Thayde! I called after him and he ignored me. I looked to Aletheia whose mouth tightened.
“He knows more than he’s letting on.” She said.
Vitahl agreed. “You must find out, Morgan. This is not a game.”
“He’s aware of that.” Part of me wanted to go after Thayde and ask him to talk it out with me, but the other part trusted him and knew he needed time alone. I leaned my forehead against a cool glass window to clear my thoughts.
The only time Thayde and Gavran had been alone was at the Dartmoth gates and in the garage. Both times, Flynn had been there. Flynn – he was an odd person. It was obvious he did not like me and I wondered why. Clearly, he was nervous of me and I thought it odd as we had never met before.
He was extremely pale for a merman. I wondered if perhaps he was of Icelandic descent. My thoughts turned to his relationship with Gavran. How long had they known each other? Where did they meet? Why hadn’t I seen Flynn in the past? Granted, I hadn’t made it a point to hang out with Gavran, but I would have thought I would have at least heard about him.
“Morgan!” Aletheia’s voice cried, “Morgan, they’re leaving!”
Stumbling from my daydream, I strained to listen to the sound of two motorcycles peeling away from the grounds. Motorcycles?
“Whose bikes are those?” I asked, pulling open the sliding doors.
“They’re Flynn’s, he had them brought here.” Aletheia followed me as I ran around the side of the house.
“Why are they leaving?” She wheezed.
What are you doing? I caught Thayde just as he turned the corner onto the street.
His answer was brief. I can’t tell you right now.
“I’ll catch up to them,” I promised, turning to the stately garage doors and forcing them open with a wave of my hand. Silver flashed in the sunlight and I pulled the Cobra’s door open.
“Please watch your driving!” Aletheia wrung her hands as the racecar roared to life.
I shot her a sarcastic look and reversed so quickly, the tires left black serpentine trails on the concrete.
“Don’t kill yourself!” She shouted, her hands cupping her mouth.
The trees and flowers lining the driveway shot past me in a rainbow blur. It was not like Thayde to leave me in the dark about his plans. Worse yet, he was taking Gavran out into the open, completely unprotected from the Genif’s. There had to be more than the one I’d killed.
Nosing my sleek car onto the highway, I quickly maneuvered my way through traffic. The bikes were nowhere to be seen. They had to have hit the freeway by now.
My irritation rose when the only stoplight between me and the freeway turned red. Fighting the urge to run it, I let my car idle and ran my hand over her leather steering wheel; she fit me to a tee. The irritating boom, boom, boom of a bass pulled up next to me.
“Hey!” A deep voice rang out. “Hey!” It yelled again, forcing my attention away from my car. “Nice wheels!” The dude in the souped-up Cadillac nodded his head to the beat. I gave him a thumbs up and nodded back. When he broke into a metal grin, I tried not to let my surprise show.
Finally the light flicked green, releasing me from my sound prison. It wasn’t a minute before I entered the freeway, down shifted and flew past the regular Toyota and Ford cars as if they were stationary. The Cobra Venom was built for speed; it’s RPM’s springing past the 5000 mark. On the horizon, the motorcycles were but small dots as they flew north to Melbourne.
The built in radar detector didn’t move as the gauge jumped from 95 to 120 to 160 MPH. When the motorcycles finally came into view, I was able to make out who was riding with whom. Flynn rode the first with Gavran, Thayde the second. Thankfully, all three had been smart enough to wear helmets, but the moment I saw them, I was furious.
If you don’t stop, I will make you. My voice shouted in my head and immediately, Thayde looked back at me. Flynn looked back, accelerating his bike.
Go home, Morgan. It’s for your own good. Thayde thought, turning the handle on the bike and flying after Flynn.
I looked down at my speedometer. 172 MPH. It was the fastest I had ever driven. They had to be going at least 200. My heart fluttered as I pushed my foot to the floor. Eyeing the radar again, it remained at ease. The car hummed along as it jumped the numbers.
Back off, Morgan!
I’m not leaving!
Just listen to me for once.
I’m going with you.
You could be killed!
Then so could you.
I watched Thayde extend his arm to Flynn and motion him to stop. The bikes slowed quickly, pulling to the side of the road. I parked on the shoulder and watched Thayde push the kickstand down and remove his helmet. Flynn and Gavran remained on their bike.