When Victor lifted his arm, his eyes grew wide. “Sarah, my powers are gone.”
I concentrated and didn’t feel the familiar electricity racing up my arm. “Mine too!”
We dived on the ground as bullets rang out, and we hurriedly army-crawled behind a ticket booth, scrambling for cover. Victor grabbed his chest; he’d been hit. I knew then that trying to talk to the Immortals was not an option.
Shudders ran through my whole body. “Are you okay?”
He nodded.
I continued, “I’m going to take a wild guess here and say they’re not very friendly.”
“We are at a huge disadvantage,” he said, peeking out. “We have no weapons nor powers.”
He was completely out of his element. He knew how to conquer his enemies in Tastia, but things were different now. There were no rules, and we had no idea what we were facing or what we were up against.
“Victor, I know you don’t like to run, but we have no idea who these people are or what they want with us, and we have no way to fight them right now.”
“I’d fight anyway, but I wish to keep you and our child safe.”
I touched his face. “Let’s not deal with these guys right now.”
Gripping my hand, Victor dragged me through the crowd of people. We twisted and turned around all of the Christmas displays and decorations. Dodging through the Christmas carolers, I was sure we’d gotten a good head start. I pulled the car keys out of my pocket and spotted the car. I let out a tiny sigh of relief, the tension releasing in my shoulders. Glancing around, I didn’t see anyone, but a flash of light burst through my head.
Time slowed down, and I was thrown into a completely different scene. I was sure I was inside one of my visions. I was in the back seat of the car of the two men who were chasing us. The driver was a lanky man with short brown hair, in his mid-thirties. The other man had reddish-brown hair. Glancing out the windshield, I could see my car in front of them on the lonely stretch of road. The man in the passenger seat held a notepad in his hand and had written down the license plate numbers. Suddenly, the scene played out, almost as if someone had turned off the pause button.
The driver turned to the passenger. “Run the plates. Get an address. We’ll send a team over to that location.”
I stared up at the night sky as Victor’s voice jolted me back to reality. “Sarah, are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“I had a vision!” I shouted, running to the back of the car.
“What are you doing?”
“Stopping my vision from coming true.” I ripped off the license plate just as a bullet whizzed over my head. I peered around in the darkness but didn’t see anyone in the deserted parking lot. More shots fired in rapid succession, and I bolted to the driver side and slipped inside.
Victor buckled his seatbelt, then grabbed the license plate from me. When he cocked a brow, I explained as I started the car and put it in drive.
“In my vision, they ran these plates and got our address. I can’t have my supernatural world spilling into my parents’ lives. They’ve been through enough. I just can’t have these guys showing up at my parents’ house and hurting them.”
I sped away as the tires squealed and accelerated onto the main road. The speedometer shot up to sixty, but I drove faster and faster. A cold chill ran through me when I felt the car skidding around the turns. Speeding rapidly in pursuit, a white Sedan was gaining on us.
“Who do you think they are?” I shouted.
“Immortals,” he said, moaning loudly as he pulled out the bullet from the left side of his chest.
I tightened my sweaty grip on the wheel. “I’m so sorry, babe. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he said, applying pressure. “I’m already healing.”
“That makes me feel better.” I gripped the steering wheel. “How do they drain us of our powers?”
“I don’t know, but we must find out.”
I wiped the beads of sweat from my brow. “Liz said I lost my powers in the store because my powers were unstable.”
“It had nothing to do with you. Somehow, that man was able to paralyze your powers, to block them.”
“I don’t think they drain them, because the second the guy left, I had my powers right back.”
“Then they somehow know how to block them.”
“I don’t think it’s planned. The guy in the store didn’t know what was going on. He seemed as confused as I was. I don’t think he was consciously controlling them.”
“Their energy is more powerful than ours, and it somehow blindsides ours.”
I sped even faster as glass shattered with a boom. I pulled the steering wheel hard to the right as we rounded a corner, and we veered off the pavement, only to sideswipe a telephone pole.
“They’re firing!” I said, my fingers gripping the vibrating steering wheel. The car suddenly jolted as the sedan slammed into our back bumper. I gasped and jerked back. It was a wonder I didn’t have a wicked case of whiplash.
“Sarah, can you increase the speed of this vehicle?” Victor asked.
“I’m trying!” I said, but the speedometer was already at ninety, and it wasn’t exactly a NASCAR vehicle.
Chapter 24
I clutched the steering wheel and glanced in my rearview mirror, only to discover that a long line of cars was following me. I shuddered. What do they want? Why are they shooting at us? Who are they? The sound of bullets hitting the car made me gasp. I put the pedal flat to the floor, not knowing how long I could keep up the reckless pace. The car rattled and the tires slipped as I accidently hit a rut. I gritted my teeth, fighting to keep control of the automobile as we swerved left, then right.
“Did you feel that?” Victor asked. “I feel my powers surging through me.”
I bit my lip. “We’re just far enough ahead of them to have our powers back.”
“Stop this vehicle,” he said.
“Why? What do you plan to do?”
He glanced out the back window. “I will put a halt to this pursuit, but I must do it now, before my powers are blocked again.”
