“Drones. I hear drones.”
Chapter Two
The sound of approaching drones was right at our backs by the time we burst into the clearing. Helgi looked up from loading Vixen.
“We have to move. Now,” Vesper ordered. “The drones are here, and they’ll have spread out onto the main routes.”
“So, what do we do?” Bran asked.
Vesper gazed eastward. “There is one route we could take where the drones wouldn’t follow.”
No, Azazel whispered in my mind.
Ice trickled through my veins. “The warping. Are you serious?”
Helgi paled. “That’s not a real thing, is it?”
The mercs broke into murmurs but the buzz of drones was louder now, almost upon us.
“We have to move,” Vesper said.
There was no choice but to follow Vesper’s suggestion even though the thought made my skin itch with foreboding. No one had moved, despite Vesper’s order.
They’re waiting for you.
Shit. “Let’s move. Now.”
Helgi picked up Gemma and put her onto the buggy, and the others clambered on quickly.
“Drive east,” Vesper instructed. “Don’t stop, just drive. Anya and I will be right behind you.”
This time Helgi didn’t wait to be told twice. Vixen roared to life, and they were off in a spray of dust. I turned to Vesper, but he was already in Dreki form, not his full-size version but a smaller, mountable one.
Get on. His voice was a rough growl in my head. He wasn’t happy about me riding him.
Yeah, not on my list of favorite things to do either, buddy. Using his scales as grips, I hauled myself onto his back, and then he set off at a run that would have given a wildcat a run for its money. The world whizzed by and then we were neck and neck with Vixen. Bran let out a whoop and the mercs joined in. Once again we were running for our lives, and instead of being terrified I was bloody exultant.
There was something seriously wrong with this picture. My scalp prickled, a tell-tale sign of danger. We crested a rise and the source came into view. The air before us moved and wavered as if overheated by the sun’s rays, except the day was relatively cool.
This was the spot we were aiming for.
The warping.
Vesper picked up the pace. We were almost there. Stone buildings came into view, blurry but real. We were headed into urban territory.
“Drones at three o’clock,” Helgi yelled over the roar of the engine.
Shit. They were coming in fast, silver discs eager to cut us off before we hit the haze in front of us.
Helgi punched the gas and the buggy shot forward, overtaking us, but Vesper wasn’t about to be outrun. He ducked his head and picked up the pace, his wings flaring out to catch the air, and for a moment we were airborne, a mere foot off the ground but still. My stomach dropped and then bounced up as we landed, his clawed feet pushing at the ground, forcing it back and propelling us forward. With the wind tangling in my hair and stealing my breath, the drones faded into the background; there was only my blood pounding in my ears and Vesper’s rough scales against my palms, only the sensation of his body between my thighs, and fuck did that feel good.
“Nine o’clock!” Helgi shouted.
We were barely a quarter of a mile from the haze now and the drones were running a pincer movement. It was going to come down to speed, nothing else.
Get down, Vesper ordered. Flush to my back.
He wanted to be more streamlined. Made sense. I hit his scales, holding on for dear life. In my periphery I saw Vixen pick up speed. But it wasn’t gonna be enough. And then the Dreki frame beneath me began to expand. Fucking hell, was he morphing mid-run? My stomach did the drop thing again as the flap of Vesper’s wings spanned the air. Someone screamed, and then the mercs’ whoops and exclamations filled the air. The urge to sit up and look was a claw in the back of my skull; instead I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed my cheek to Vesper’s back, reveling in the cutting pressure of his scales against my skin.
Don’t let go.
Every inch of my body sparked to life. Every hair stood to attention, and then there was silence, eerie, deadly, and unnatural. My ears felt odd, heavy and full. Shit. I cracked my jaw and both ears popped, allowing sound to spill in and fill my head. Sobs and laughter and curses.
We made it. You can get off now. Vesper’s tone was tight.
God, he was a dick. Swinging my leg round and dismounting, I gave him a mocking pat on the back.
Don’t make me bite you, Anya.
“Try it if you want to lose your teeth.”
Helgi arched a brow.
I jerked a thumb in Vesper’s direction. “I was talking to him.”
Vesper’s snort was part humor part derision, but he was the last thing on my mind because damn this place was something else. Behind us the world was a haze, but around us it was a tapestry of stone merging with nature. Ivy was king here, and moss…So much fucking moss. The paving stones were green with it. Vesper morphed back into his human form, his body crackling with static and power. His cobalt eyes blazed for a moment and then dulled to their usual vibrancy. He inhaled and exhaled, and a shudder ripped through him.
“You okay?” Helgi asked.
He nodded. “Fine. We need to head northeast. It’s a trek, several miles, but as long as the warping doesn’t shift it should bring us to the borders of the Furtherlands.”
Yes, Azazel had mentioned that this land moved around, although wrapping my mind around that was another story.
Helgi made a sound of exasperation. “The damn engine won’t start.”
“Leave it,” Vesper said. “The magick here is unpredictable. It’s disabled the vehicle’s mechanics, and it may restore it soon, but we cannot afford to wait.”
The children gazed about, their tiny faces frightened and wary. They could sense the otherworldliness of this place. It was a prickle across my scalp and a pricking of the blood in my fingers.
“It’s going to be all right.” I picked up Gemma and hauled her onto my hip. “It will be an adventure.”
Helgi lifted Neddie onto her shoulders. “Hold on, buddy, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.” She bobbed up and down, making him squeal in delight.
Vesper snorted in annoyance. “If you’re done playing, we should get moving.”
“They ain’t playing, dude,” Bran said shortly. “They’re making sure the kids stay calm. Don’t you have kids in the Furtherlands?”
Vesper’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t have time to play with children. There’s a war going on.”
There’s also a stick up his arse, Azazel whispered in my head. I bit back a smile. This wasn’t the Vesper I’d come to know in the hours we’d spent together. The Vesper I knew was sarcastic and projected a relaxed demeanor even in a dire situation, so his being so agitated now could mean only one thing—every situation we’d come upon till now had merely been a teaser of dire.
“Let’s just get out of here.” Adjusting Gemma on my hip, I set off at a brisk pace. Bran rounded up June and Stefan and we were on the move.
The air felt thicker here, sluggish, as it made its way in and out of our lungs, and a strange whirr and buzz filled the air. We walked silently for long minutes, down a narrow street lined with derelict residences. People had lived here once. Humans with families and pets and lives. It was eerily preserved by the magick that hung in the air, and if the hairs on the back of my neck weren’t standing to attention warning me to keep moving, I’d have stopped to explore this place a little. But Vesper was up ahead and moving fast, forcing us to keep up.