Dearest Mother of Mine (Overworld Chronicles)

by John Corwin

  This was going to be a tight fit.

  Ten seconds.

  Stacey and I counted down on our fingers.

  Five, four, three, two—She grinned, planted her feet in the ground and pushed. I braced my arms against the boulder I stood behind and, with a grunt of effort, pushed it over the ledge. Stacey's boulder hit a split second too late, crushing the front end of the lead SUV instead of landing in front and trapping it. Mine clipped the back bumper of the last escort.

  Before the people in the SUVs could react, the earth trembled. Twin slivers of energy ran from the blind where Bella and Shelton waited. Each sliver split in two, cracking the ground and cleaving the road. One set sliced the road beneath the tires of the damaged SUV, and cut the asphalt just in front of the tractor trailer. The other set sectioned off the road with the last two vehicles.

  The glow faded for an instant, and then a giant aftershock of light exploded from the ground. The earth beneath the road crumbled. The asphalt caved in, and all the SUVs except the one pinned by the boulder listed to the side before rolling down the slope and into the pasture. I winced at each roll, hoping we hadn't just killed everyone even if they were a bunch of murderous bastards.

  "Justin," Stacey said, her voice serious for once. "It's time."

  I touched the sleeves of my Nightingale armor. Gloves covered my hands. Then I leapt off the cliff. Landed atop the semi-trailer. I heard someone shouting and peered over the side of the truck in time to see four Darkwater people spill from the pinned SUV and take positions on solid ground. Two aimed their staffs at the boulder. Waves of energy shoved the heavy stone off the hood and down the hill. The crushed SUV slid into the ravine and rolled down the hill to join the other escorts. Two more Darkwater Arcanes waved their wands at the cliff face near the fissure in the road. The rock face crumbled, sending rubble to fill the gap.

  The tractor trailer lurched forward over uneven ground. I lost my footing on the slick, diamond fiber surface, barely managing to grab the ledge and dangle above the road as the rig gained speed much faster than it should have. I saw dark-robed Arcanes hanging to the side rail on the truck cab, using the steps for footing as they worked their magic on the semi-truck.

  One of them saw me, and shouted, aiming their staff. A bolt of yellow light singed the hair on my head. My hands nearly slipped from the trailer.

  "Grips on," I said. The nightingale armor gloves emitted a sticky fluid. I felt my grip strengthen just as the truck crested the rise and rushed downhill. Wind whipped through my hair. A bug smacked into the side of my face as I struggled to swing myself atop the trailer.

  The gloves helped but just barely. Another splash of heat warmed my back as an attack missed. The armor might protect me from a direct hit, but the impact nearly threw me off the truck.

  My hands suddenly went sub-zero as the other Arcane sent a freeze bolt into my fingers. Ice formed on my gloves, and the last bit of purchase vanished. I fell. My feet hit the asphalt. My ankle twisted and snapped. I rolled off the road and smacked into a tree. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Agony flashed up my spine. I felt broken shards in my ribs.

  "Justin," cried a voice, and Stacey was there.

  "Think I broke something," I wheezed.

  "Bloody hell, you broke everything," she said. "I'm so sorry, Justin. I messed up everything." Tears welled in her eyes. "If I hadn't pinned that first car—"

  "Agh!" I cried out, my voice deepening with demonic need. Hunger clawed at my insides as the healing process drained my reserves. Stacey's eyes went wide.

  "Your irises are turning white, Justin," she said, looking more worried than I'd ever seen her.

  I gritted my teeth against the pain. "Feed," I said, barely able to get the word out.

  She leaned close. "Use me."

  Stacey had never allowed me to feed from her before. Before I could reconsider, the demon pounced. My vision flickered into incubus mode. Stacey's halo shone like a brilliant star around her body. My tendril latched into it. She gasped, eyes widening, and moaned. I usually tried to neutralize my emotions before feeding, but pain consumed every ounce of control.

  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.
<
br />   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.

  "Is the truck cab reinforced?" I asked. "Can I punch through the glass?"

  "Yes, and I don't know," Elyssa said. "The specs Shelton showed us indicated it's the equivalent of an armored truck cab."

  "Get me closer," I said.

  It appeared she didn't have to worry about that, because the big-rig driver veered at us, trying to ram us off the road. Elyssa hit the red button and the car shot forward. The front end of the semi-truck clipped the trunk. The car's rear end spun sideways. Tires screamed. The world spun upside down as the car flipped.

  Chapter 26

  I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the sound of crunching metal as the car's roof smashed into the road. That sound never came. I felt the passenger door pound against my leg. I gasped in pain, and looked through my window. The upside-down view of the truck's front grill greeted me. The roof of the car hovered less than a foot above the ground.

  "I activated the levitation spell," Elyssa said, fighting with the steering wheel, her hair a wild black mane as it dangled toward the roof. "But I can't get the car upright with that thing pushing us."

  The semi-truck rammed us again. A spider web of cracks formed in the window. We shot forward, gliding as if on ice. I slammed the side of my fist against the window once, twice, three times. It broke apart, falling on the road. The truck grill smashed into us again, sending the car spinning like a leaf on a pond.

  Elyssa cursed, desperately tugging on a red lever next to the parking brake, but whatever was supposed to happen, didn't happen. I unbuckled my seatbelt. My body thudded to the roof. As the car spun, I reached out the window and gripped the bottom of the car. I pulled myself out of the window. A diesel engine roared. I looked back as the truck rushed for me. My foot tangled in the seatbelt.

  "Crap!" I shouted.

  I felt a hand pull away the harness, freeing my leg. Heard Elyssa shout, "Go!"

  With a desperate jerk, I pulled myself atop the bottom of the car just as the truck smashed into us again. The impact drove the car forward. I
didn't have a grip and stumbled backward. In a last-ditch attempt to avoid becoming roadkill, I dove backwards. In mid-air, I twisted. My hands clawed open air.

  I'm so dead.

  The truck grill surged to meet my face. My hands gripped the front end just in time to abort complimentary facial reconstruction. My feet found purchase on the front bumper. I peeked over the hood. Two glowing staffs on the passenger side aimed at my head. I ducked as beams of energy speared past. I didn't want to kill the murderous jackasses hanging onto the side of the cab, but they weren't giving me much choice.

  It sucks having a conscience.

  Since I was on the hood of the truck, the driver seemed a lot less concerned about Elyssa's car, and a lot more about me. He swerved left and right, as if that would dislodge me. I looked back and saw one side of the Templar car bounce, flipping it upright. The wheels floated about a foot off the ground an instant before the car straightened and dropped onto the road. White smoke billowed on impact. Cars ahead veered out of the way. My supernatural vision picked up wide eyes in rear-view mirrors as drivers realized their morning commute had just turned into a field day for traffic reporters. The semi-truck driver swerved left and right, as if possessed, in his desperate attempt to shake me loose.

  His maniacal attempts offered a beneficial by-product. One of the Darkwater Arcanes dropped his staff as the big rig clipped a car. The other clung to the side rail for dear life. I peered over the hood at the driver and snarled. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

  I let the demon out.

  My hands grew large and thick as muscles bulged all over my body. The nightingale armor stretched to accommodate the growth, even covering the tail growing from my rear end. Pain spiked in my forehead as horns erupted from my skull, curving upward. I felt the senseless rage charging at me like a bull, and slammed the cage closed before the demon side of me took over completely. When I poked my head over the hood the next time, the driver's mouth opened in a rictus of horror.