I nodded, put on the brakes, and shifted the car into park. I left the engine running so we could make a quick getaway.
Victor raced out the door and held up his hands. I hurried out the driver side and stood next to him. As I watched his hands glow, I knew what trick he was trying: Fireballs! I threw my hands into the air. Just as my fingers began to tingle, my headache returned, throbbing so badly that I couldn’t concentrate. I leaned over and gripped the car, then sucked in a deep breath. A burst of flames and a shower of sparks caught my eye as a crash echoed in the distance. Victor had held them off by knocking down a tangle of telephone poles into the middle of the road.
He grabbed my arm. “Let’s go.”
“Victor, I can’t drive,” I whispered, pressing my fingers into my temples. “My head’s about to explode.”
“We can trace back home.”
I was sure running at Immortal speed would do my headache no favors, but that wasn’t my main reason for refusing. “I can’t have those Immortals finding my parents’ car and running the plates to see who it belongs to. If they show up at my parents’ place and hurt them, I won’t be able to live with myself.”
“Your dad taught Charles and I how to drive, remember?”
“It was one lesson. I’m not sure you’re ready.”
“I can do it, Sarah. I am aware there is still much to learn, but I am sure I can manage. Just remind me what to do.”
I was blindsided by the pain, but we had to get out of there. “All right. The car’s still running. Just put it in drive and hit the gas pedal.”
He sat in the driver seat and gripped the steering wheel.
“Are you comfortable? Can you reach the pedals?” I asked, slipping into the passenger side. I didn’t know who was more nervous, me or him.
He buckled the seatbelt and adjusted the seat. “Like your dad told me, it’s a piece of cake.”
“The gas pedal is on the right, and the brake pedal is on the left. Just hit the gas and steer.”
The car jerked forward.
I coaxed, “Follow the road using the steering wheel. If you need to slow down, ease your foot off the gas.”
We jerked forward when he pressed the gas a little too hard. “I can’t believe I’m driving this machine.” Victor jerked the steering wheel again, and the car slid off the road as tires squealed. He regained control, but the car suddenly drifted right and struck the guardrail with a grinding sound, then suddenly bounced back.
I sucked in a big breath.
“Don’t worry. I can do this,” Victor said, clutching the steering wheel as we rounded the corner.
More pain exploded in my head, and I gripped my head, letting out a moan.
“Sarah?”
“Please just focus on the road. Remember when I explained the streetlights and stop signs to you?” I asked, trying to speak in a rational tone.
“I remember. Red means stop, and green means go. How does your head feel, love?”
“It’s got Excedrin written all over it—and then some.”
“Excuse me?”
“Never mind. It’s getting worse. We have to hurry.” I gritted my teeth as the pain overwhelmed me, but I couldn’t help but notice how relaxed and confident he was.
“This is much easier than I thought,” Victor said, focusing his eyes on the road. “The vehicle obeys much better than stubborn horses.”
“I’ve always enjoyed driving.” I clasped my head as another wave hit me. “Why is my head hurting so bad?” I asked.
Before he could answer, he swerved left, then right. A horn blared as he almost hit an oncoming car in the left lane.
I clutched my heart. “On second thought, maybe you should let me take over. Then again, I did manage to hit a telephone pole.”
“We’re almost home,” he said.
I took a quick breath and closed my eyes, wishing I could get my hands on a bottle or two of Motrin.
Tires squealed as Victor pulled into the driveway of my parents’ house. He hit the brakes too hard, and I flew forward, then hit my head on the back of the seat.
“Sarah, I am so sorry. That couldn’t have helped your headache.”
“I’m fine,” I whispered, downplaying the pain. I reached over and shifted the gear into park and pulled out the keys. “You did great. How is your chest?”
“Completely healed,” he said, climbing out of the car.
“What’s going on?” Liz asked, rushing off the porch. “When did Victor’s get his driving permit?”
“Funny, Liz. I couldn’t drive, thanks to one of these mega-migraines. Where are Mom and Dad?” I asked, with a frantic edge in my voice.
“I just got home, but they left a note. They went to a movie and won’t be back for hours.”
“Where’s Charles?” I asked.
“Taking a shower.” Liz cocked a brow. “What’s going on?”
My gaze narrowed. “We just had a run-in with those blue-eyed, blue-ring Immortals.”
Liz placed her hands on her hips. “Well, did they pencil you in for an appointment with the Immortal healer?”
I laughed sarcastically. “Hardly.”
Her eyes widened. “What happened?”
“All hell broke loose.” I pointed to Victor’s bloodstained white shirt.
“Oh my gosh! Are you okay?” Liz asked, rushing over.
“Just a scratch,” I said, “and it’s all healed up.”
“Victor, what happened?” she asked.
“They shot at us—with guns.”
“Mom’s pride and joy took some damage. She’s gonna kill me,” I said, examining the car.
Liz walked over and crossed her arms. “Those freaks shot out Mom’s rear window. Did you give ‘em hell or what?”
“We could do nothing. They rendered our powers useless,” Victor said.
“So Sarah wasn’t short-circuiting at the mini-mart?”
