Forever Night (Darkness Falls Book 3)

Chapter Twenty-One

Anger burned through me, turning my bones, my muscles, my eyes to flame.

"He's one of Rachel's vampires," I growled, my fingers digging into the back of Riley's seat.

"What?" She threw a frightened look back at me. Her hands tightened on the wheel.

I glared through the windscreen at the vampires, at their hostile faces and gleaming fangs, and imagined the grim thrill of stabbing each and every one of them. But I couldn't. Even with the weapons in the boot, we were sorely outnumbered, and Riley couldn't even fight.

This was what Rachel wanted. She'd sent her minions to intimidate us, knowing that we couldn't fight back against this many. I scanned the street outside the car. Was she out there somewhere, watching, getting her sick kicks from scaring us? Or did she hope that I'd be stupid enough to pick a fight I couldn't win? It wasn't my life that would be in danger if I did that – Riley was the most vulnerable one here, and the one that the vampires would go for while the rest of us were trying to fight.

I wouldn't risk my best friend's life for a shot at Rachel's minions.

The vampires ran towards us, and Riley, genuinely scared now, threw the gear stick into reverse. Tyres squealed on the road as the car shot backwards, zigzagging across the road and almost mounting the curb. I gripped the edge of my seat and held on. If Riley kept up that kind of driving, she'd be a bigger threat than the vampires.

One of the vampires leaped into the air with cat-like grace, landing on the bonnet hard enough to dent the metal.

"Hey," Riley yelled, anger flaring up and overtaking her fear. "This is my mum's car."

She shifted gear again and slammed her foot on the clutch. The car shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. The vampire lost his footing, sliding off the bonnet and crashing onto the ground. Another vampire charged, apparently unafraid of the car speeding towards it, even as the others darted out of the way.

"Don't stop, Riley," I said.

Her jaw was set, her eyes glinting with determination. "Wasn't going to."

Too late the vampire running at us realised Riley wasn't bluffing. The car smashed into him and the vampire flew through the air like a broken doll, bouncing off the roof and sliding down the back of the car to lie in a heap of shattered limbs in the road.

The other vampires quickly recovered themselves, chasing after us. Riley backed up again, zooming backwards down the road. The vampires threw themselves out of the way to avoid being run over, but one wasn't fast enough and the bumper clipped her leg.

"Hah!" Riley yelled, making a rude gesture out of the window. "Take that, you bastards."

"Great work." Ethan squeezed her thigh. "Now maybe you can get us out of here."

Riley heeded his advice and took off down the road like a bat out of hell. We screeched around corner after corner, and ran two red lights before I realised Riley's hands were shaking so hard that the car was making little swerves across the road.

"Shit," she breathed. "I hit someone. Shitshitshitshit –"

"Riley, pull over," I said.

Her hands clutched the steering wheel, jerkily turning it as we rounded another corner. "Can't. They'll catch us." Her eyes kept darting to the mirror and back, frantic little looks.

I grabbed her shoulder. "We've left them behind. Riley, you need to pull over before we crash."

I didn't really think we would crash – her driving wasn't that bad – but it was erratic enough that we were in danger of being pulled over by the boys in blue. Then we'd have to explain the underage driver without a licence, the borrowed car, the feet-shaped dents in the bonnet, and worst of all, the considerable stash of sharp pointy things stored in the boot. There was no way we could explain away all of that.

"Riley, she's right," Ethan said, gently squeezing her leg again.

His words had more effect than mine did. Riley brought the car to a shuddering stop almost smack-bang in the middle of the road. Another car hit its horn as it sped past, the driver angrily mouthing something at us.

Riley prised her hands off the wheel and clenched them together to stop them shaking. "I hit someone," she whispered.

"Yeah, someone that would have killed us," Ethan growled.

That didn't make it any better for Riley. Me and Luke and Ethan – we were used to violence. We'd dealt with it up close, and we'd suffered at the hands of it more time than any of us cared to remember. But Riley was still new to this. Yes, that vampire would have killed us if he had got his hands on us, but coming close to taking a life was a huge shock to the system of any normal person. And Riley, so outlandish in other ways, was very normal in this respect.

I patted the headrest. "Come on, change places."

Riley didn't argue. She scrambled into the back and I took the driver's seat. At least Noah had done one good thing in his life – teaching me to drive. While I adjusted the seat to compensate for my shorter legs, Luke and Ethan switched places so Ethan could sit in the back with Riley. Even clenched together her hands were still shaking, and he took them in his, holding them steady and murmuring to her.

"You were amazing back there," he told her.

"Too right," Luke added.

I turned the key in the ignition and started the engine. Despite her shock, Riley had been smart enough to take the long way home so it would be harder for the vampires to follow her. But halfway home, a wave of horror swept over me as I realised the one thing that a roundabout route home wouldn't change.

The vampires had seen Riley's licence plate.