i felt my bones mending, my ribs springing back into place. my foot twisted from its awkward angle as my ankle snapped back together. the blinding pain receded and sanity returned. my gaze found a sea of lust in stacey's eyes as she wavered in a trance-like state, her tongue running across her full lips, hungry gaze regarding me like a panther contemplating a steak. i withdrew the connection. the haze faded from her eyes. she scrambled backward, away from me, breathing heavily.

"bloody hell," she said, rising unsteadily to her feet. "why didn't i let you do that to me before you found a girlfriend?"

"the truck," i said, climbing to my feet and testing my ribs and ankle. i was still sore as hell. supernatural healing or not, i'd taken a beating. "we have to catch the truck!" i retracted the gloves on the nightingale armor, and fished in my pocket for my phone.

a black sedan screamed around the corner, and slid to a stop at the side of the road. elyssa jumped out. "what happened?" she asked.

i pointed down the road where the truck had vanished. "we have to catch up to them!" i limped to the car and got in.

"i need to help the others subdue the remaining hostiles," stacey said. "we'll catch up later."

elyssa nodded. jumped in the driver seat. slammed the manual gearshift into first. "buckle up," she said, and hit the gas.

the acceleration slammed my head into the headrest. she took a hairpin turn at a terrifying speed, the car hugging the road as though on rails. i felt my fingers digging into the armrest. i wasn't about to complain. mom was just up the road and we had no time to lose.

my phone buzzed with a text from adam. target just smashed through the detour and took the highway back toward atlanta. moving fast.

i told elyssa. "why are they heading back into town?"

"reinforcements," she said. "probably have people coming from atlanta to meet them."

"great," i said. "if that boulder hadn't hit the hood of the lead suv, this wouldn't be happening right now."

elyssa didn't take her eyes off the road. "i was still coming from the first spotter position, so i didn't see what happened."

i told her.

"crap happens," she said, maneuvering the snaking road with ease, trees and foliage to the sides a green blur. "that's why there's always a plan b." she glanced at the gps map. "hopefully this shortcut will pan out, and we can catch up to them." she flicked the gearshift.

"is this the templar car you told me about?" i asked, my grip tightening as a pickup truck whizzed past in the opposite direction.

"yep." we hit a straight stretch of road. elyssa pointed toward an intersection ahead. "there they are."

i saw the tractor-truck roar past on the highway perpendicular to the road we were on. she gunned the accelerator.

"what's that big red button on top of the gear shift do?" i asked.

she ignored the question. "get a sitrep from the others. we'll need them."

i took out my phone and called shelton.

"we're all good here," he said. "stacey and those giant cats of hers helped us round up the darkwater people."

"any casualties?" i asked.

"just some scrapes and bruises on their part," he said. "the tumble down the hill disoriented most of them enough they couldn't walk straight, much less put up a fight."

i brought him up to speed on the pursuit. "we're headed straight back to atlanta," i said as elyssa screeched around the corner, putting us on the highway with the runaway semi-truck.

"holy midgets on a go-kart." shelton blew out a breath. "if that first suv had fallen with the others, this would be over already."

"i know," i replied. "nothing to be done now but catch them."

"hang on," he said, speaking to someone else in an indistinct tone. "good news. plan b is here and we're on the way." he ended the call.

i just had to hope plan b was enough.

despite the magically enhanced engine in the tractor-truck, we were catching up. the templar sedan was, of course, loaded with magical modifications. our prey raced through another intersection just as the light turned red. cars in front of us stopped, and traffic from the intersecting road began driving through.

"why do they build highways and then clog them up with traffic lights?" elyssa growled. "hold on."

before i could ask why, she flicked a switch on the center console. gravity sucked my stomach down as the car lurched upward. the traffic lights grew large in the front view. i threw up my hands and shouted as we narrowly cleared the electrical cables. the ground rushed up to meet us on the other side. the chirp of rubber on asphalt indicated all four tires had just kissed the ground.

"was that a turbo jump?" i asked, wondering if the car would start talking to me in a nerdy voice.

elyssa snorted as she veered around a slow-moving car. "the car is a slider."

