Fae War

The car pulling to a stop woke her. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, but it was probably a good thing, since she'd need her strength and wits about her to get away from Luka. He was pulling into a gas station.

She stretched. He ignored her, pulling up to a self-serve pump.

"I need the little girl's room," she said innocently.

"Don't try to run again," he said, not even looking at her.

Chills ran up her spine at the coldness in his voice. She got out of the car and headed into the convenience store. She blinked at the bright lights and jumped as the bell jangled overhead.

She went to the restrooms, noticing there was no one in the store except the thirty-ish, over-weight, balding clerk sitting behind the counter with a Sudoku book open in front of him.

Someone knocked on the door as she was washing her hands. Couldn't Luka give her a minute of peace?

She whipped the door open ready to blast him, but a woman in Goth apparel stood there popping her bubble gum. Erin quickly changed her expression to a friendly smile and stepped around her.

A fat, middle-aged policeman stood just inside the door, and she couldn't believe her good fortune. Maybe Luka was right after all.

She started toward the police officer, then noticed the Goth woman was right behind her. She glanced over at the checkout counter to find the clerk gone. Suddenly she didn't feel so lucky anymore.

She continued heading for the cop, until she saw him reach for his gun. In a split-second decision she darted for the counter and flung herself over it, landing on a soft, lumpy surface. She'd found the clerk. The pop-pop of gunfire made her drop next to the body, and begin to crawl toward the back room. The Goth woman landed suddenly in her path, grinning and still chomping her gum.

Erin backed away from the woman, realizing she really was trapped. A gun waved over the counter and Erin scrunched her eyes shut, waiting for the pain.

She heard a grunt and the sound of a body hitting the floor, followed immediately by the pop of the gun, but no pain. Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. When she opened her eyes, Luka was scooting her around the body of the cop.

She wanted to ask what had happened, but Luka gave her such a severe look, she decided to wait on any questions until they were far from this place.

Back on the road, she hesitated, finally deciding to say, "Thank you, for saving my life the second time tonight. I guess I need to believe this, believe you."

"You think?" he said, irritably.

"How did they figure out I was alive so soon?" she asked, hoping he wasn't too angry at her.

"They must have been tracking you even after they thought they'd killed you," he said, more gently. "So, can we still get somewhere safe, or will they be tracking us all the way there?"

"I transferred some of your essence to the witch, so as long as she's alive, they'll think it's you," he answered.

"My essence? I don't understand any of this," Erin sighed, resting her head in her hands.

"It's a pretty complex piece of magic, but basically it means that to anyone magical, she appears to be you," he answered casually. "I still can't believe you haven't felt your magic. It fairly rolls off you like waves," he sounded almost awed.

"Umm, no. I don't feel anything. So can we get to your safe place?"

"I think so. It's only another forty minutes, but she has to live that long. I may have wounded her worse than I meant to," he said, almost sheepishly.

"You shot her," Erin said, less a question and more to convince herself.

"Yeah. She was too strong to use magic on, until she was incapacitated. The guy was pretty weak, which is probably why he carried a gun," Luka explained.

"Someone really wants to kill me," she continued, mostly to herself. To Luka, "Why?"

"I'm not supposed to tell you much," he hesitated, "But you really need to know a few things. I can try to explain once we get where we're going, if you can just hold on till then."

"Sure," she responded, not sure if she was ready to hear it anyway.

They remained quiet for the rest of the drive, but Erin noticed Luka looking over at her frequently. She wondered if she looked as haunted as she felt.