But then I remembered the Chariot card I’d drawn from the tarot deck.
Get behind the wheel and be the driver of your own destiny.
“Sure,” I replied instead.
After all, what better way to be the Charioteer of the journey than by driving Sage Montgomery’s Range Rover?
Raven
I’d crossed the border into west Texas what felt like ages ago, although a glance at the dashboard clock showed that only two hours had passed.
It was past midnight, and I was the only car on the road this far out in the middle of nowhere. It was also incredibly dark. Even the freeway didn’t have lights out here. Both Sage and Noah were fast asleep—Sage still in the back, and Noah in the passenger seat—which meant I had only the radio and my own thoughts to keep me company. Luckily, the Range Rover had satellite radio. I doubted any regular stations broadcasted this far out.
If someone had told me a few days ago about everything that was going to happen to me since my twenty-first birthday, I never would have believed it. I would have thought they were crazy.
Now here I was, driving a car full of weapons and potions with two wolf shifters as passengers, on a quest to hunt and kill four demons for admittance to a magical island where I’d compete in trials that would eventually lead to saving my mom from the greater demon who’d abducted her.
There was so much to think about and worry about. How would I prove that I wasn’t useless on the demon hunting mission? What would I be facing in the angel trials? Where had Azazel taken my mom, and what did he want with her? Was she safe? Was she hungry? Was she scared?
At the thought of my mom’s abduction, a memory slammed into my mind—it was from the nightmare I’d had the other night. In the dream, I’d been captured. I’d been gripping onto jail bars, screaming for help. There had been two others in there with me, and I’d seen our kidnapper, too. She was a young woman who looked like a flapper.
What if that hadn’t been a dream? What if I’d somehow connected to my mom’s mind and was witnessing her actual experience?
Logically, it was more likely that just knowing my mom had been abducted had made me have a nightmare about being abducted myself. But I had to hold on to hope that maybe—just maybe—it was a clue about where she was.
Without hope, what did I have left?
Once Sage and Noah woke up, I’d ask them their thoughts. So many things I’d previously thought were impossible were real, so why should this be any different?
Suddenly, headlights shined from behind me. The car quickly gained traction. The driver was going exceptionally fast—they must have figured they wouldn’t get pulled over for speeding this far out in the middle of nowhere—so I moved over to the right lane to let them pass.
But it wasn’t just one car. It was three. No—four of them. A group caravan, I supposed.
The first one passed me, like I assumed it would. It was a pickup truck. I couldn’t see it well because it was dark, but it looked old.
I stared straight ahead—I didn’t like to look into other cars as I drove. You never knew if the people inside would be creepers and make vulgar gestures. I’d always found it was best to be safe and ignore them completely.
Instead of continuing along the fast lane, the truck swerved into the right lane, right in front of me.
I screamed an obscenity, moving my foot over to the brake just in time to slow down and avoid crashing into them.
Sage and Noah jolted awake.
“What’s going on?” Noah’s eyes were full of alarm.
“That truck just cut me off!” I glared at the truck ahead of me. “But no worries—I braked in time.”
A second later, I worried I’d spoken too soon. Because one of the other trucks lined up parallel with me in the left lane. Another trailed behind me. The fourth pulled to the right, driving next to me in the emergency lane.
They had us surrounded. And now that our headlights were brightening the area, I saw that each truck had gleaming spikes jutting out from the centers of its tires.
I cursed again and gripped the steering wheel, fear numbing my veins. I was a decent driver—I could handle LA traffic like a pro—but being cornered and chased in the middle of the West Texas desert was a completely different ballgame.
One I’d certainly never expected to be playing.
“Who are they?” I asked, panicked now. “Why are they doing this? Are they demons?”
“Relax.” Noah’s voice was calm—too calm. “Stay in your lane, and don’t get too close to any of their trucks.”
I did as he said, finally glancing aside to see who was in the truck next to me.
Two grungy men with long, greasy hair leered at me. I snapped my eyes away from theirs, regretting looking over in the first place.
Meanwhile, Sage opened one of the back windows and took a deep breath. “They’re shifters,” she said as she closed up the window. “Coyote shifters, from the smell of them.”
“What do they want with us?” I asked.
“No idea.” She moved around and held something out in the console between Noah and me. “But you should wear this.”
I glanced to the side to see what she was talking about.
It was her black tourmaline ring—the one with the cloaking spell.
“Why?” I asked, although the answer came to me a second later, bringing the leering gazes to an entirely new level. “You don’t think they want to eat me… do you?”
I knew there weren’t many places to buy food out here in the middle of nowhere, but this seemed like an extreme measure for anyone to go to for a bite to eat—even a pack of wild coyote shifters.
“It’s possible.” Noah took the ring from Sage and held it out to me. “We have no idea how civilized these shifters are.”
“And because our rings hide my and Noah’s scents, the coyotes probably assume we’re all humans,” Sage added. “Which is why they’re cornering us like prey. Once they know we’re supernaturals, they’ll let us pass.”
