The Demon's Grave (20 page)

Aidan winced, Read frowned as if I had broken some man-rule.

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Never thought it was,” Aidan growled, shutting me down. “But this nightmare still exists. I just didn’t think that I’d be repeating it for real. To top it off, I’m dragging friends with me.”

“You’re not dragging us anywhere,” Read said with certainty. “We said in that first Challenge that we’d do this together.”

I glanced at Read, hoping to catch his eye.

Aidan looked away, scowling. For an instant I saw the anger that emitted from the doppelgänger in the previous Challenge. The creeping suspicion returned. If this was the real Aidan, which I believed it was, he could still turn into that bitter guy soaked through and blaming me for everything. The Others had been right about Robin. Before I could indulge the idea further my thoughts were snapped out of their focus.

“Listen,” Read said firmly, “I’m just as freaked out as you two, but we need to keep our heads.”

“Aidan…‌”

Aidan held up his hands to silence me before crossing them over his chest, “I’m thinking.”

Read gave me a “
We have to think up something fast”
raise of his thin eyebrows.

Twisting back around, I reached up and touched Aidan’s cheek with my fingertips to get him to look at me. The moment his piercing eyes swept to meet mine, it all felt far more intimate than I intended.

Drawing back my hands as if I’d been slapped, I stuttered. “Auh-Auh-all we had to do in mine was admit it was a nightmare. Maybe it’ll work this time?”

Aidan’s eyes shimmered with doubt. “If something happens to anyone…‌” He frowned, refusing to finish his sentence, but he didn’t have to.

The pressing silence turned our attention to the group of bikers on the corner of the street.

These people were no different than the other occupants of this world. Two of the five had eyes this time‌—‌well at least three eyes all together‌—‌but still harbored other deformities.

Aidan nodded to them. “I was on foot in my nightmare. I don’t want to try and outrun a restored Maserati A6G, especially if this is going to be real.”

Read whistled impressed, though I had no idea what a restored Maserati looked like. I could only conclude it was fast and expensive.

I inspected the heavy-looking bikes and frowned. “You’re going to steal those bikes? Do you even know how to ride one?”

“I do,” Read volunteered.

“All three of us can’t fit on one bike,” I pointed out. “And there’s five of them against three of us.”

Read grimaced. “Then let’s hope one of you is a fast learner. At least one of the bikes should fit two.”

Seeing me gape, Aidan held up his hands for me to see, attempting to keep me calm. “I didn’t say we’d be stealing them. These people weren’t in my dream. Maybe it’s how we can find the black door.”

Before I could utter a word, Aidan started for the bikers again. I realized he hadn’t answered my question whether he could actually handle a motorbike. I knew I couldn’t. The craziest thing I’d ever driven was my Mom’s sedan. Rebellious, right?

Shuffling behind Aidan, I looked up to see the only woman‌—‌who could be in her mid-twenties‌—‌peel back her lips in a toothy, sardonic smile. “Well, well, if it isn’t Hansel and Gretel.”

I had to bite my lip from blurting, “
Are you the wicked witch?
” For all I knew, she could be.

She wasn’t deformed like the rest of her posse. Her face could have been pretty if she pulled it out of the permanent lip-sneer. Dark brown hair was back in a tight ponytail and she wore actual black leather chaps and a jacket. She paid particular attention to Read‌—‌most girls do.

I half hid between Aidan and Read as the five began to circle.

Aidan offered his friendly smile to the witch-woman. “Actually, we need a ride,” he said in a casual off-hand tone.

The woman glanced at the three of us and rasped a laugh. “You serious, kid?”

Kid?
We couldn’t have been more than a few years younger than her, maybe even the same age. The five had completely surrounded us at this point. One of them was standing disturbingly close to my left. I could feel the body heat against my bare shoulder.

My chin had to tilt up to see his face, he was much taller than I‌—‌than any of us. Aidan was our tallest and he was almost a head shorter. The tall man sported a shaved head riddled with an oversized black tattoo of what could have been a skull, but I couldn’t make it out from my angle.

He had at least one eye, which blinked long lashes at me.

I grimaced, before attempting to control my expression. His left eye had been smoothed over, like it had never existed. He didn’t have eyebrows either.

