Page 27 of Tattered Huntress
I frowned. ‘Uh…’
‘My little brother is off travelling for six months. He left his bike in my garage. You can borrow it, if you like.’
My mouth dropped open. I hadn’t expected anything like that.
‘You’ll have to pay for petrol and sort out the insurance, and if it’s not returned in perfect condition he’ll bear a grudge for the rest of his life. But if you want to borrow it, it’s yours. You can pick it up once you’re done at Snake Pass.’
My jaw worked uselessly as I tried to fathom her generosity. She offered me a crooked smile. ‘Lending you the bike isn’t costing me anything. In fact, it’s getting in my way so you’d be doing me a favour.’
‘You don’t even know me,’ I managed.
Jamila shrugged but her eyes were warm. ‘A little bit of kindness goes a long way. Besides, you’ll probably be eaten by a giant snake in the next hour or so.’
I laughed. Then I gulped.
Jamila’s gaze strayed to the rear-view mirror. ‘At least you won’t be alone.’
‘What do you mean?’
She jerked her thumb backwards. ‘We’re being followed.’
Chapter
Eleven
Ididn’t have to see the driver’s face to know exactly who was in the SUV behind us. The black paint job matched all four men’s clothes perfectly, and I already knew from my brief eavesdropping session that they’d been considering following Hugo Pemberville. If they’d spotted me when I was walking away from them, they probably figured I knew where I was going and decided that I was worth tailing. They must have tracked me to the SDS warehouse and waited until I emerged with Jamila. Apparently I wasn’t so tainted that they wouldn’t follow me.
Jamila didn’t appear bothered; I guessed that if the likes of Hester and Otis didn’t faze her, neither would four black-clad men in a speeding SUV. In fact, the gleam in her eyes suggested quite the opposite. She grinned. ‘Let’s have a little fun.’
I opened my mouth but before I could say anything she put her foot down and her little van sped up. In a normal car race, the SUV would have won hands down because Jamila’s delivery van didn’t have the horsepower to compete. But she knew this city and the nippy vehicle could weave in and out of the traffic far more effectivelythan the SUV.
She veered around a grimy lorry, overtook it at speed and smacked her lips in satisfaction. I glanced back and saw the SUV do the same, but Jamila was already prepared for that. She twisted the steering wheel and, wheels screeching, turned into a side street.
I clung on while Hester and Otis went flying into the side window. Their little bodies slammed into the glass with a painful thump. I reached out and cupped them in my hands. ‘You guys okay?’
They nodded, eyes wide. I drew them towards my body to keep them safe while Jamila accelerated even harder. ‘I’ve always wanted to do this!’ she said, turning down an even narrower side street.
‘I bet you always finish your shifts early,’ I said. The woman was a driving demon. Then I paused and glanced at her; it was entirely possible she possessed some supernatural blood. It certainly wouldn’t have surprised me.
‘You bet right!’ She swerved again, sending a cloud of dust in our wake. The SUV was still following us but it was falling further and further behind with every turn that Jamila took.
‘What’s that smell?’ Hester asked, popping her head up.
‘Something is rotten in the state of Derby,’ Otis agreed.
I sniffed the air. They were right; there was a definite tinge of deep rot tingling my nostrils. I stiffened: was one of the men behind us part-witch and using magic in some nefarious way to hold us back?
As we approached the next crossroads, I realised that the answer was far more prosaic: it was bin day and a large slow-moving lorry was nudging out in front of us. If we got trapped behind it we’d be stuck but, if we could get ahead of it, it would trap the SUV and we’d be free.
Fortunately, Jamila had the same thought. She closed thegap to allow us to move in front of the lorry. Fifty metres. Forty. I clenched my jaw.
‘Shit,’ she swore. ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it.’
We’d make it – all we needed was a nudge in the right direction. I half-closed my eyes and concentrated hard, forcing magical energy into the air behind us, then held my breath for a split second. There was a loud whump as the energy exploded and the air propelled us forward with greater speed.
Jamila yelped, shot past the bin lorry with barely an inch to spare and hit the brakes. ‘That was a little closer than I’d have liked,’ she admitted, wiping her brow.
It wasn’t a manoeuvre I was keen to repeat. I exhaled as the screech of a loud angry horn beeping from behind the bin lorry filled the air. The men in black were going nowhere.