“Well, kind of,” I said. “The blue-eyed Immortal blocked my power, but not my strength or Immortal senses. I couldn’t tackle that robber because I’d lost my Immortal strength. The new energy coming in—the power of sight that Helena told me about—is wreaking havoc on my body. When the man immobilized my powers, the new energy had nothing to cling to, so it latched on and disabled the only thing I had left, my strength.”
“That’s why you were defenseless against the robber,” Liz said. “What did the Immortals say to you?”
“Nothing. They just shot at us and tried to run us off the road.”
“This isn’t good,” Liz said. “I just got back from Della’s hotel room. She wasn’t there, and it looked as if someone had rummaged through her room.”
“We have no idea who we’re dealing with,” I said. “We need to leave. If we stay here, we’ll put Mom and Dad in danger. They don’t deserve that.”
“Do you think these guys came through the portal?” Liz asked. “Wait.” She held up her hand. “Let me ask Mr. History here.”
“I have never heard of men like these,” Victor said. He cocked a brow. “What if Ethano took Della? He warned that she was next on his list.”
I gasped. The thought of Ethano stepping foot in my world sickened me.
Victor put his arm around my waist. “Don’t worry, Sarah. I will not allow him to hurt you ever again.”
“We don’t know if Ethano had anything to do with it,” Liz said. “Maybe the blue-eyed posse have something against Della.”
“Do you think they’d hurt her?” I asked.
“We can’t take that kind of risk,” Liz said. “We have to find her, whether you like her or not!”
“I have to make sure Sarah is safe first,” Victor said. “She and the baby are my first priority.”
Liz looked up at Victor. “I know Della hurt you bad, but surely you can’t just let some unknown Immortal race steal her. She is one of us.”
Charles stormed up the driveway in a rage, having overheard the conversation. He was still dripping wet from his shower, and it was the first time I’d ever seen him lose his temper. “You’ve murdered thousands of people during your battles over the years. So what’s one more victim, eh, Victor? Is she disposable like all the others?”
We hadn’t filled him in on what was going on, but obviously, his Immortal hearing had picked up on the end of our conversation.
“I will find my mother, no matter the risk.” He threw up his arms. “You loved Della with all your heart for hundreds of years. How can you stand by and allow Ethano or the blue-eyed Immortals to harm or kill her?”
“I only said I must protect Sarah and the baby, Charles. Of course I will help you find Della. We should go to her room at the inn first, to see if we can find any clues as to who might have taken her,” Victor said.
“Thanks, Victor,” Liz said. “We can really use your help.”
“I must learn how to use the weapons of this world,” Victor said. “Where can I get them, and who can show me how to use them?”
“I agree,” Charles said. “I feel at a disadvantage here. If those Immortals can block our powers and shoot at us with guns, we must have weapons to fight back. Their weapons are far more powerful than anything we’ve used before.”
“Yeah, swords won’t cut it here in my world,” Liz said, then slightly giggled at her own pun.
My pounding headache overtook me, and everything started to spin. I could hear my friends and my sister talking, but there was a foggy haze clouding over me.
My sister touched my back. “Sarah?” When I didn’t answer, she said, “She’s in no condition to come with us, and we can’t leave her here. What if they find out where we live?”
Spots danced in my vision, and my legs began to wobble. Then, I suddenly collapsed.
Victor scooped me up. “We’ll take her to Beth’s.”
Everything spun around me, and time blurred. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but
I was so tired. I closed my eyes to take a quick nap, and a sudden jar woke me up. I found myself lying on a bed, sweating profusely.
Victor was holding a cool washcloth over my forehead. “You’re at Beth’s,” he said, stroking my hair softly.
I looked around and recognized the familiar surroundings. “I’m in her bedroom? I can’t make her sleep on the couch. It would be so rude, and—”
“She insisted. She’s a good friend.”
“She’s always been like that,” I said. “She always puts others before her own needs.”
“Beth is a wonderful woman, and she is very worried about you.” He handed me two brown pills and a glass of water. “Beth said these medicines will help.”
“Thank you.” I swallowed the pills and chased them down with water. “Victor, something’s wrong,” I said. “I feel like I’m slowly dying.”
I could see the pain in his face, his awareness that he had no idea how to fix me, broken appliance that I was. I still couldn’t understand why Liz had completed the transformation with no difficulty. My body couldn’t take the energies flooding through it. I feared for my safety and for the safety of my unborn child.
“I decided to stay here with you,” Victor said. “If Ethano has come through the portal, you will need me to protect you.”
“No,” I whispered. “I just need more sleep. There’s nothing you can do for me right now, and Della needs your help. Please go. My sister will go with or without you because she’s loyal to Della and because it’s her mother-n-law and her best friend. She needs you in case those blue-ringed Immortals come back.”
“She has Charles. I will stay with my wife. Beth thinks we should all stay the night here. We’ll go look for Della when you’re better in the morning.”
“If you don’t go, I’ll go myself. Someone has to look out for my sister.” I tried to stand but swayed and fell into Victor’s arms.
He placed a kiss on my forehead, then touched my stomach. “You and the baby get some rest, and I’ll go with Liz and Charles to look for clues.”
Eternal Fire - Book 3 of The Ruby Ring Saga Page 23