He licked his lips at me slowly.

I jerked my head away before my face could betray the disgust roiling in my stomach. Taking a new grip on Aidan’s arm, I stood oppressively close, any closer and I’d be shoving him.

Read gestured to their parked bikes. “Where are you off to?”

A teenager, maybe fifteen, replied. He stood on the other side of Read. “We’re going to the next city.” He flicked a cigarette butt onto the sidewalk then blew smoke through the triangular hole where his nose should have been.

I had to give Read credit for not coughing when he spoke. “We’re looking for a ride.”

“It’ll cost yah,” the girl looked him up and down, arching dramatic, pencil-thin eyebrows.

I had to hide my face in Aidan’s shoulder to stop the persistent tickle from the lingering cigarette smoke.

“How much?” I heard Read ask.

Peeking, I saw the teenager smile wide, showing all five pristine teeth. “A hundred bucks,” he tilted his head and looked at Aidan and me. “Each.”

I believe Baldy behind me chuckled, or maybe it was indigestion, I couldn’t tell.

We didn’t have that kind of money. I had ten dollars and a glass key in my pocket. I wasn’t sure what Read and Aidan were carting around with them but it certainly wasn’t three-hundred dollars.

“No, problem,” Aidan replied, not missing a beat, even sounding confident.

The two silent bikers on either side of the woman were quiet for a reason. Both of them resembled the boys in the AM radio car. No mouth or eyes but they nodded when she glanced at them.

We’re so dead.

“Where is it?” The woman asked, scratching her shoulder and I could see her deformity at last. Her hand was fat, warped with scars and her fingers were stubs, no longer than my toes, but much thicker and without nails.

I caught a name on the sleeve of her leather jacket,
Viper
.

“It’s in the next city down the line. I have some dealings there. If you take us directly to the…‌soap warehouse on Ninety-seventh Avenue, you can get your three hundred bucks and a bonus,” Aidan answered, aloofly.

I struggled not to act surprised when her scrutinizing gaze landed on me, then Read.

Aidan pointed down the street behind us. “You see, our car broke down and I can’t be late. These are important people.”

How did he learn to lie like that?
I wondered. The soap warehouse was a little fake but it seemed to work on Viper. If I got out of here, maybe I should invest in watching gangster movies. My heart thumped as she mulled it over. After a pause, she nodded to Baldy behind me.

“I think that we should do it, Frankie,” she said. “Not like we’re doing anything else tonight.”

“And what if there’s no money?” One-eyed-Frankie asked.

One of the mouthless men leaned close to her ear. There was no way he could have spoken, but Viper tilted her head as if to listen anyway.

Afterward, I understood why her nickname was Viper. The smile that curled her lips reminded me of a serpent.

“Then we can kill ‘em,” she told Frankie.

Perhaps, Viper wasn’t the ringleader after all.

I wanted to lean up to Aidan and say that we still had a chance to back off but lost my nerve. This was his nightmare after all. He would know what to do better than I.

Aidan nodded to Viper and her faceless associates. “We have a deal then?”

Viper pulling a jagged hunting-knife from her belt and twirled it in her fingers expertly, watching Aidan before tossing it in the air and catching the blade with her good hand. “Deal.” She threw a wink in Read’s direction. “You know the price.”

Aidan didn’t remove his friendly, shielded smile. “Shall we?”

Head high, she tossed her ponytail and motioned to their bikes. “Time to ride, boys.” She looked Read up and down before purring, “You can ride with me.”

Read’s steely eyes shifted to the bike and he stepped toward her. The group around us began to separate and I felt a draft where Baldy‌—‌or rather Frankie‌—‌had been standing.

When neither Aidan or I moved, Viper jutted her chin at Aidan. “You go with Paul.” Her narrow eyes scanned me with a scowl before she said louder, “Where should Miss Muffet go?”

Frankie leered from his bike. “Muffet will come with me.”

“No detours this time, Frankie.” Viper was smiling all too pleasantly.

This
time?

They straddled their bikes and motors rumbled to life. Kickstands were kicked and bikes righted as the riders waited for the three of us to join them. I forced each finger to detach from Aidan’s arm and hoped this was a good idea.

I was close enough to hear Aidan tell Viper over the engines. “I don’t want to be far from them. We can’t separate.”

