CAGED (#3, of Crows and Thorns)

Chapter 119

The raw power of the Mustang's engine vibrated beneath my boots, rattling and jostling my body. Nothing could be heard but the machine's deafening thunder, the scream of tires. Icy wind blustered through the open window, bringing with it the acrid smell of krekenn blood infused with gasoline, the smell of burning rubber. The wild currents of air raked at my hair, tugging at the collar of my armored jacket.

Focused on the twisting country road ahead, I clenched the steering wheel tightly. The car's headlights pierced the billowing banks of fog as we sliced right through, racing frantically toward my family's estate.

Rage had been my constant companion as I charged through the night, pushing the Mustang as fucking fast as it could go. Nelle's seething seemed endless. It boiled and spat through my veins, fouling my bloodstream and fraying the edges of my mind.

Urgency hackled the fine hair on my body. I'd kept a tight rein on the threads binding Nelle to me, sending soothing waves of calm along the lines of power, hoping to influence her mood as I'd done before when she'd needed an infusion of strength while she'd been searching for the escape tunnel beneath the Keep. But she was drowning beneath waves of anger. I couldn't sense my influence had eased her emotions even by one single degree.

I gripped the stick and dropped a gear, angling myself with the shuddering car as we skidded around the corner. Our wake scattered dead leaves to flurry behind us. Slamming my fucking foot down, I shifted back and forth from clutch to accelerator, punching through the gears, the supercharger pushing us faster, faster. Tall, gnarled trees thrust their crooked limbs up and over the narrow, uneven road creating a mist-enshrouded tunnel, and ahead, down the straight, were the rear lights of a convoy. The red lights began to expand from pin-pricks to brighter dots as I approached at a roaring, neck-breaking speed.

Nelle?

But the threads of power connecting us both were still weak as if she were still a distance away. I accelerated even faster, a rush of furious speed, vibrating metal and bitter fumes, to dodge past the three-deep convoy, frowning as I streaked by. My aunt maybe? My brothers?

I left the convoy behind and dug my phone from my bandoleer, rapidly scrolling to find a number, and pressed call. The Gate House answered on the second ring. Before they could even greet me, I barked above the sound of the roaring engine, "Open up the gates!'

"Gray—"

"NOW!"

Hanging up I tossed my phone onto the seat beside me. It slid into the tangle of harnesses and swords sheathed in leather.

As I closed in on the estate's gatehouse I slammed my fist on the horn, blaring my need for the guards to open the wall of iron and adamere up now! FUCKING NOW! The massive gates to the estate began to slide apart.

I kept up my manic speed. I sure as hells wasn't going to slow down. Yanking the steering wheel around, I gave a quick clutch-kick, countersteering as the Mustang's back wheels swung out with the loss of traction, transitioning sideways. The tires screamed, burning billows of whitish smoke like a blazing bonfire as I controlled the drift, throttling, and keeping a tight angle and line until the gates were dead ahead.