Regen

by Cassie Greutman

  “Then we just go, as fast as we can. No unnecessary stops for now, until we lose him. There are so many highways around here, if he doesn’t know where we’re going he can’t get ahead of us, only follow.”

  “Makes sense,” I said. Keep the van calm, that’s what we needed to do right now. I shrugged toward Jaden and he seemed to understand that I was trying not to make Lucy upset. He shrugged back. Apparently he hadn’t had any sudden revelations about the guy’s identity either.

  The next couple hours in the car were subdued. Nina texted like mad, no doubt talking to Dan about what was going on and letting Wren know that we’d no longer be meeting her. That was what I felt the worst about. Nina had been so excited that I was going to meet her sister. That was probably at least half of the reason she’d agreed to go on this trip in the first place. But I was doing this for us, even if she didn’t know it. Once I turned Jaden in, things could go back to normal. To better than normal, now that I knew for sure that Dan and Nina really wanted to take care of me.

  After a bit, the state line sign flashed by and the city signs started saying Columbia City. Hopefully that was on the way.

  Nina opened her map again and laid it across her lap, bending over it to get a better look. Jaime snorted in her sleep, making me smile. Lucy was listening to music in the back seat. Thankfully she wasn’t sprawling across Jaden. As much as she’d protested that he wasn’t there, she sure hadn’t moved to take up the whole seat since I’d told her he was. Jaden was resting against the seat, eyes closed. Did ghosts sleep? He wasn’t really a ghost. He wasn’t dead. But he was dead, here. Never mind. This was too confusing.

  Slowly the traffic disappeared until we only saw the occasional car. It was actually pretty nice without a bunch of vehicles clogging up the road. Rebecca drove a lot faster than I expected.

  Suddenly Jaden bolted upright in the back seat. “You hear that?”

  “Huh?” I asked. Everyone else might have been able to doze off, but my mind was still going over everything that had happened today, trying to figure out what the whys and hows, trying not to panic on the hows. So far, no luck. On either front.

  “Do you hear something?” Jaden asked slower, like I was an idiot.

  “No, what?”

  “What, what?” Nina asked. I probably sounded crazy to her, considering the girls were sleeping and the women hadn’t said anything.

  Jaden sat up in the back and twisted around to look out the window. “Motorcycles, a lot of them.”

  I turned toward the back to watch with him as a group of motorcycles took shape in the distance behind us. They were moving fast. Really fast. Within a few minutes, they caught up with us.

  “Those guys must be crazy,” Rebecca said, looking in the rearview mirror. “It’s way too cold to be out on a bike.”

  Nina nodded in agreement, but no one said anything.

  The lead biker pulled up beside us and grinned through the window at me. His face was strangely lumpy. He gunned his bike for a second and moved up beside Rebecca, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

  “What do these guys want?” Nina asked.

  Two bikes peeled around us on the right, bouncing around on the berm, and got ahead of us, forcing Rebecca to slow down or plow them over.

  “Goblins,” Jaden said from the back. “They guarded the prison back in Faerie. I’m guessing I’m what they want.”

  After hearing that, when I stared at them they looked a little different. Kind of like someone under water, their faces not quite right. It had to be a glamour of some kind, making them look human.

  Two more raced up from behind and we were boxed in. Soon the original five were joined by six more, all revving their engines and grinning.

  “Girls, get down,” Rebecca called, her voice terse as she tried not to hit any of the bikes. Still half asleep, Jaime looked nervous enough to make me want to punch a couple of those goblins in the face. Thankfully she didn’t really know what was going on. Lucy on the other hand, had jerked awake and was now blinking at a million blinks a second, like she was trying not to pass out. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost. The girls didn’t listen to Rebecca’s order to get down. Didn’t listen, or didn’t hear.

  “Lucy, keep Jaime down,” I said, appealing to whatever big sister instincts she had. I unstrapped Jaime and shoved her in the back. Lucy gripped Jaime’s hand and jerked her into the seat beside her, buckling her in faster than I could blink and pulling her down as far as she could while still wearing their seatbelts.

