The Night Shifters (10 page)

“Then you should
let me go,” I suggested.

He pretended to
consider that, but shook his head. “You can help them, Hazel, but
that doesn’t mean they need you. In fact, some of us are wondering
if we would rather keep the status quo. With you out of the way,
the Balance is maintained.”

But if they were
about to kill me, shouldn’t my crystal heart be hurting, instead of
just twinging? I decided to call his bluff. “The Night will decide
if I should leave. Not you.”

He flexed his
hands. “We are all agents of the Night. Yet you make a good
argument, though it’s missing something, a certain quality – what
is it? Ah! I know how you might change my mind.”

I was kind of
hoping that if I didn’t ask him how, he wouldn’t tell me. But he
told me, anyway.

“Beg for my mercy.
I’d like to see that, I’d like it very much. If you do it well
enough, I might let you do something else for me. And then
something after that.”

“I’m not going to
beg you,” I said, “any more than you intend to beg the Car King
when you have to explain what you’ve done.”

We had another
staring contest. But this time, I thought I saw a new respect in
his eyes. Finally, he slid his knees onto the front seat, reaching
over the back to chuck me under the chin. “We’ll see, Hazel. You
have your talent. And I have mine.”

He twisted around
and slipped into the driver’s seat. The engine started with a roar,
and he glanced over his shoulder at Wolf and Sharp. “Hold her. She
has a knack for leaping out of tight spots.”

•

We zoomed up and
down the streets of the City of Night. From my new vantage point,
the roads did not seem to be designed to regulate stop-and-go
traffic. They were speedways, hairpin turns, roller-coaster hills
and valleys. It would have been an enjoyable ride if I hadn’t been
so sure these guys were going to sink their teeth in me once they
got tired of speeding around. Though they didn’t seem likely to
tire of it soon. They loved the wind – and it loved them. Their
hair flowed behind them like gorgeous manes. Wolf and Sharp let me
sit up, but they kept their hands on me at all times.

“Look around you,”
said Owner. I could hear his voice clearly, even though he didn’t
shout. “See the buildings?”

“Maybe I would if
you weren’t driving so fast.”

“Do they look the
same as they did before you got in my car? Do they look as if one
architect designed them all?”

“No and no,” I
said. I hoped he would explain why this was, but he just glanced at
me in the rearview, his red eyes glinting.

We drove past
another driver, this one a loner. He did a double-take when he saw
me in the convertible. The look he shot Owner was envious –
hostile. Owner peeled off before he could even think of doing a
u-turn and following us.

“Aren’t you worried
he’ll tell the Car King?” I asked.

He flashed me
another look. “I’m hoping he will.”

“And then what? You
hand me over?”

“If that’s what the
King wants.”

“
You think
there’s a chance he might
not
want
me?”

Owner executed a
flawless turn, without slowing one fraction. “Chance is what this
world is made of, my sweet. If he wants you, we hand you over with
a flourish. If he doesn’t – then we’ll see what you have to bargain
with, Hazel.”

I wondered if
I had
anything
. I had
rejected every Night Shifter who had approached me with a deal,
maybe they took that personally.

On the other hand,
the Masked Man hadn’t made an offer. He still might. And even if he
didn’t, Owner couldn’t know that he wouldn’t. I leaned forward,
crossing my arms over the back of the seat and resting my chin on
them, as if I really were just out for a pleasant drive with three
gentlemen. Wolf and Sharp gave me some slack, though Sharp toyed
with the ties of my apron.

Owner looked
sideways at me. “What’s running through that pretty head of
yours?”

“I was just
thinking.” I dangled a hand over the seat and ran one finger up and
down the seams in the upholstery. “The Car King isn’t the only one
who expressed an interest in an alliance with me.”

“Yes,” he admitted.
“I heard something about that.”

“Some handsome
fellows on motorcycles showed up when the Car King tried to speed
off with me.”

He laughed. “You’re
just full of charming euphemisms.”

“I bet they’re
looking for me right now.”

“How much do you
bet?”

