Thousand Year Switch

Chapter 17

I turned to look behind us. Sloan was a distant figure down the street, but he was making steady progress. "Get out, we'll run."

We both bailed out of the truck and hit the ground running. I grabbed Aden's shirt sleeve and tugged her onto the sidewalk, yelling, "Don't step on the road! Over here! We need to stay out of the range of the wires or we'll be electrocuted. You don't want to step in a puddle or you'll end up like that guy."

"Pray Sloan doesn't know that," she said.

I pictured Sloan being electrocuted; frying his stupid suit and knocking the smile right off his face. I desperately wished he wouldn't know any better and step in one of the massive puddles of murky water on the road. My lungs burned as I gasped in smog, legs pumping as we sprinted down the uneven sidewalk. It was hard to keep running over the piles of sliding plaster and wood, and I grabbed Aden's hand to study her as she nearly pitched forward. I dared a look back over my shoulder and my stomach lurched in panic. Sloan was running now, his long legs taking him over the distance with astonishing speed.

"He's catching up."

"Then run faster!"

The road was a little clearer ahead, mainly because the buildings that had been there were smaller, and there was less debris in our path. I must have been panting too hard to hear the rattle of the oncoming engine, because when the rickety Volkswagen beetle screeched to a stop beside us I nearly had a heart attack.

"Get in!" Morgan was half hanging out the window, her yellow curls streaming behind her, and she nearly decapitated herself when she slammed on the brakes. I seized the door handle and yanked the back door open with a rusty creak. As Aden and I threw ourselves onto the sticky vinyl seating we could hear Sloan cursing.

"Go!" Aden cried. "He's almost here!"

I had a moment of pure pee-your-pants terror as something slammed into the outside of the door. Sloan, eyes wide and angry, was clawing at the door handle. Then Morgan stomped on the gas and his figure on the sidewalk grew smaller as we raced into town. It must have been my imagination, but I swear I could hear him laughing faintly as we sped away.

"He looks pissed, or crazy – possibly both." I tried to keep my voice cool, as if I hadn't just screamed like a little girl. 

Aden groaned and let her head thump back against the head rest. "That was too close. What took you so damn long? He almost caught us!"

"I went to check if he'd descended – which he obviously has - and it's chaos over there. Sloan has taken a dozen or so Malake and the rest are all sort of hiding. They don't want to cross him, but it's so obvious he's gone way too far. They don't know what to do. Siding with the wrong leader could turn out very badly."

"Well, he doesn't have anyone with him right now. He must have been messing with us. Hopefully he didn't get a good look at you when you drove up here. It's clear who you've allied yourself with," Aden said. "And that's great and all, but aren't you worried about what he might do to you?"

Morgan shrugged, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. "Sometimes you have to live a little. Break the rules, you know?"

Aden shook her head. "You're nuts, but we appreciate the rescue."

"So now we're going to my house?" I said, "to complete my mother's heart attack?"

"Yup."