  One of the goblins revved his engine and swooped in our direction. Rebecca swerved so he didn’t hit us, face going white.

  “I’m calling 911,” Nina said. She took out her cell and started dialing. I didn’t stop her. Either the troopers would scare them off, or they would at least be a distraction.

  Nina talked to the dispatcher for a moment, then hung up. “The closest trooper is twenty minutes out. She wanted me to stay on the line, but I’ll call back if something changes.”

  Great.

  Everyone in the van was quiet as Rebecca fought against the bikers, doing her best not to hit one.

  Then one hit us.

  Sparks shot off his Harley as he bounced off the van. Rebecca jerked the wheel to the right, trying to get away, while the girls in the back screamed.

  Another did the same thing, farther back, then another. Soon we had bikes bumping us from all directions. Except the right side.

  “They’re trying to drive us off the road,” Jaden whispered.

  “Does everyone have their seatbelt on?” Rebecca asked without taking her eyes off the road.

  “Yes,” I answered.

  “Right!” Nina shouted, barely giving Rebecca a chance to jerk the wheel.

  This was not working. We were not going to last until the trooper got here. Time for some Fast and the Furious. “Ram them,” I yelled from the back.

  “What?”

  “Ram them, it isn’t going to kill them, just send them to Milwaukee. Do it!”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Nina asked. We ignored her.

  The van accelerated in answer, hurtling down the lonely stretch of highway. One of the bikers ahead of us didn’t gun his bike enough in answer to our burst of speed. Rebecca tapped him with the van bumper and he went tumbling backward out of sight. The other goblins all started howling, the sound eerie over the straining minivan engine. A strong burning smell filled the air. I didn’t know anything about engines, but somehow that seemed like a bad sign.

  En masse, the rest of the bikes started bouncing up against us, driving the van off the road. Dirt and pebbles flew up behind us as Rebecca kept the accelerator floored. Two more bikes took tumbles, putting our odds down to eight, none of which stopped to check on their fallen comrades. Didn’t they care? Poor Jaime started crying behind me. I reached back and grabbed her hand. She squeezed mine tight. One of the faster bikes flashed by and the lead goblin got ahead of us. The rest split to make room for him.

  “Go, go!” Nina yelled.

  “I can’t go any faster!” Rebecca answered, aiming for the gap that had opened.

  The biker ahead of us revved his engine again, reached into his saddlebag and threw something out in front of us. The front left tire blew, sending us careening back onto the road and across into the other lane. The van rolled to a stop.

  I took a deep breath. This was up to me now. I unhooked my seatbelt. “Everyone stay put.” I slid the door open and hopped out, slamming it behind me. The rest of the gang rumbled to a stop and got off their bikes. Their faces swam back and forth, each looking like a human for a moment, then back to the misshapen features of the goblins. Was that what they looked like to humans? Just normal biker dudes?

  “Trish, get back in the van!” Nina yelled across Rebecca, out her open window. “We’ll lock the doors and wait for the trooper!”

  That so wasn’t going to work. But at least she was trying to take care of me.
I blew a breath out, pulled another one in, concentrating. This would be my first fight by myself, if, or when, it escalated to that. And the stakes for this one were so much higher.

  Suddenly Jaden was beside me. “Get back in,” I hissed. “If your mom leaves she’ll have no idea if you’re in there or not. Do you really want to hitchhike to Fort Wayne when no one can see you?”

  “Not going anywhere.”

  “But you can’t even help.”

  “I sure can. They’re fae.” I nearly stared crying right then and there. Even if Jaden didn’t know how to do anything, he could at least watch my back.

  A door opened and closed on the other side of the van. Nina scooted around the front and joined us. “Get back in the van, we’ll keep them locked out until help gets here.” As if she hadn’t already said that.

  “Not going to work.” I really, really wished it would though. “You should get in. Dan will kill me if something happens to you.”

