t touch it. I’ve got a binding box in the back of the truck. It’ll contain the magic. Then we’ll call Kinsley or Rowan for help.”
Thinking back, the goons’ attack hadn’t been as dangerous as he would have expected.Maybe it was a distraction, and the real attack is whatever they planted on Evan.
Seth pulled out the warded iron box and opened the lid. Evan peeled off his jacket and placed it inside. A small, crudely carved wooden figure fell out of a pocket. Seth slammed the lid shut.
“Was that some kind of voodoo doll?” Evan asked. “It looked like the sort of thing sailors whittle to pass the time.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Seth thought, trying to stay calm for Evan’s sake. He grabbed Evan’s arm and steered him back toward the truck door. “We’ll figure it out. Let’s go before they come back.” Seth hoped he sounded calmer than he felt.
Seth barely kept himself from screeching away from the curb. “Vernon had to have sent them after us. Either he had already told them what we looked like before the presentation, or he got word to them when he saw us there.”
“My vote is before. They didn’t spot us going in or couldn’t nab us without causing a scene,” Evan replied. “Lucky for us, Savannah has a good bus system.”
“What did you make of the presentation?” Seth asked after they drove for a few minutes. His mind raced thinking of the magical item the goon had planted on Evan, but for the moment, his partner seemed okay.
Evan looked thoughtful. “Honestly? I thought he was boring. I could find a dozen better speeches on YouTube. He didn’t say anything very original, and he certainly didn’t acknowledge that when you’ve got a century of experience and wealth behind you, success is easier.”
Seth couldn’t help laughing. “True. Although I thought he looked good for his age.”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Human sacrifice will do that, I guess. And did you see the ship’s wheel logo on the banner? My money is still on the original as his anchor.” He was silent for a few moments. “Maybe it was a mistake to go to the event.”
Seth shook his head. “No. Seeing us rattled him.”Although I’m worried about that thing they planted in your pocket.
“If he’s planning to sacrifice Pax soon, he shouldn’t be surprised that we’re on his tail given what happened with the other disciples. He just might not have thought we had the balls to show up at his event,” Seth added.
“Now what?” Evan seemed nervous.
Seth reached over and took his hand. “Hey. We’ve destroyed more than half of those witchy bastards. We’ll get Vernon too and save Pax.”
“I wish we had a more solid plan.”
“Yeah, well it’s always a bit mushy in the middle waiting for an opening. But we’ve got Caden and Nash on our side, plus Kinsley, her coven, Tristan, and her friend the vampire. Teag and Rowan could be here from Charleston in less than three hours if we need them. That’s a lot more help than we had with some of the first disciples,” Seth reminded him.
He agreed with Evan, wishing they could create a playbook in advance to rely less on luck and more on strategy, but experience had shown them that the situation remained extremely fluid, sometimes until the very last moments. His military experience helped a lot, but it didn’t cover magic.
“I can’t help feeling like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Evan confessed. “He couldn’t exactly hit us with lightning bolts in front of that whole audience, but that doesn’t mean he won’t do something later.”