“Good plan,” Noah said. Then he returned his attention to me. “Can you keep driving and hold one hand out so I can put this on you?”
I removed one hand from the wheel and held it out to the side, focusing on using my other hand to keep steady as I drove.
Noah took my hand, his skin warm against mine, and gently slid the ring onto my finger. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, but it seemed like he let his fingers linger on my skin for a few seconds longer than necessary.
His touch was far more distracting than the shifter gangsters surrounding us, threatening to turn us into a midnight snack.
Once the ring was secure, I moved my hand back to the wheel. I had to keep my eyes on the road and not to look over at Noah.
I couldn’t afford any distractions right now—especially those in the form of a sexy wolf shifter with a hidden past whose heart could never be mine.
“Keep driving,” Sage said. “I’m going to roll down the window again and try to talk to them.”
She did as she said, wind rushing through the car once the window was down. “We’re shifters, just like you,” she said to the men driving next to us. “Let us go on our way. We don’t want any trouble.”
The men said nothing in return. They simply howled, laughing as they did so. The others in the cars surrounding us all leaned out their windows and howled as well. It was eerie—like a hunting call—and I felt like a trapped animal.
Suddenly, the trucks on both sides of me moved closer and closer, until they were inches away from the Range Rover. A ripping, shredding sound screeched through the air.
Our tires. They’d slashed our tires.
The Rover wobbled. I tried to control it, but it was hopeless.
The coyotes’ trucks moved out of the way just as I lost control of the car and went spinning out into the desert.
Raven
We came to a stop in the sandy brush. I pressed down on the gas pedal again, but it was useless—the tires wer
e destroyed.
The trucks were all much further along down the freeway, but they were turning around, coming for us. With the Rover stuck, we were sitting ducks.
“They’re looking for a fight,” Noah said. “And there are six of them and two of us.”
“Three of us,” I corrected him.
“Two of us who are able to fight.” He glared at me, as if daring me to contradict him.
Sage reached into the potions bag and removed four deep purple pods. The memory potion. She handed two to Noah and kept two for herself.
“Their windows are all down so they can howl and attempt to intimidate us, so throw one of these into the cab of each truck,” she told him. “It’ll release enough for both of them inside to breathe in. Tell them that there were only two of us in the Range Rover—not three. And you,” she said, turning to me. “Get back here, put the blanket over you, and stay down and stay quiet. We’ll come get you once it’s safe. Got it?”
The headlights on the trucks were getting closer. The coyotes still howled, their eerie calls echoing through the desert.
If Noah and Sage were humans who could shift into wolves, these creepy men seemed more like coyotes that could shift into humans. More animalistic than human.
It wouldn’t be long until they pulled off the freeway to join us. And given that they’d destroyed our tires after learning that Sage was a shifter, I knew they were trouble.
I wanted to insist on helping them fight. But I also wasn’t stupid. Noah and Sage needed to focus on fighting the coyotes—not on protecting me. And once the coyotes shifted, it’d take only one of them to rip me to shreds in a minute.
So I did as Sage said and climbed into the back.
“On the floor,” she said. “They won’t see you there.”
“What happens if you don’t win?” I asked as I situated myself on the floor of the backseat. It was squished, but I managed.
“We’ve faced much worse than a pack of hungry coyotes,” Noah said confidently. “Don’t worry. We’ll win.”
I heard the sound of trucks surrounding us. They were here.
Noah pulled the blanket over me so it covered me completely, entrenching me in darkness. “With Sage’s ring on, they won’t be able to smell that you’re here.” He gave my shoulder a small squeeze, as if trying to reassure me. “You’re safe.”
I heard the doors open and Noah and Sage step out of the Rover. They must have moved fast with the memory potion bombs, because I heard coughing and both of their voices as they told our ambushers the lie Sage had created—that they were the only two who had been in the car.
I held my breath and crossed my fingers, hoping it worked.
If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be long until one of the coyotes burst into the car and turned me into dinner.
Just in case that happened, I reached for the knife in my boot. Realistically, I knew it wouldn’t save me against a supernatural coyote shifter. But if attacked, I refused to go down without a fight.
Truck doors slammed open and shut, and I heard the ploofing sounds as the men got out of their trucks.
“Just the wolf shifter we were looking for,” one of them said with what sounded like a grin.
“You slashed our tires.” Sage sounded pissed. “Why?”
“Are you both shifters?” He didn’t answer her question. “Because I can’t smell anything from you—not supernatural or human.”
I assumed he was talking to Noah, since he was still wearing his ring.
“I’m a wolf shifter too,” Noah said. “And trust me when I say that you don’t what to mess with me—with either of us. Not if you know what’s good for you.”
“That’s a powerful concealment charm you’ve got on you,” another creepy male said. “Worth a pretty penny.”
“Try to take it and you’re dead.” Noah sounded calm—lethal.
“Do you have any idea what’s happening in the world?” Sage interrupted, clearly trying to get their attention away from Noah’s ring. “About the demons that escaped from Hell? The ones who want to kill all supernaturals, turn the humans into slaves, and claim Earth as their own?”
