CHAPTER ELEVEN—HUSSY

As they cruised the open road running parallel with the beach and the crystal blue waters of Ela Luna Keys, everyone opened their windows to let the summer wind through their hair.

Man, this is great, Kyle thought.

“I wouldn’t give a million bucks to trade this up right now.”

John put out his hand to let the wind hit it. “Me neither.”

“It’s too hot!”

“Ugh,” Kyle noised. “Kid, shut up. You’re ruining the moment.”

“I ruined the moment?”

“Gods—yep, ruined.”

“I’m not the one who kidnapped a girl off a space cruise and then shoved her into the back of a sweaty car so she gets shot at and pummeled about until she pukes!”

“Wait, you puked?”

“How do you expect anyone to hold down food while you drive like a maniac?”

Kyle laughed.

“It’s not funny!”

John looked at her through the rearview mirror. “You have to accept it for the little things.”

“Like what,” Kelly asked, “getting stalked through the aisles of Hargosi Primal?”

“I wasn’t stalking you!”

“Yes you—“

“What is that?” John asked, interrupting. His tone sounded warning bells inside of Kyle’s head and even Hess shut her mouth.

Kyle leaned forward. “Is that…?”

“It’s a roadblock,” John said.

“Oh no, not again,” Kelly whined.

“Cops?” Kyle asked.

And then the onboard police detector flicked the screen to life, revealing that the roadblock, though detected by the Cry Lamir’s systems due to the structure of the vehicles in the road, was in fact, not the police.

“Isn’t that nifty?” Kyle asked.

“it’s the same guys as before,” John said. “Scorr’s boys.”

Kelly whined and cried without even uttering any words of complaint or protest.

“Gonna ram through,” John said and he floored the pedal, the Lamir’s engine screaming as they practically scored the road with rubber.

When they started nearing the vehicles and shots zipped through the air, Kyle said, “Wish I had some armor,” and bent out the window and opened up on them.

The shots coming their way didn’t stop, but they did lessen as some of the men firing on them crouched under cover.

“Oh crap!” Kelly barked.

“What is it?” John asked.

“I can sense magic!”

“They have a mage?!”

Kyle came back in. “Did you say they have a mage?”

And then something unseen hit the car. They were lifted off the ground. Kyle was aware of being in free fall between his seat and the roof of the car as they turned.

He slammed into the roof and grunted with the impact. John too grunted, but he was still in his seatbelt.

Glancing about, he realized they hadn’t crashed and weren’t flipping end over end.

“What’s going on?” John asked.

Kelly grunted as if she were straining against something very difficult. “Gaaah!”

Kyle looked up, saw that she had both hands out, magical aura emanating from luminous orbs in her palms as the car started lowering to the road. The roof bent in a little as they settled.

Kelly let go and breathed out heavily.

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Then energy projectiles started cracking into the car.

“Shit!” Kyle snapped as a projectile went through the dash door, nearly opening him up.

John unbuckled, landing on his shoulders with a loud grunt.

“Gotta get out of here!” Kyle said.

“I know!” John said, opening his door and crawling out on the other side.

Kyle glanced out his side. The men shooting at them were fanning out and firing on them with very controlled single-shot precision.

Another energy round ripped through the windshield and scored Kyle on the arm. “Gah!”

“You okay?” John asked as he got onto to his knees.

“I’m hit.”

“Don’t die!” Kelly screeched.

“Not planning on it, Kid,” he said, “now get up here!” He pulled her through the gap between the front seats as John started laying down some return fire with the pistol he had nabbed from the guys who had attacked them in the hotel garage.

“Owe,” she said, lifting her hands among the broken glass coalesced on the ceiling of the car.

“Go go go!” Kyle barked, pushing her forward.

“I’m going!”

“NOT FAST ENOUGH!”

“STOP TOUCHING MY ASS!”

“I’m not touching your ass!” he snapped through clenched teeth. “An energy round’s gonna be a lot rougher than a bit of broken glass! NOWMOVEIT!”

She screamed and jumped out of the car like she were trying to get out of a burning building. Kyle scrambled after her and quickly got up to join John behind the car.

“Not looking good!”

He fired three more rounds and crouched.

Kyle peaked over. They were fanning out. Soon they’d be getting shot at from both their left and right sides as they got flanked.

“Man,” Kyle croaked. “This is not good.” He fired a burst of automatic rounds, his return fire deflecting off the douche’s energy shield. “They’ve got BD-S gear!”

“What’s that?” Kelly asked, holding her hands over her head.

“Energy shields, kid,” he said. “Can’t you do something?”

“Me?!”

He peaked out and fired more rounds, but they were deflected. “This is why I like lead!” Then to Kelly he added, “Yeah, stupid. You’re a mage. DO SOMETHING!”