  “No way.” Great. Nina had that determined look on her face. “Maybe we can talk with them, find out why they’re doing this.” Jaden and I exchanged looks. Did goblins even talk? I had no idea.

  “Don’t get your hopes up,” I said.

  The goblins were close now, too close. They acted like a typical biker gang, out popped the knives and chains. No guns though, that was good. I stood a much better chance against knives.

  Jaden held his hands up. “It’s fine. I’ll surrender.”

  “No,” I hissed again. I had to be the one to turn him in. If Starren caught wind of the fact that not only had I known where he was, but I’d helped him get out of the city, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting sent to Faerie. I’d be dead. Permanently. Why had I agreed to this? “Not happening.”

  “It’s worth a try. I don’t know what else to do. We don’t stand a chance against them,” Nina said.

  “What?” Oh, the talking thing. She hadn’t heard Jaden and she thought I was answering her question. “No talking. It’s not going to help.” I reached behind and pulled my sword from its invisible sheath, its light glittering in the sun.

  The goblins hooted and started laughing. Nina stared at me like I’d grown another head. “Ah, Trish? Where did that come from?”

  “Talk later.” I took an experimental swing at a goblin that had come a little too close. It swung out of the way easily, its friends laughing even harder. They were short, shorter than me, but so wide. They had to be strong. And the smell they gave off had to be one of their natural weapons, otherwise there was no reason for such a foul stench.

  Beside me, Jaden pulled a sword from his pocket. Thankfully I knew about that from Wade. Wade. We could really use him around right now. Who would have guessed I’d ever want to see his face again? They had popped up at the gas station, maybe they would here too. Right. Like they’d be here when I actually wanted them to be.

  Someone tapped on the window behind us. I glanced back in time to see Lucy slide the door open and hand Nina a tire iron, then slam the door closed and lock it. If they got close enough for her to use that, the whole van load was in trouble and Jaden and I were probably dead.

  “Get them,” the lead goblin growled.

  Four of them lunged at me, the others hanging back. I swung, slicing off a chunk of the first creature’s long bristly hair. Jaden moved in at my shoulder and we blocked them as they came at us. With a feint to the left, I drove forward and rammed my sword through the chest of one of them. The thing shrieked and then dissolved, sending the rest of its gang into shouts of rage. I gagged at the stench it left behind, doing my best not to breathe.

  “What are these things?” Nina shouted. I ignored her. Explaining that wasn’t exactly at the top of my priority list right now.

  Something banged on the other side of the van. Where had the rest of the goblins gone? Shoot. “Jaden quick, the other door!” He took off around the other side, leaving me four goblins to deal with. Four. Not too bad. Definitely better than one troll, right? The goblin in back scooted to his bike and unstrapped a bow. Okay, maybe not better.

  “We need the boy alive,” one of them reminded the one with the bow.

  It grunted.

  “I know. That’s why I shooting the girl.”

  He pulled the string back, letting an arrow fly our way. I knocked it down with my sword, then slashed at one of the goblins as it went for Nina. She took a swing at it with the tire iron and made contact with its hand, causing it to let out a screech.

  Hollering started on the other side of the van. One of them must have gone down. Or Jaden had. The goblin with the bow let another arrow fly. Something crashed on top the van, and then a goblin landed on me sending me to the ground. Nina was on it instantly, slamming it with her makeshift weapon. She must have gotten in a good blow because the thing dissolved.

  I looked up just in time to see an arrow leave the head goblin’s bow headed straight for Nina. No time to counter it. I slammed into Nina, knocking her to the ground. Searing pain ripped through my abdomen and I fell to the ground face first, blood soaking everything in sight.

  “Trish!” Nina dropped down and rolled me to my side. She dropped her iron and pushed on the wound, no doubt trying to stop the bleeding by applying pressure.

  “Now we get them both,” the goblin said. He dropped his bow and pulled a wicked curved blade out of a sheath at his belt.

