have to help. I run over, grab the arm that’s holding Grayson, and twist it so violently that the man yelps as he lets go. His partner’s eyes widen for a moment, and he charges towards me. It just seems so natural then to move slightly to the side and push. The results of that are not what I expected. The man goes flying. Literally flies through the air, to land with a crash on the windshield of his own car.
His partner has recovered enough by then to swing an elbow at me, and I dodge back, bringing my foot up automatically, swinging it as hard as I can between his legs. He goes down, whimpering.
I reach out to grab Grayson’s arm then, knowing what I have to do. “Come on, Grayson! We have to run.”
“Run?”
“They’ll be after you too, now.”
Grayson looks puzzled. “What’s going on?”
That response is understandable, but there isn’t time. Already, the one I’ve kicked looks like he might be starting to recover.
“Come on, unless you want to face these two again. And for all we know, they brought friends. Trust me, Grayson.”
That’s enough to get him moving, at least. We get in the car.
“You still haven’t told me what’s going on,” Grayson says.
I take a breath. “If you want to go back to your normal life, you have to trust me and promise not to say anything to anyone.”
“Trust you? I don’t even…” then he looks at me. Really looks at me. I can practically feel Grayson stripping away the layers of disguise in his mind. We don’t have time. I put the car in gear and drive, as fast as I dare, wanting to put distance between us and the men behind us. We’ve gone maybe half a block before Grayson finally says it.
“Celes.”
Maybe it’s just that I’m concentrating on the road this time, or maybe I’m finally ready to give in to it, but I turn to Grayson as he says it, responding to the name.
“It is you,” he says. “I knew it. I…” He leans over to kiss me, which I’m sure is some kind of traffic safety violation, but right then, I don’t care. I just care about the familiar taste of those lips on mine, and that way Grayson has of being exactly what I need so that I can shut out the-
I swerve just in time to miss an oncoming SUV, and decide that there will be time for kissing him later. At least, I hope that there will.
“Celes,” Grayson says, pulling back. “What’s happening? Why are there people attacking you? Why did you disappear? Why do you look… like that?”
I just smile. “I’ve missed you too, Grayson.”
NINE
I return my attention to the road after that. A getaway isn’t much use if we end up crashing in the middle of it, and I’m driving too fast to do anything but concentrate. I can’t drive like Jack does, with that uncanny knack he has for knowing where there are police patrols, and the ability to push the Aston to its limits, but I still drive as quickly as the traffic around us allows. I’m wound tight as I drive, glancing around constantly, looking around for any sign that Grayson and I might have been followed.
So when the black sedan pulls in two cars behind us, I spot it instantly. I almost panic then, almost floor the accelerator and just hope for the best, but I take a breath, forcing myself to be calm as I look closer in the rearview mirror. It isn’t the same car as before. It can’t be, because this car has a perfect windshield rather than one covered in cracks from where a body has hit it. There have to be plenty of black sedans in the world, right? It might be nothing. It might just be someone on their way back from work.
I believe that about as much as I believe that the men back at the school had just been there for something innocent. I have to act. I have to do something that will tell me straight away whether this car is following me, so at the next intersection, I take a good look at the traffic around me, grit my teeth, and run a red light. Horns sound, and brakes screech,
His partner has recovered enough by then to swing an elbow at me, and I dodge back, bringing my foot up automatically, swinging it as hard as I can between his legs. He goes down, whimpering.
I reach out to grab Grayson’s arm then, knowing what I have to do. “Come on, Grayson! We have to run.”
“Run?”
“They’ll be after you too, now.”
Grayson looks puzzled. “What’s going on?”
That response is understandable, but there isn’t time. Already, the one I’ve kicked looks like he might be starting to recover.
“Come on, unless you want to face these two again. And for all we know, they brought friends. Trust me, Grayson.”
That’s enough to get him moving, at least. We get in the car.
“You still haven’t told me what’s going on,” Grayson says.
I take a breath. “If you want to go back to your normal life, you have to trust me and promise not to say anything to anyone.”
“Trust you? I don’t even…” then he looks at me. Really looks at me. I can practically feel Grayson stripping away the layers of disguise in his mind. We don’t have time. I put the car in gear and drive, as fast as I dare, wanting to put distance between us and the men behind us. We’ve gone maybe half a block before Grayson finally says it.
“Celes.”
Maybe it’s just that I’m concentrating on the road this time, or maybe I’m finally ready to give in to it, but I turn to Grayson as he says it, responding to the name.
“It is you,” he says. “I knew it. I…” He leans over to kiss me, which I’m sure is some kind of traffic safety violation, but right then, I don’t care. I just care about the familiar taste of those lips on mine, and that way Grayson has of being exactly what I need so that I can shut out the-
I swerve just in time to miss an oncoming SUV, and decide that there will be time for kissing him later. At least, I hope that there will.
“Celes,” Grayson says, pulling back. “What’s happening? Why are there people attacking you? Why did you disappear? Why do you look… like that?”
I just smile. “I’ve missed you too, Grayson.”
NINE
I return my attention to the road after that. A getaway isn’t much use if we end up crashing in the middle of it, and I’m driving too fast to do anything but concentrate. I can’t drive like Jack does, with that uncanny knack he has for knowing where there are police patrols, and the ability to push the Aston to its limits, but I still drive as quickly as the traffic around us allows. I’m wound tight as I drive, glancing around constantly, looking around for any sign that Grayson and I might have been followed.
So when the black sedan pulls in two cars behind us, I spot it instantly. I almost panic then, almost floor the accelerator and just hope for the best, but I take a breath, forcing myself to be calm as I look closer in the rearview mirror. It isn’t the same car as before. It can’t be, because this car has a perfect windshield rather than one covered in cracks from where a body has hit it. There have to be plenty of black sedans in the world, right? It might be nothing. It might just be someone on their way back from work.
I believe that about as much as I believe that the men back at the school had just been there for something innocent. I have to act. I have to do something that will tell me straight away whether this car is following me, so at the next intersection, I take a good look at the traffic around me, grit my teeth, and run a red light. Horns sound, and brakes screech,
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