Page 88 of Deck of Scarlets
Chloe bolted through a red light, jerking our bodies around as we entered the highway.
It requires my blood and your hair.
Excuse me?
Now’s not the time to have this conversation. Next time, don’t go through drastic measures and maybe keep your phone on too, he reprimanded.
What the hell? His blood? My hair? What kind of sick freak collects someone’s hair to locate their Scarlet?
Who builds a mental wall up and hides from the world? he muttered.
“We’re taking the tunnel. It’ll get us there faster,” announced Chloe from the front.
Baron groaned. “I hate the tunnel.”
“It helps to skip all the traffic,” mentioned Josh.
Not quite sure what they meant, I looked at Baron. “What’s the tunnel?”
“The tunnel was built about twenty years ago. It’s a way for us to travel throughout the states without getting caught in traffic.”
Chloe veered the van onto a random exit, still somewhat in the city, and swerved between cars, dodging every possible side swipe, or almost collision. I was thankful I only drank water back at the restaurant.
It was only a matter of time before my family realized my disappearance, but I let that concern sit in the back of my mind as I focused on the present.
Taking a sharp right, we ended up in a narrow alleyway, the van barely skimming by between brick buildings on either side. Chloe slammed her foot down on the gas pedal, picking up speed, heading straight at a closed garage door. My heart ended up in my stomach, clutching the handle with both hands for dear life. Why hasn’t she slowed down?
I closed my eyes, waiting for impact, or hoping Chloe would come to her senses, when the van suddenly came to an abrupt halt. I felt like the air was knocked out of me, struggling to control my labored breaths, like I ran a marathon.
Open your eyes, Rem. Josh’s voice, a soothing tone, coaxed me out of my panic state.
“You missed the best part,” deadpanned Baron. He breathed hard through his nose, sporting an ashen face.
Taking notice of his shaky appearance, I wasn’t even going to attempt to ask how we managed to bypass all that heavy traffic.
Chloe put the van in park and exited the vehicle only to slide open the back door, gesturing for us quickly to exit. Parked a few spots down sat an identical van but no sign of Emilia or Cillian.
Josh followed my line of sight and scowled. “Impatient pricks.”
Chloe yanked me aside and clasped the same amethyst pendant Josh had worn underneath his shirt around my neck, whispering a few words while she clenched it in her fist.
After she released it, I touched the smooth stone as it hung from my neck. It was cool to the touch; even under the lampposts, it glittered.
Chloe handed me a folded piece of paper. “Two words. One to conceal, one to reveal. Right now, you’re concealed. Nobody can see us but each other.”
Tucking the paper in one of the many pockets on my pants, I surveyed the landscape. About seven three-decker apartments sat untouched for what seemed like years. With boarded-up doors and half-shattered glass windows, only a small overgrown patch of grass was left behind. It even had a junkyard of beat-up cars.
The street we parked on was empty. Not a single pedestrian in sight. Some of the lampposts flickered the muggy summer heat hanging in the air. Whatever material they used to make our fighting gear prevented any chance of sweating to death.
“Where are the others?” Josh questioned, adjusting his quiver and bow.
“Probably ran ahead because we were late,” commented Baron.
Chloe pulled out her pager and flipped the screen up, revealing a wider view. “I guess they shot a tracker on one. That could explain their disappearance.”
“Leaving four trainees out in the wide open is a rookie mistake.” Josh got his bow ready, pulling a sleek arrow from the quiver.
I was either going to die or get seriously hurt if I didn’t get my shit together.