  I tried to push myself up, but I was losing too much blood, making me feel like I was trying to swim through jello. Every movement ponderous. The sounds from the other side of the van had stopped. They must have gotten Jaden. This was it. I would wake up in a few hours somewhere in Faerie and Jaden would be gone. Maybe they would leave Rebecca and the girls alone. Probably not.

  And Nina… after she’d taken out one of them, what would they do to her? Tears squeezed out of my eyes. I wiped at them. No, nothing could happen to her. I wouldn’t let it. I wiggled around, trying to get up, but a tsunami of dizziness hit me, laying me flat back on the ground.

  The goblins moved forward. Nina grabbed my sword in her bloody hand and stood above me. She really was amazing. I panted, struggling to force myself to my knees. Why had I put Nina in danger to save myself? I was such an idiot. I should have just told her what was going on. Surely she wouldn’t have turned me over to some chop shop to be researched, right? Better than telling her, I should have said no when Starren offered me the deal in the first place. Just let the Council take me, to protect my family. But no. I was too stupid.

  Then Jaden ran from behind the van and moved between us and the remaining three goblins. I’d have hugged him right there if I hadn’t been flat on the ground and he wasn’t fighting for our lives. Metal flashed in the sun and one of the goblins evaporated. The two left snarled and moved into defensive positions.

  “What just happened?” Nina asked quietly. She crouched down beside me again, but kept both hands tightly gripping my sword.

  “Help’s here.”

  Jaden went at the goblins, anger in his every movement. He was defending his family, fueling whatever skills he had with a sword and making them twice as effective. And he must have had some serious skill. Apparently goblins weren’t the best of fighters, their strength was in numbers. It only took Jaden a moment to feint left then come back and drive his sword through the first goblin. The other one screeched, making me groan because I couldn’t cover my ears and hold pressure at the same time.

  I closed my eyes as soon as the last one blew away. The pain was getting better, but we had to get this arrow out. I was healing around it and it was going to hurt like heck to push it through.

  Nina stood and knocked on the window. A door opened, but I wasn’t with it enough to tell which one.

  “Call 911, get an ambulance here,” Nina said. She sounded totally freaked out. This was starting to get to her.

  “No, don’t,” I mumbled.

  “What?” She dropped down beside me and reapplied pressure, though
the wound was barely bleeding now.

  “I don’t need an ambulance. Just help me get it out.”

  “No, you never want to take an impaled object out of a person except in a hospital setting.” Her voice was shaking. Leave it to her to know that.

  “Rebecca,” I called, admittedly a little weakly. “Come help.”

  “What can I do?” Jaden asked.

  I bit my lip, trying not to cry. “Hold my hand.”

  “Okay,” Nina dropped my sword and gripped my left hand. Jaden moved over and grabbed my right, hovering over me like he actually cared for some reason. He shouldn’t let himself. I was turning him in no matter what. I blew out a breath. Where was the fainting when I needed it? That’s how my body usually dealt with severe injuries. Fall over, wake up healed. I liked that way much better.

  Little black dots swam across my vision. I blinked, trying to clear them.

  Rebecca pretty much fell out of the van to help. “What’s your power Trisha?”

  “Snap off the tip,” I panted. “Hurry.”

  She pulled my shirt up, ripping the cloth around the shaft to expose the wound. Though it was hard to see through the already crusting blood, the wound was just as it had felt like. All around the arrow was nearly healed.

  Nina bent over the wound and rubbed a bit of the blood away, never letting go of my hand. She stood. “What’s wrong with you people?” She pretty much yelled. “She needs an ambulance!” She dropped my hand and scrambled for the van.

  “Rebecca,” I said. It was all I could get out. She hit the remote lock and the van gave a pathetic little honk.

  Nina jerked on the door but it wouldn’t open. “Unlock this.” Nina’s voice was getting a little high. “Now. I need my phone.”

  “No, Trisha needs your help,” Rebecca said.

  Nina jerked on the door again and Jaime’s little face appeared in the window. Her eyes widened at the sight before Lucy’s hand forced her head down again.

  “Nina, please,” I practically begged. I never begged. Is this what family did to a person?