Behind us, I heard
a familiar roar. My crystal heart began to pound. “A million
bucks!”

Six motorcycles
raced after the convertible. Owner didn’t panic, or even twitch
when he saw them. He just kept driving like a pro. I turned in my
seat and tried to wave at the Masked Man, but Wolf and Sharp seized
my wrists. The three of us watched the motorcycles eat up the
distance between us.

How come there are only six this time?
I wondered. The last time, there were at least
twice that many. And where was the Masked Man? None of these guys
had on masks, though they were obviously from the Wild Hunt, they
all had the armbands, the muscles, the high cheekbones. As they
pulled closer, I finally recognized one of them. He had black hair
and blue eyes. The last time I saw him, he dumped me in the middle
of Nowhere.

He glared back at
me. My crystal heart gave me a nasty jab.

Wolf and Sharp took
their hands off me and pulled swords out from under the seat. I
took advantage of their divided attention and leaped into the
front. “Owner, can you drive any faster?”

He stepped on the
gas, and now it felt like we were traveling close to light speed.
The motorcycles dropped back slightly, but then they began to catch
up again, their outlines blurring. The Black-haired biker kept his
eyes fixed on mine. He seemed obsessed, though he definitely didn’t
seem to be motivated by love.

Not love for you
.

Just why such a
thought would have occurred to me, I didn’t know. But I sensed
something different about this fragment of the Wild Hunt, they
weren’t rescuers. Their faces were grim – Blackie looked downright
angry.

Come on, Masked Man
, I
prayed.
You liked
me, didn’t you? I sure liked you.
But he did not appear out of the darkness, he didn’t rush in
to save the day.

Maybe because it
was Night. Owner had said it well, I didn’t know the rules. And
learning them might cost more than I had to spend.

Light and sound
blurred together until the car and the motorcycles barely seemed to
touch the road anymore. I shouldn’t have been able to hear a thing
over the roar of the engines, but Owner sounded as if he were
speaking plainly, right next to my ear, when he warned, “Get on the
floor. Brace yourself.”

I scrambled to
obey. A moment later, he slammed on the brakes, and we began to
slide sideways. He fought with the wheel to control the spin, until
we skidded to a halt. I heard the roar of the motorcycles as they
pulled up beside us. I climbed out from under the passenger’s side
and poked my head above the seat. We had turned 180 degrees; the
convertible’s nose pointed back in the direction we had come.

The motorcycles
waited in a semicircle around us, their riders half-standing with
their hands on their sword hilts. I wondered why Owner didn’t back
the car away from them, but then I heard the sound of rushing
water. I looked over my shoulder and saw a river – huge and deep as
the river Styx – bisecting the road, which would have crossed the
water quite safely if the bridge were still intact.

“Give her up,
Owner,” warned Blackie. “Or you’ll never own anything again.”

I looked sideways
at Owner. He and his pack were outnumbered, and I suspected they
were bound to that car – they couldn’t leave it for a moment. That
had to be a disadvantage in a fight. But Owner did not seem
inclined to back down. The snarl he gave Blackie was a lot more
threatening than the one he had given me.

Blackie looked
ready to kill Owner if his order wasn’t obeyed. I studied the faces
of the other Hunters, and only one of them might consider
negotiation instead of all-out war, a young man with bronze hair
and blue eyes. He stared back at me, and I wondered if I imagined
the sympathy I saw in his expression.

Maybe so, because
when the other Hunters began to draw their swords, he followed
suit. They would kill all three Drivers, I was sure of it.

I threw my arms
around Owner’s neck and cried, “Please don’t make me go with them!”
But into his ear I whispered, “Let them take me. I can handle
them.” I said this with a confidence I did not feel.

“Truly?” he asked,
softly.

“Yes,” I
promised.

He gently
disengaged from my embrace. “You seduced me with your false
innocence,” he announced, loudly. “But you’re not fooling me
anymore.” He glared at Blackie. “Take her.”

