“I have nowhere else to turn. You’re the only one who can help me.”
“Hang on.” The background noises faded and she spoke again. “Sorry, I got arrested earlier today and now my parents are all over me. I think they would’ve been happier if I got a DUI.”
Alek’s stomach dropped. “Did they take Eva?”
“No, I was brilliant and created a diversion so she could get away. But the police are looking for both of you, and they’re not going to stop anytime soon. They’re convinced you guys had something to do with that murdered girl.”
“It’s not important to me what they think. I must find Eva before they do. Do you know where she is?” He paced around the kitchen, ready to run as soon as he found out her location.
“It’s not like we had a what-will-you-do-if-the-cops-try-to-arrest-you conversation before they actually tried to arrest her.”
“Think,” he barked the command. “You know her better than anyone else. Where would she go?”
“Okay, you don’t have to be so rude about it.”
The line went silent, and Alek took the phone away from his ear to look at it. “Bridget?”
“I’m thinking, jeeze.” She sounded small, and he pressed the phone back to his cheek. “Mohawk Park maybe?”
“Mohawk Park,” he repeated. “Are you asking me if she’s there?”
“No, that’s my best guess. I mean, we weren’t too far from it, and we literally went hiking there like every weekend growing up.”
Alek ignored her and pressed on to his next question. “How do I get there?”
“Stay on the main road running next to the property, and you’ll run right into it in about ten miles.”
“Thank you, Bridget.”
“And, Alek, when you find her, stay gone.”
He dropped the phone on the counter and bolted out the front door.
? ? ?
Alek barreled down the road. The storm dissipated, leaving gray wisps lazily floating in the sky. Wind dried his shirt and blew the dirt from his body. Visions of a dying Tartarus and a crumbling Mortal Realm fueled his speed and blinded him to the blur of the street.
A force strong and fast clipped his leg and flipped him in the air like a ragdoll. He landed on his feet and quickly crumpled to the pavement. Pain swelled in his leg and tore its claws through his torso. Squealing tires sounded around him as traffic swerved to miss his limp, bleeding body.
A petite woman rushed up and crouched next to him. “Don’t move. Don’t move,” she said, gently patting his trembling shoulder.
“I must get to her.” He tried to pull himself up, but his limbs remained motionless and unresponsive.
“Stay still. Don’t try to move. It can only make things worse. Can you tell me your name?” Her voice was calm and comforting, unlike the hushed gasps and chatter from the small audience forming around them.
“Alek,” he said between wracking coughs.
“Alex, my name is Nina. I’m a police officer. I’ve called the paramedics. They’ll be here very soon,” she reassured.
“Police?” he gurgled.
“Save your strength. You’re going to be okay.”
“I came back too soon,” he said, scanning his body internally for any remaining bits of power.
“That doesn’t matter now. You’ll be fine. Just focus on my voice.”
“I need…Mohawk Park,” he managed to say between coughs and gasps for air.
“You’re only a few feet away from one of the entrances. Is your family hiking? Or is someone else in there who we should call?” she asked.
He clenched his talisman and felt power surge through his body. “Eva,” he whispered.
“Eva, is that the name of your girlfriend? Do you want me to send someone to try and get ahold of her?”
The ambulance whined in the distance, and Alek forced himself to his feet. He cried out as pain stabbed his left leg.
The officer stood and blocked his path to the park. Her neon pink yoga pants had strawberry-colored stains on the knees from his blood. “The ambulance is almost here. You have to lie back down. You’ve been in a serious accident. You were clipped by a car. I don’t even know how you’re standing right now.”
“Get out of my way,” he growled through clenched teeth.
“You look so familiar.” Her eyes widened with realization, and she backed up slowly.
Blood streamed down his leg and joined the pool of crimson on the pavement. “Move!” His lip curled with a snarl as he hunched over and pressed his blood-soaked jeans into the wound.
“Think about your next move before you make it. M…my children are in the car,” she stammered, glancing back at the small heads curiously gawking out of rolled down windows.
“Then stand down, and I will give them nothing to fuel their nightmares.”
She stepped to the side and stared at the concrete. “Just go.”
Ambulance sirens blared closer as Alek hobbled into the woods.