“I—uh—but…”

“Ah, fuck!”

He leaned out and put down fully automatic fire, their return shots landing dangerously close to his head, but he kept his aim on the guy with the BD-S shield. It died and the last round in Kyle’s energy rifle hit the man in the chest. His eyes widened as he flew onto his back, sprawled out and dead on the hot cement.

“Not bad!” John called, firing five more successive shots.

“I’m almost out of energy,” Kyle said.

Now that’s not good!

“Okay, okay!” Kelly said, getting up, then crouched reflexively as shots hit the car, sending bits of debris in their direction. She screamed.

“Where’s their mage?” Kyle asked.

And then a ball of magic shot up into the air. It was a yellow orb of some shit, giving Kyle the impression of a mortar round.

“You had to ask, didn’t you?” John said.

It screamed back down, the sound getting louder as it approached. Kelly screamed like a little girl and Kyle grabbed her, jumping as far back as he could.

The explosion rocked the ground beneath their feat and the glass from the car shot outward in every direction, bits of it landing in Kyle’s neck and pricking him like hot needles.

His whole world rocked, and his ears were plugged. A ringing sound filled up his head.

John was back on his feet shooting wildly.

That wasn’t good.

Probably used that moment to rush us…

Shit!

Turning onto his back, he found Kelly on her knees, an orb of neon-red magic in both of her hands as little bifurcating streams of energy cracked about her hands.

She tossed one of the orbs and hit a man coming around the car with his weapon raised. He was instantly vaporized, the electrical discharges traveling to the man next to him and putting him down too.

Then she tossed the other orb at the roadblock.

Kyle scramble for those dead guys near the car and picked up a new weapon. As he stood to take out the guy running back to his pals, John shot him in the back four times until his shield went out and he took the guy down.

“Weak in the back, loser!” Kyle called.

“Feel better?” John asked.

“A little.”

“There’s still a couple left,” John said.

“Oh no!” Kelly cried.

“What is it?”’

“Yeah, what?”

Another sphere of magic went up into the air.

“RUN!” Kyle yelled.

He and John both jumped into the scrub just off the road as the energy screamed in at the car, but then it stopped?

What the hells?

He turned around and found Kelly… Holding it!

“What are you doing?!”

“I can—“ she said, grunting. “I can… RETURN IT!”

The ball of magic in her hands screamed, making Kyle’s ears split with the pain as she hurled the magic back into the roadblock. It exploded with a thunderclap and a cloud of dust.

They all covered their faces with their arms, until the shockwave died and the small debris of the ground fell away.

Kyle blinked.

“Damn,” John said.

We need to hurry now!

“Come on!” Kyle called and ran to the road block. They were all down, except the mage. He was in black BDUs, his hood pulled back. The man squirmed as blood from his nose and ears flowed. He reached for his sidearm.

Kyle aimed his rifle at the guy’s chest. “Don’t do it, magic boy.”

But he didn’t listen.

Kyle put two rounds through his chest.

“I said don’t do it.”

John jogged up and lowered his pistol. Then he glanced toward Kelly and motioned her forward.

When she got there, she seemed horrified at what she had done. “I did this?”

“Most of it,” Kyle said.

“Don’t feel guilty,” John added. “These are Scorr’s guys—sent to kill us and kidnap you.”

“Really?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She seemed to be hugging herself, her skin dirty and her neon blue hair frazzled. Kyle gave her an up and down look to make sure she wasn’t injured and didn’t know it.

“What are you ogling me for?”

“I’m not ogling you. I’m checking to see if you’re hurt.”

She cocked her head back. “Yeah right, pervert.”

“Pervert?” Kyle asked, his arms going out to the sides. With the gun in his hand he must have really looked like some kind of thug. “How am I a pervert? I wasn’t the one sleeping with a wacko.”

“What?! I wasn’t sleeping with Laiwyn!”

“Then what was all that skimpy nightwear I saw on the bed all about, huh?”

John shook his head. “Oh man, I’d quit while you were ahead.”

“Um—excuse me, like, those are my things! Why were you going through my panties?”

“I didn’t go through your things,” Kyle snapped. “I didn’t touch them!”

“Gods, squeaky, you’re a weirdo-crotch-sniffer aren’t you?!”

“Of course I’m not! Fuck! John, let’s just get out of here so we can be done with this hussy!”

“I TOLD YOU I’M NOT A HUSSY!”

“I suppose we can walk back,” John said musingly.

“…you dirty, pervert, you womanizerlecherstalkerpsocho!”

“It’s only about ten kilometers.”

Kyle smacked his head.

“FUUUUUCK!”