"ah," i said. sliders were essentially magical aircraft like flying carpets. i'd seen ones designed to look like helicopters so they'd blend into the normal world. it made sense to design some like cars. "didn't you just break the rules by flying over those noms?" i asked, aiming a thumb toward the intersection behind us.

"i flicked on camouflage to hide us for a few seconds."

"so, instead of a flying car, they saw a car vanish and reappear on the other side of the intersection," i said.

"maybe." she nodded toward the road. "there they are."

the semi-truck was quickly gaining on two cars inexplicably traveling the speed limit. one of the arcanes on the side of the truck pointed toward us. i wondered if they'd use magic in front of the noms. they didn't, but the truck bumped one of the law-abiding cars, pushing it into a spin. smoke boiled from the tires as it left the road and skidded to a halt in the wide grass median.

something glittered in the road ahead. i peered closer.

"caltrops," elyssa said, pshawing. "they can't puncture these tires."

the nom cars ahead of us hit the sharp metal objects. tires exploded. cars spun out of control, colliding with each other. glass showered the road. bumpers and engine parts tore from vehicles.

"they don't need to pop our tires," i said, gripping the armrest tight.

an suv smacked into the guardrail. two more cars skidded to a stop, snarling traffic into an impassible barrier.

elyssa flicked a switch. the car jolted. she swerved off the road and into the median, narrowly missing a car with steam billowing from beneath a warped hood. despite the grass, the car never lost traction. a yell tore from my throat as we juked between two more vehicles spinning out of control across the median. the tires hit the road. i heard the hum of off-road treads beneath us. elyssa flicked the switch again, and the sound faded.

i looked behind us at the carnage. "this car has all the options."

"no satellite radio though," she said, biting her lip as she avoided another wrecked car.

the semi-truck had widened its lead, but traffic was growing heavier as we neared atlanta. ahead, the highway terminated, turning into an interstate. that meant no traffic lights or intersections. it might work to our advantage unless more wrecked cars blocked our path. as if in answer, the semi-truck smashed into the side of another tractor-truck, sending it listing to the left. cars swerved to avoid it. brake lights lit up like christmas trees.

elyssa growled. "screw this." she whipped onto the wide left shoulder of the road, said, "hope this answers your question," and hit the big red button on top of the gear shifter.

the car made a whining noise like a jet engine spinning up. it roared. g-forces flattened my guts against my spine as we shot forward. traffic blurred past. within seconds, we pulled even with the tractor trailer. the darkwater battle mages on the driver side of the truck regarded us with shocked looks for a split second. then they whipped out pistols and opened fire.

bullets pinged off the side of the car. i yelped and ducked.

"bullet proof," elyssa said.

tires screeched. cars swerved and careened like mad as civilians simultaneously crapped their pants and desperately tried to flee the erupting gun battle. elyssa jerked hard to the right.

"why are we getting closer to them?" i asked as guns and grim-faced shooters grew larger in my window.

elyssa hit the brakes to avoid a yellow car. downshifted, and swerved smoothly around it. "slide open the armrest, and activate the touchscreen."

i did as asked and found a touchscreen interface inside. it presented the outline of the car.

"touch the passenger door. when i give the go, hit the icon that looks like a white booger."

"got it," i said.

she hit the gas. we pulled even with driver side door of the semi-truck. one of the arcanes reached inside a compartment on the back of the cab and grabbed a big effin' gun. my video game street creds identified it as a six-round grenade launcher. a wicked grin crossed the arcane's face as he aimed and-

"now!" elyssa said.

i touched the booger icon.

a white glob jetted from the side of the car, plastering the two arcanes to the door of the semi-truck. the grenade launcher fired just as the glob pinned the attacker's arm. the round went straight up, hung in the air for an instant. i watched in horror as it hit the road and exploded. luckily most drivers with good sense had abandoned the road behind, all except some guy in a pickup who seemed intent on videoing the chase with his phone. the pickup flipped and skidded on its roof.

i didn't have time to enjoy the fireworks.

the booger pinning the darkwater thugs unfortunately also blocked access to the driver door. somehow, i had to get inside the cab and hijack it. with two more adversaries on the other side, i had no idea how to do it without seriously injuring them or possibly myself. if i knocked them out, they'd hit the asphalt at a hundred miles an hour. there wouldn't be much left but red skid marks and spare teeth after that impact.