Chapter 11

Azlan

"Where the fuck are they?"I mutter. It's midday. The weak winter sun is as high in the sky as it's going to reach, its thin rays barely penetrating through the smoke that still drifts in the air.

It tickles the back of my throat and I cough.

"You wanna go without them?" Stone asks, peering at his watch and then back down the road. We've tucked ourselves down an alley between two of the buildings that hug the crossroads out here on the far side of the city. But there's still a risk we will be spotted again – we've already evaded three attempts to capture us.

Have the others faced similar obstacles? Were they not so lucky?

This plan was probably a stupid one. That car may be useful, but probably not worth getting ourselves captured over securing.

I should have insisted we stayed together. When we find Rhianna, when we ensure she's safe and sound, she's going to want all of us. All her mates and that best friend of hers too. I have a feeling she's going to hold me responsible for their safety and she's going to be pissed at me if I've lost one or two of them.

"Five more minutes," I say to Stone. "We give them five more minutes and then we go."

Those five minutes crawl by. I want to be away. I want to be active, doing something, even if all I am doing is closing the distance between us. My bond aches for her and I can't stand to be this far away from her.

My gaze swings between the empty road and the ticking hands of my wristwatch. Even out here on the edge of the city, these streets are usually bustling with traffic and people. But today, people have locked themselves away in their houses, hiding, sheltering, tending to their wounds.

The seconds creep by. I strain my eyes into the distance. Nothing.

I roll up the sleeves of my tattered shirt. I wish I had my fucking cloak.

"Let's go," I tell my friend, wheeling my motorbike out onto the road and jumping up on the saddle. He does the same and we're motoring away in the next moment, both alert, both watching the road in front of us and behind, plus the goddamn sky above us too.

We've been riding for barely ten minutes when Stone calls out.

"There's a vehicle coming up fast behind us."

"Shit!" I say, turning my head to peer back down the road. I can't tell if it's friendly or hostile. My guess is the latter.

I signal to Stone to hit the gas, and push the motorbike to go fast, so fast the vibrations from the engine make my bones rattle and the wind assault my face, the soot in the air making my eyes stream.

"They're closing on us!" Stone yells.

I swing my gaze left and right, looking for a way off the road, an escape. There is none, we're caged in by a fierce drop on one side and a tall barrier on the other. We have no choice, we're going to have to face whoever's coming our way.

I signal to Stone again and we slow the bikes. He draws up alongside me.

"We going to see these fuckers off?" he says.

"Yes," I answer, lowering the stand of my bike to the floor and readying myself.

The vehicle screeches closer, a puff of dark smoke trailing along behind it and the nearer it gets the less sure I am that it's an enemy.

"What the hell?" Stone mutters. "That car is seriously fucked up. It looks like it's hardly hanging together."

My shoulders relax. I lower my arms.

"It's Winnie," I say. "Winnie's car."

"That's the car?" Stone says as we watch the tin can draw closer. "That's the car you want us to ride out to the wastelands in? Are you fucking insane?" He strides back towards his bike, kicking the stand away.

"It's the fastest way," I tell him as the car jerks to a halt in front of us.

"That thing will fall apart before it's left the outskirts of Los Magicos and we'll be a goddamn easy target if we come under attack."

"Stone," I say more firmly, striding towards the passenger door, and flinging it open. "Get in!"

Stone mutters every curse word known to man under his breath and with a massive scowl on his face that makes him look like a five-year-old in a sulk, climbs into the back seat. I take the front one and slam shut the door.

"You were leaving without me?" Winnie says, in an accusing tone.

"Yes," I answer, "we didn't know if you'd made it and we couldn't afford to hang around waiting any longer. The republic forces are back in control of the city but rounding up men for interrogation. We didn't think it wise to hang around to answer their questions. Especially when it's unclear who is in charge." I peer towards the back seats. "Where's Moreau? Where's Trent?"

Winnie shifts her gaze towards the windscreen and shakes her head. "Trent's okay, I hope. But when we arrived at the academy, there were the republic's security forces there too and they tried to arrest me and Spencer. I got away. They took Spencer."

"And how about Tristan and," I swallow, "Ellie. Have they made contact on the radio?"

"I didn't get a chance to hang around for any radios," Winnie says. She peers out at the road. "Do you want to go back to the mansion?"

I shift my gaze to the windscreen too, staring out at the road ahead. That seems like an impossible choice. My sister could be in trouble. But so is my mate. I've vowed to myself to protect and look after both of them. And while my bond and my heart are pulling me towards the wastelands, that doesn't mean my heart isn't also pulling me back towards the mansion.

"Ellie's with Tristan," Stone says. "Whatever has happened to them, he'll look after her."

"He just almost got himself killed," I huff. "In fact, if it wasn't for my aunt, he would be dead."

"I hate to admit it about the asshole," Winnie says, "but he's skilled and powerful. He's won the academy's Principal Prize and the Excellence in Magic Award the last two years running."

"And was more than influential in helping the academy win the Transatlantic cup," Stone adds, somewhat reluctantly.

"I think the professor is right," Winnie says, already hitting dials on the dashboard. "Your sister and Tristan have each other. Rhi has no one and every minute we waste, god knows what that psychopath is doing to her."