“I’ve heard a thing or two.” The man chuckled. “But I ain’t seen no demons around these parts.”
“You haven’t seen them yet,” Noah said. “But they’ll come for you. Eventually.”
“If they’re coming for us, then they’re coming for you, too.” The man laughed again. “And I don’t like your attitude, boy. Why you acting like you’re so special? Like you’re better than us?”
I could hear the challenge in his tone—like he was aching for a fight.
“I’m hunting demons,” Noah said. “Killed six so far. I have the teeth to prove it. The more I kill, the safer we’ll be. All of us.”
“We ain’t trying to stop you.” The man coughed and spit out what sounded like a massive loogie. I nearly gagged in disgust. “We just want the girl.”
“What girl?” Noah sounded tense—on edge. Like he was ready to shift and kill at a moment’s notice.
Was the man talking about me? Did the memory potion not work? Did he know I was here?
I held my breath, afraid that even the smallest sound could give me away.
“Are you blind and stupid, boy?” The man spit again. “I’m talkin’ bout that pretty girl right next to you. Sage Montgomery.”
I could breathe again with the realization that they didn’t know I was here.
“How do you know my name?” Sage asked.
“Just come with us, sweetheart,” he said. “Be real nice and cooperate, and we might even let your lover boy here live.”
“Cooperate?” Disbelief filled Sage’s tone. “You shredded my tires, drove me off the road, cornered me at night in the middle of nowhere, threatened my hunting partner… and you think I’m going to cooperate?” She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. “If you’re being serious, then you’ve clearly never met a Montgomery.”
There was a scuffle, and I heard howls and snarls from outside. The howls no longer sounded human. They were louder and deeper, sounding like they came from the throats of angry animals.
They all must have shifted.
The fight had begun.
Raven
I heard the growls, yips, bangs, and whimpers as the shifters launched at each other and attacked. My stomach twisted with nerves for Noah and Sage. I know they’d said they were confident they would win, but this was six against two. And those coyotes seemed pretty feral.
But I’d watched them defeat a demon. I’d seen the six demon teeth Noah carried in his pocket—evidence of the demons he’d killed. Surely if they could beat demons, they could beat coyotes?
I kept telling myself that was the case. But the fight continued on. I didn’t know how long it had been—it felt like forever. Shouldn’t they be done by now? It had taken Noah seconds to overtake that demon—Eli—in the alley.
I heard an anguished howl, followed by a pitiful whimper. Someone was hurt.
Could it be Noah or Sage? I had no way to distinguish between the sounds of the coyotes and the wolves. I’d only be able to tell if I could look.
I needed to check and make sure they were okay. But they’d been clear earlier. I needed to stay hidden under the blanket, so the coyotes didn’t see me.
I hated this. My friends—the people who had saved my life and were now helping me save my mom’s life—could be in danger. No—they were in danger. Because if they were truly able to defeat the coyotes as easily as they’d claimed, this fight would have been over by now.
And I was hiding in the car, doing nothing.
A helpless, useless human.
Except that I wasn’t totally useless. Because Sage had given me a knife… and she’d taught me about potions. And here I was, hiding out with the bag full of potions right in front of my face.
Potions were defensive—not offensive—but there had to be one of them for me to use.
I ran through all the potion
s she’d taught me about during our drive, excitement sparking in my chest when I realized which one was perfect for my current situation.
As quietly as possible, I unzipped the bag, keeping the blanket over me and the bag like a tent while doing so. Some potions had a dim glow to them, and I couldn’t risk the light being seen through the windows of the car. As it was, the fight outside was loud, so I hoped it covered up any small sounds I might be making.
It didn’t take much digging to find the clear potion I was searching for. It looked like water. It was in a small vial, since it was one of the potions that only worked when ingested.
I popped off the rubber top and eyed up the potion.
Did I really want to do this? Noah and Sage had told me how expensive potions were. They were at least a thousand bucks a dose—and those were the cheap ones. That was why they only used them when necessary.
I wasn’t sure if this qualified as necessary. And who knew when they’d be able to replace it next?
A deep snarl and another anguished howl filled the night. Someone was in pain.
Was it Noah? Or Sage? Not knowing what was going on out there was driving me crazy. Plus, it seemed like the Montgomery pack had enough money that a thousand bucks wasn’t a huge deal to them. So… bottoms up.
I raised the vial to my lips and downed it like a shot.
It tasted like nothing. Literally, water was flavorful in comparison. This was like drinking air.
For a moment I thought it wasn’t going to work. But then an icy coldness traveled through my veins, starting at my center and spreading out to my fingers and toes.
When I held my hand in front of me, it was transparent. Like a ghost. Everything I was wearing at the time of drinking the potion was transparent, too.
I could see myself. But according to what Sage had told me earlier, no one else would be able to—at least for the next hour, which was how long the potion would continue working.
Because I was invisible.
Raven
The Angel Trials (Dark World: The Angel Trials Book 1) Page 14