Chapter 2
1803 Words
Chapter 2Timothy pushed the gas pedal as hard as he dared to. “Who are they?”
Rush cursed and looked like he was about to reach over to try to take the wheel from him.
“Rush!”
“What?” Rush checked the rearview mirror, and once again hovered with his hand over Timothy’s. He needed a snack. His skin was prickling, and there was a swirl of emotions building inside.
“Back off!”
Rush lingered, but when Timothy snarled at him again, he moved as far away from Timothy as the car allowed. “You need to go faster!”
The black car was right up in their ass now, and Timothy mentally prepared to get bumped.
“Who are they?” Did it matter? Nope, but it felt good to be able to shout something. To demand some kind of answer.
“Job gone wrong.”
“Same one that lost you the car?” Normally, Timothy didn’t want to know what Rush and Nico were up to. They were, as they called it, freelancers. People called them for jobs, and they made it happen. Nico had the ability to make people look the other way. It was his power. Maybe Timothy would have become a thief too if he’d had the skill. He doubted it, but who knew?
“Yeah. I’ve been hiding in town for the last few days. I believed I’d lost them.”
“For f**k’s sake, Rush!” The satin made it feel as if Timothy’s hands would slide off the steering wheel. He wanted to tear them off but didn’t dare to. “Are they trying to scare us or kill us?”
Rush made a sound Timothy had no idea how to interpret, and he didn’t dare look away from the road to try to decipher his expression.
Before he could say anything more, the black car rammed into the rear bumper.
“Go! You need to go faster.” Rush was bracing a hand against the glove compartment.
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
“You should’ve let me drive!” Rush’s snarl had anger exploding in Timothy.
“Yeah, well, maybe you should grow up and get a real job! If you’d lived like a normal adult, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Why the hell were you doing a job without Nico?”
“I can take care of myself, and he was busy with the wedding. We can’t stop simply because he’s occupied.”
The car bumped into them again, and Timothy swallowed a shout. Once he’d gotten the car under control and managed to get a small gap between himself and the black car, he glared at Rush for half a second. “Why the hell not? It’s a perfect reason to stop.”
Rush groaned. “And do what?”
“Get a job! A real job.”
“We have a real job, but we can’t take a break for a few weeks simply because one of us has a wedding to plan. Freelance work doesn’t work that way. If we turn down too many jobs, they won’t ask us again.”
“So you went on your own?” Stupid i***t. And how the hell could Nico have let him?
“I’m fully capable, Timmy.”
He snorted. “Yeah, sure. You’re gonna get me killed. I can’t believe I agreed to take you along with me. Biggest f*****g mistake of my life. I know better than to be in the same town as you.”
Rush stared at him. If he’d been about to say something or not, Timothy didn’t know, and he never got the chance, since the car rammed into them again. This time Timothy’s car skidded on the road, and he turned the steering wheel to avoid sliding into the oncoming traffic. Gravel sprayed on Rush’s side as he slipped over too far.
He needed a snack.
Straightening his arms, he managed to get the car straight in the lane again.
A loud bang sounded and then the glass shattered. Timothy turned to Rush. What happened?
“Duck!” Rush pushed between the front seats, brushing against Timothy’s shoulder, which had the air swirl around him and emotions he couldn’t name filled his mind.
Pulling back into his seat, Rush was clutching the backpack. “Next exit—”
He didn’t get any further before there was another loud bang, and the car skidded out of Timothy’s control. The slope on their right was long and Timothy closed his eyes as they went over the edge. He didn’t know for how long they were moving. The sounds and bumping went on forever, and yet they were over in the blink of an eye. There was an impact, and then everything went black.
* * * *
Someone was shaking him. Since no one ever touched him, Timothy was convinced it was a dream. The pain pounding in his head prevented him from slipping back into unconsciousness, though.
“Timmy. Oh, f**k. Timmy, come on man. Please. f*****g shit.”
Timothy cracked an eye open but most of what he saw was dark, then he realized the dark was sticky. He raised an arm and hissed as pain swamped him.
“Timmy? I’m so sorry, but we need to get out. Fast.”
Timothy squinted at Rush. There was some white fabric or something in front of him. Airbag. Slowly, he turned his head to take in his surroundings.