I hung my head,
aiming for something between contrite and disappointed. Before
Owner could change his mind, I slipped over the side of his car and
shuffled over to the motorcycles. Blackie took me firmly in hand
and plopped me on the seat in front of him like an errant bag of
groceries. Without another word, he wheeled around and drove back
down the road, the other five Hunters in tow.

As we roared back
up the highway, I tried to look past Blackie’s broad shoulder to
see if the Drivers had decided to turn around and chase the
Hunters. I hoped they wouldn’t. I really didn’t want to see anyone
get killed just because I was a Wild Card.

“Why didn’t you
leave the City of Night?” Blackie asked, and I heard him as plainly
as I had heard Owner, despite the noise of wind and engines.

“I decided I didn’t
want to,” I said, not defiantly, but with resolve.

“You’re not wanted
here,” he said.

Blackie was such a
handsome guy, as good-looking as the Masked Man or the Car King.
His rejection hurt my feelings. I wanted to dispute his claim, but
my confidence waned in the face of his disdain. I was afraid I
would cry. I struggled to find my voice.

Suddenly the
blond driver pulled up beside us. He didn’t turn his head, but I
heard his voice as plainly as I heard Blackie’s. “Stick to the
truth. She
is
wanted
here.”

Maybe that
should have cheered me up, but his tone was as grim as Blackie’s,
so maybe being
wanted
here was not
unqualifiedly fabulous.

“I ended up here
for a reason,” I offered.

Blackie glowered at
me. “That’s exactly the problem.”

“
Why
is it a problem?
Why am I any less privileged to be here than anyone
else?”

“You’re not
worthy.”

“So Nostradamus is?
And how about the Girl-killer? He’s your idea of a model
citizen?”

The blond biker
laughed. “What about it, Blackie? Have we become the Worthy
Citizens’ police?”

Blackie
frowned. He didn’t have an answer for that, and I wondered why. He
had gone to some trouble to find me, and he seemed determined to
kick me out. “What’s really bothering you, Blackie? I don’t believe
you ride all over the City of Night looking for unworthy people
just so you can give them the boot. So why are you picking
on
me
?”

His muscles
tensed, as if I had struck him, but he kept his eyes on the road. I
tried to remember what I could have done to tick him off after the
Masked Man handed me over to him. I didn’t think I had done or said
anything that might offend anyone. But then I remembered the one
significant thing
he
had
said.

Serena is right.
You should leave this place as soon as you can.

“Did Serena put you
up to this?” I asked.

His arm tightened
around me, and I guessed something else.

“You’re in love
with her.”

“
Everyone
thought
you
were Serena,” said
the blond biker. “She can change her appearance.”

“
If her
letters are any indication, I don’t act like her
at all
.”

This time he looked
at me. “That’s true. But there’s something about you.” His eyes
lingered on my legs. “Do you have to wear that apron?”

I blushed all the
way down to my toes. He looked a lot younger than me, but he had me
feeling like a silly schoolgirl. “Where are you taking me?” Blackie
might not answer, but I hoped the blond biker would.

Funny, but I
couldn’t come up with a name for him.
Blondie
definitely didn’t fit.

“We thought an Edge
would appear if we wanted it too,” he said. “But it isn’t
happening.”

“
An
Edge
?”

“A border that can
be crossed, from Night to Out.”

“Like the fields of
Nowhere?”

“No – Nowhere is a
trap, neither in or out.”

I glanced at
Blackie. “Thanks heaps for dumping me there. That wasn’t very
nice.”

“You crossed an
Edge yourself,” said the blond biker, “earlier, when you went into
the Super Gulp. But Night fetched you back again. I suspected it
would this time too, but now we can’t even get an Edge to appear.
Maybe because only one of us wants it to.” He glanced at
Blackie.

“Then maybe you can
let me go,” I said.

“Maybe,” he
agreed.

But Blackie didn’t
say so. He stared fixedly ahead, still hoping an Edge would appear.
I wanted to tell him that Serena might like him better if he stood
up to her, played hard to get. But maybe that wasn’t true. Her last
few letters didn’t make her sound like a very good sport.