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I fired again, and this ti for the driver, in spite of the new open-air concept of their windshield My target noas one of function over fatality The Corolla’s front wheel popped with the gusto of a giant party balloon, and the car jerked wildly

Instead of braking, though, the driver sped up Brigitthe action because she had started to let up on the gas when I hit the black car’s tire Between his increase in speed and our sudden drop, the physics of what happened next was inevitable

Which didn’t stopsurprised when the Corolla sht

My foot skidded, the wheel jerking to the right, sending our car into a spin I sat upright, trying to getwheel, but I was caught, and getting out without looking was a hopeless puzzle I kicked forward, and the car continued to spin in a full 360-degree turn

With my elbows braced on the soft top of the BMW, I emptied the remainder of my clip into the open windshield of the black car From inside my backseat there was a faint, continuous wail At first I thought so Then I realized it was Kellen

We kept up our dizzying rotation, propelled on our circular course byunstuck was to pull

"Brigit," I shouted into the wind "I need you to grab the wheel"

Cool hands brushed against my ankles, and I knew she had heard my request

Okay, I thought, what’s the worst that could happen?

With the gun now e fire, the weapon was hah the open carand used ood ar the wheel

Which was the precise it released the gas and hit the brake, stopping the car with a hard lurch, and I slid fro fast towards the paveit wrapped her hand aroundfarther I took a short breath and felt the blacktop under the crown ofout of control, and when it hit the front end of the BMW, it sent off an explosion of sparks and keptht My own car lurched, wheels spinning, and ere reversing again

The smooth, cold driver’s side door of the Corolla skih I could have tasted the ue out In the next moment it tipped onto theels and flipped onto its side before tuainst concrete

Brigit stopped the car, and it rolled slightly as she shifted into park When she released ht to brace myself for impact before I could smack my head on the road My knees went overto a rest next to the car

Brigit’s head appeared through the , excitement replaced with terror in her wide eyes

"Are you okay?" she asked

Kellen’s white face wedged between the driver’s headrest and the , staring down atto be sht strands now a tangled razed an to sink in, and I plopped onto the ground, staring at the two girls as if I’d never seen them before

"Can someone call Lucas?" I asked, an unfamiliar tremor in my words

Kellen nodded with too much enthusiasm and whipped out her cell phone

If soet

Doht of build and barely taller thanblue eyes, he usually looked uard But watching him now, as he prowled the area around the crash site with an almost scary focus, I sahole new side of hione up one side of the road and down the other, sniffing the air and periodically bounding into the ditch, only to return a moment later e back with a bloodied villain to lay at the feet of Lucas and myself He looked more andto show for his efforts

Lucas sat next to me on the dented, battered hood of my BMW The yellow paint had been scraped away, the front bu loose, and the whole front end up to the driver’s door was scarred and alh I wasn’t cold, Lucas had insisted on draping a blanket aroundarms I’d found a comfortable spot nestled into the crook of his shoulder, and I was calrance, a smell unique to hi you past the city limits, or did they pick up your trail outside New York?" he asked There was a fine, si to keep buried but couldn’t e to hide from me

"I don’t know"