Accepting Fate - (Slums to Riches, Book one)

Chapter 14

It took a moment for Angelique to realize the boy was not keeping count for his friends, but used his hands to tap a message in Morse code. By then, the boy, dressed in ripped jeans and a t-shirt far too large for his thin frame, jumped onto the SUV and scrambled over the roof. When he tapped an abbreviated message, she reached over and opened the back windows an inch each.

Ben spun around to glare at her. "What are you doing?"

Her eye-roll earned her a giggle from Jamie.

"You don't have roof racks, Ben," Jamie said. "He needs something to hold onto."

"Ride, old man. That smelly git is getting closer. Eve sent us to help you."

Angelique spun around and flapped her hand at Ben. She could just make out the patchy blue paint on the front of Bob's car as he came around the corner. "Go. He's getting too close."

Ben kept a safe distance between them while they drove up the mountain, but stopping allowed Thomas to close the gap. Ben now slammed the car into gear and sped by the boys, who threw their rocks at the blue monstrosity Andrew built from spare parts. The frame and engine belonged to a '90s-model golf, but Andrew modified parts from other cars to fit the Bob's. Some places still had industrial tape tying it together, and the exhaust dragged on the road, shooting sparks at anyone who drove to close. Most days it stood in front of the Harlows, rusting away.

Brown hair—too short to tie, but long enough to look untidy—flapped against a young, brown face with a light shading of stubble along a square chin. Pale-blue eyes with a hint of mischief peeked at Angelique through the gap between the roof and window.

"Thanks. I'm Riley," he shouted. "Got any water?"

Angelique raised an eyebrow but held out her hand to Jamie, who passed her a bottle. She did not want to know what they fed him in that vampire nest. Though he could do with a few extra kilos, he looked healthy enough.

Instead of drinking the water, Riley allowed the water to spray behind them. Jamie pointed at the rear window, screaming with laughter. The other boys must have succeeded in busting out the windscreen of Bob's car, because Thomas swerved from left to right to dodge the flying water. His enraged roar rattled the windows and echoed around the silent mountain. The swerving opened the gap between them and Ben used it to get as far away as he could. Jamie, however, passed a second bottle to Riley when he dropped his hand to the window.

"So, he's afraid of water after all," Angelique said.

"Are you kidding? That meat suit would right off his bones and then that demon—"

"Jameline does not need to hear shit like that!" Ben yelled when Jamie's face paled. "You better hold on. I'm going too fast to slow down before the ridge."

For a few seconds, the car was airborne. Jamie screamed as she rose from her seat. A loud "he-haw" came from above, followed by a muffled "oof" when they landed. The wheels shot up dust and grit, since they overshot the twist which veered them towards the western end of the mountain. Ben regained control and steered them back onto the road.

Two hours after leaving the garage at the foot of the mountain, they started their decline. Though the road up had many twists and turns, flat stretches, and steep inclines, the road down appeared straight with subtle bends, and fed into the road leading around the mountain. And they were speeding towards it.

Ben swore and punched a number into his phone. "Please tell me you're at the gate," he said as soon as the call connected. With it inside the cradle attached to his dashboard, Logan's response resounded through the car.

"Why didn't you call me when you left the diner, like we arranged? I'm at the east side of Terra, too far from the gate."

Ben hit the steering wheel and growled. "I had more pressing issues to deal with, like the demon on our asses. Get to the damn gate, or call Alex to open for us."