Something shadowed over Viper’s eyes but as soon as it appeared, it was gone. She turned her sharp chin toward the Eyeless-man and nodded as if hearing him. “You won’t be,” she answered, sounding disappointed.

Aidan started for the young punk’s bike and I took the few shaky steps to Frankie’s. He’d better be a damn good driver…‌without detours.

Frankie scooted back in his seat, like he wanted me to sit in front of him. The letters AJS were scrawled across the oversized gas tank.

Oh that wasn’t going to happen.

Viper must have noticed Frankie pat the narrow section of seat between his crotch and the gas tank. “Play time later, Frankie.”

How about never, Frankie
?

The oversized cyclops was frowning, but he scooted up.

In the distance, the ear-splintering, engine-roaring barrage erupted.

Read shouted something from the back of Viper’s bike. She was already backing out of her space. Her motor was low compared to the intensity of the nightmare-car.

I bolted for Frankie’s bike just as a red, classic sports car raced around the corner beyond the Victorian house. Straddling Frankie, I held tight. “Go, go, go!” I shrieked, pressing my cheek to his shoulder.

The bike skidded to a start and I wasn’t entirely prepared.

The violent jerk almost snapped my grip like a twig. As we picked up speed, the engine was hot against my bare legs, feeling more intense near my swollen knee.

The other bikes raced alongside us, roaring their engines in unison but even they couldn’t drown the bellow of the Maserati sports car.

Read and Viper were just ahead of us. Both of them lay low on her bike as the wind blinded Read with her ponytail.

Aidan was beside us. Hunched, his face was turned toward Frankie and me.

The cherry red sports car was easily gaining on the group of five. A white stripe arched up the hood but it was splattered with a dark crimson that didn’t match the color of the car.

The Maserati inched closer to the fifth biker, one of the eyeless/mouthless ones. Looking behind, I saw the headlights of the car nearing the back tire of his bike.

The sports car looked as though it was getting ready to pass when it swerved.

With a shriek of tires and smoke, the fender knocked into the motorbike‌—‌hard.

The rider soared while the bike fell to its side, spinning out of control and skidding between two parked cars.

The airborne rider landed on his head, crunching down like an accordion against the pavement. His arms attempted to cushion the fall, but from the violent twist of his body, I was sure he didn’t make it. Biting down on my lip, I tried not to scream. The fall looped in my memory even as I looked away.

Frankie and I passed Viper’s bike. Aidan and the teenager were inching ahead of them as well.

The heat of the engine wasn’t warm anymore, it was burning. Wincing, I tried to hold my bare legs out to avoid scorching them, which felt like they were cooking from the inside out. It reminded me of standing next to an oven or fire pit with a nasty sunburn.

“Faster!” I urged Frankie. I wasn’t sure if he could hear me, but I’m certain he got the idea.

The bike’s engine revved as I heard a crash barely muffled by the machinery.

Looking back, I saw the red car had eliminated yet another member of their gang and was gaining on Viper and Read.

Viper glanced back just in time to see the Maserati’s bumper collide with the back of her bike. Read’s mouth opening in a scream, but I heard nothing over the bike.

Viper struggled to gain control of her vehicle. She and Read wobbled violently before veering to the side. The speeding car could have hit them but, before I could see, Frankie took a sharp turn down an avenue, leaving Read and Viper out of our sights.

Aidan and Paul were inches ahead of us as my driver struggled to pull up beside them.
Say the words, Aidan.
I pleaded in my mind.

The shrieking tires had me looking back, hoping to see Read and Viper. Instead it was the Maserati skidding on the wide turn and emerging from the billowing, tire-smoke.

At first I was certain that we could get away, a few more turns and we could probably put enough distance between us and the car. But, I was wrong.

The Maserati launched forward the minute it had a straight road again.

The car neared the bikes at an alarming speed. I could hear myself screaming long before I knew it was me.

Squirming to inch closer to Frankie, I saw there was nowhere to run or take cover.

The bumper crept closer, only a foot from touching the motorbike. We had to make a turn,
something
.

Searching the Maserati for a driver I couldn’t see anyone beyond the clear shimmering glass. The only movement was the streetlights playing off the darkened windows.