“Can you move?” Rush was way too close. His breath caressed Timothy’s cheek.
“I’m gonna kill you.” Rush had gotten his car crashed.
“And I’ll let you, but not right now. We need to run. Can you run?”
“Snack.”
“What?” Rush fiddled with Timothy’s seat belt.
“I need a snack.”
Shaking his head, Rush pulled Timothy toward him.
“Don’t touch me!”
“Crawl this way then. We’re stuck on the side. The underside of the car is facing the slope, and there’s a tree in your backseat.”
Timothy looked around. The car wasn’t on the ground. “Oh.”
“As fast as you can. You’re not stuck, right?” The worried tone wasn’t anything he’d ever heard from Rush before. Timothy flicked his feet.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Okay, I’ll unhook the seat belt.”
Ah, the seat belt, that was what was pushing against his ribcage. “Wait! I’ll fall.”
“I’ve got you.”
“No, no. I need a snack.”
Rush huffed. “There is no time for snacks. We need to move.”
“Glove compartment.”
“Tim, I’ll get you all the snacks in the world once we get out of here, but right now is not the time for a snack.”
“Can’t keep my barrier up without energy.”
Rush stilled. “Barrier as in?”
“Can’t keep your emotions out of me.”
“Babe, my emotions are the least of our worries right now. I’m pretty sure someone will be on their way down the slope with a gun to take us out. We’ve already been here for a few minutes, and you look a lot like Nico.”
He did not look like Nico. Nico insisted on having his hair too long, so it flopped down into his eyes. He was covered in tattoos and piercings, same as Rush. And this love of threadbare jeans, where did it come from? Who paid money for jeans with holes in them? He made a displeased noise at the back of his throat and glared at Rush.
“If they’ve tracked me for a few days, they’ll assume you’re him.”
Right, his f*****g brother and his f*****g best friend were criminals, and they pissed off different groups of people for a living.
“Don’t ever call me babe.”
Rush gave him a small smile. “Come on, sweetheart.”
Timothy snorted but gripped the headrest and braced his leg against the middle console. “Get out of the way.”
“I’ll catch you.”
“No, you’ll keep your hands to yourself.” He wiped blood from his brow. He must’ve hit the steering wheel or the window or something. “I’ll get down feet first.” He pulled his legs up and turned best he could while more or less hanging in the seat belt.
Rush nodded and slid out. Timothy took a moment to get his bearings. The car was stuck in a tree, as Rush had said, but there wasn’t a big drop to the ground.
Rush was crouching low as he looked in at him. “I see a car right on the lip of the road, no one moving on the slope.”
Timothy nodded and slid over the middle console, the seat belt almost creating a noose around his neck, but he turned so his chin didn’t get caught. Large hands grabbed his hips. Normally, he’d have kicked Rush for touching him, but now he let go, slid down, and landed with his feet between Rush’s. The warmth of his body against Timothy’s made him shiver. Rush’s hands remained curled around his hips. “Nothing broken?”
Timothy shook his head since his voice had abandoned him. Fear, lust, and excitement grew inside—not his.
“I need a snack.”
Rush released him and grabbed his backpack. “We need to run. We’re within shooting range, and they’re waiting up there.”
“And they’re…human?” If they were psychics, there was no knowing what skills they had.
Rush rubbed his neck. “Shifters.”
In other words, much faster than them and most likely able to track them wherever they went. “Shifters?”
“If it’s the same guys who did my car in.”
Timothy wanted to curse him, wanted to call him an i***t, wanted to kick him in the nuts. Dickhead. Instead, he reached into the glove compartment, grabbed a Snickers, and tucked it into his pocket. Then he reached for a bag of pretzels and one of dried apricots.
He wiped more blood off his brow and squinted at Rush. “Okay, now what?”
“We run into the woods there.” He gestured at some trees a hundred and fifty or so feet away.
“And get hunted by wolves? Remind me again why I shouldn’t kill you?”
Rush gave him half a grin. “Ready?”
Not at all, but as Rush took his first step, Timothy followed. When a shot rang out, Rush grabbed his arm and pulled, forcing him to run faster.
- Writer
