Twice as Hot (Tales of an Extraordinary Girl #2)(44)
Author: Gena Showalter

Thirty.

Yep. Once again, there was an increase.

Why would the driver be so blithe about this? He – she? – didn’t seem to care that I knew what was going on.

"Parked car approaching," Sherridan said, gaining my attention.

I switched my gaze to the road and swerved to avoid impact with a pickup. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

My cell phone beeped, and Sherridan quickly pressed speaker again.

"I’m almost there," Rome said without preamble. "And John did not put a tail on you. You okay?"

"Yeah. Thankfully, they aren’t doing anything menacing. They’re just keeping pace with us."

"Could be Memory Man," he said, voicing my earlier thought. "Can you see the driver?"

"Not even a hint. The windows are too dark."

He cursed. "A man who can make you forget that you’ve seen him wouldn’t worry about keeping his identity hidden, so I doubt it’s him."

Good point. So who was it? "If they wanted to talk to me, why not do it while I was loading my supplies in my car? I would have been a captive audience."

"The security there. The cameras. We’ll find out. Later. Right now I only care about your emotions.

How are they?" Rome asked.

"Fine, they’re fine." I turned the wheel to avoid another parked car, then eased back to my side of the road. "No freezing or – "

Something shattered my back window. Startled, I accidentally swerved, my right front tire popping a curve.

Sherridan screamed.

"Duck," I shouted, hammering my foot on the gas and revving us to sixty in just a few seconds. Fear swam through me.

Thankfully she obeyed, throwing herself on the floorboard. Her eyes were wide as saucers as she panted, "What about you?"

"What the hell happened?" Rome demanded before I could reply.

"They freaking shot at us!" Sweat broke out over my skin, but the fear still surging through me instantly froze it, leaving me covered in a fine sheen of ice.

There was a loud pop, then a bang, something slamming into the back of the car, causing us to jerk forward and back. Sherridan belted out another scream.

"Belle!" Rome. "Talk to me. Are you hit?"

"They just rammed us, and I think they flattened a tire, but we’re good." But for how long? I was coming to a dead end. "I’m going left on…Maple," I said. I didn’t let my foot off the gas, so the tires (or what was left of them) squealed.

"I see them," Rome growled. "Go left on Pine and then keep going straight. There’s an exit to the main road about three blocks down."

At the next turn, I spiked the wheel. Once again the tires squealed and Sherridan and I were thrown to the side as the car veered sharply. "What are you going to do to them? I don’t want to leave you to – "

"Do what I told you." Click.

From the rearview, I watched as Rome’s sedan approached. (See? A sedan.) Closer to them…closer.

He slammed his car into theirs. Both pivoted, and Rome rammed forward again. This time, the bad guy’s vehicle turned a full circle.

I lifted my foot from the pedal, cracking the ice that had bloomed from me and bound me to it, and the car slowed. I took another turn, then another, wanting Sherridan as far away from the action as I could get her. Unfortunately, the cold sweat had solidified all over me, making my motions stiff, my clothing uncompromising. The ice had even slithered to the car’s dash, freezing the gauges. Much more, and the car itself would be useless.

Glancing around, I found a shadowed alcove in the back of a house. Sure, I didn’t know who the house belonged to and the owners didn’t know me or Sherridan, but I pulled into the garage and parked anyway.

"Rome said to head to the main road."

"Yes, well, I haven’t pledged to love, honor and obey him yet. Stay with the car," I told Sherridan as I unbuckled. Rome would need help, so help he would get.

"No. I – "

"If you don’t, the home owners might try to have it towed. Don’t let anyone inside. Oh, and there’s a gun in the glove box. If you feel threatened, start shooting and ask questions later." I didn’t give her time to refuse me. I just hopped out of the car and booked it to the street where I’d left Rome. Along the way, I allowed my fear to grow and fester. Soon, even the street beneath me possessed a patina of ice.

My agency-regulated boots slipped and slid, and twice I almost fell. Somehow, though, I managed to maintain my balance.

What would I find? Rome – shot to death? God, I hated thinking like that, but right now it was to my benefit. Even as I thought it, ice balls formed in both of my hands. I clutched them tightly, keeping them at the ready.

Finally, the two combatants came into view. No one had emerged from their cars. Instead, the vehicles were still ramming together, metal crunching against metal. In the distance, I could hear sirens. Much longer, and the police would arrive. PSI would have to do cleanup, and that would piss John off royally.

The world could not learn about the paranormal underground cohabiting with them. They’d panic.

They’d probably try and hunt us down, kill us all. Melodramatic? I didn’t think so. I’d watched all four X-Men movies.

I had to get Rome out of here before someone attempted to arrest him. But how?

I inched closer to the action, doing my best to remain hidden by bushes. Rome finally managed to pin the bad guy’s car into a tree. He threw open his door, staying low to the ground. His assailant got out, too, but I couldn’t see him because he was low to the ground. Through the slit between road and car I could see his feet, though. Boots. Big boots. Definitely a man.

"State your business," Rome demanded.

"We just want the girl."

We?

Another pair of feet hit the ground. Then another. Dear God. There were three men – all training their weapons on Rome, most likely. Teeth grinding together, I sharpened my focus to the man closest to me, the one who made the mistake of straightening to try and ferret out Rome’s location, and let one of my burdens fly. I missed. The ice ball slammed into their car, spreading quickly and lethally.

"Get back!" Rome shouted at me.

A pop. A whiz.

I dove for the ground. I didn’t feel the bullet sail overhead but I knew that one had, the air above me blistering. Move! You’re out in the open. I rolled as swiftly as I could, hiding behind a fence of bushes.

Another pop. Another whiz. The dirt just in front of the bushes exploded, spraying in every direction.

"Why?" Rome asked, drawing their attention away from me. "Why do you want her?" Damn him! I didn’t want them shooting at him, either.