"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.

I sprang atop the hood. Reared back my monstrous blue fist, and smashed the windshield. A single crack ran down the glass. I punched it again. A web-work of cracks splintered the window.

The driver panicked, swinging the wheel back and forth. My next strike punctured the glass. I gripped the edge of the windshield and jerked hard, pulling it clear, and flinging it away. The driver screamed and pulled hard on the steering wheel. The turn was too much for the vehicle to handle. The trailer went sideways, jackknifing across the highway. I saw terror in the eyes of the Darkwater people stuck to the driver's side of the cab.

"Throw them on top!" Elyssa shouted, her car swerving next to the truck. I swung to the driver door, pulling at the sticky mass holding the Arcanes prisoner. It came loose with a sucking pop, though it still bound them together. I dropped the screaming Arcanes atop the roof of Elyssa's supercar where it held them fast.

I saw one of the two Arcanes on the passenger side cast a spell with his staff, and they jumped, rolling in a transparent ball of what looked like jelly. It bounced off the road and into the woods on the side. Only the driver remained as the trailer, tires smoking, listed to the side.

"Hit the brakes, you idiot!" I called out, my voice deep and guttural.

The man screamed and jammed his foot down.

The trailer jerked. The cab shuddered. The rig shifted left and hurtled into the grass median. A frightened roar burst from my mouth, joining the cries of the truck driver as we barreled across the median and into oncoming traffic. I saw two semi-trucks roaring toward us as we bounced over the shoulder and into the road.

Their tires locked. Rubber screeched. Tortured tires bounced and smoked. I grabbed the driver, saw he was buckled in, and snapped the belt off. I jerked him through the window and leapt. Thankfully, I landed in the grass in the median, skidding on my back with the hysterical driver on top of me.

Metal shrieked, clattered, and groaned as the goliath trucks smacked each other. With a flick of my wrist, I popped the driver in the back of head. His shouts cut off abruptly as he went to la-la land. Before anyone noticed my blue skin, horns, and demonic six-pack abs, I pushed my infernal essence back into its cave until my body returned to normal. I knew I shouldn't have manifested where noms could see me, but the truck driver had left me little choice.

The truck sat in the middle of the northbound lane with the other two big rigs pinned against the cab. The semi-trailer rested nearly perpendicular to the accident. I hoped Mom was okay in there. She was an angel, but this ride had been enough to make even the hardiest supernatural toss their lunch.

Traffic behind the accident snarled. Horns honked, and people sprang from their cars, phones recording the scene. The police would be here soon, and explaining a trailer that couldn't be opened would be impossible. I heard sirens in the distance and realized how little time remained.

I ran to the accident. The drivers of the other two trucks looked okay. They'd slowed enough to avoid more than front-end damage. I heard a thrumming noise to the east, and looked up to see a large black helicopter rise above the tree line. Racing behind the semi-truck cab, I found a box on the side of the trailer, and pulled the lever inside. Air hissed as the rear end of the truck sank from the hydraulics releasing air. I ran to the crank near the front of the trailer, jammed it into place, and spun it as fast as I could until the metal feet of the trailer touched the road. Reaching beneath the trailer toward the hitch, I disengaged the lock.

The truck cab wasn't going anywhere, meaning I had to do this the hard way. Bracing my feet against the trailer and my back against the cab, I pushed with all my might. I feared the cab might bend with the stress, but the reinforced frame held. I heard a click. A grinding noise. The trailer feet slammed onto the asphalt as the hitch came free.

"Holy crap did you see what that kid did?" someone yelled.

I looked down to see one of the other truck drivers staggering from his cab holding a hand to his bleeding forehead. The helicopter hovered overhead. A diamond fiber net harness unfolded from a hatch in the bottom, unfurling down both sides of the trailer. I pulled on the straps, sealing them beneath it. I crawled out, and gave a thumbs-up to the Templar pilot.

The slider—disguised as a military helicopter—strained upward, the extra weight of the trailer obviously dragging it down. I didn't know how much weight the levitation spell could bear, but somehow the slider managed to rise while bystanders gawked at the spectacle. It struggled to stay level and rose straight up until the trailer cleared the trees then glided away.

A thundering noise echoed in the south. The silhouettes of more aircraft appeared on the horizon. Probably news choppers or cops. I raced across the road where Elyssa waited. She'd popped a Lancer dart in each of the Darkwater Arcanes formerly glued to her roof, freed them from the sticky mass, and situated them on the median. I spotted the other Arcanes who'd abandoned ship before the crash pointing at us and running our way.

Elyssa hit them with darts, and they unceremoniously face-planted into the grass. "Let's go," she said, extending driving gloves from her nightingale armor as she slid into the driver seat. Elyssa pulled a U-turn, tires wailing against pavement, and shot off the road, down the embankment to avoid the traffic. We skidded on the grass. Elyssa flicked a switch and the tires found purchase, spinning up dirt and grass behind us.

We met the road, dodged between stopped cars, and jetted across the median to the northbound side, which was clear thanks to the accident. I looked through the rear window and saw two small black helicopters charging our way.

"I don't think those are police," I said.

"Must be Darkwater reinforcements," Elyssa muttered, looking in the rearview mirror and jamming the gearshift down.

I hoped our chopper had gotten away before they'd seen it. The other Darkwater Arcanes shouldn't have had time to report it. Traffic thickened ahead. Elyssa threaded through, but it cost us speed, and the choppers were closing. The touchscreen interface in the console blinked at me and dinged.

Aether batteries low. Please connect to a charger.