Chapter 29 — The Battle of Lakewood

"Why train for combat, she asks? Ah, my Ruby, if only I could view the world through as bright and pure a lens as your own."

~Cinza, the Rallsburg Diaries

Hailey twisted into a hard roll, banking across the low cloud layer as they swooped down. She was pouring all her effort into flying. Every wing beat was accompanied by raw magical thrust backward, while a wedge of force in front of her pushed aside any air resistance to help them go even faster.

Jeremy heaved, his hands clamped to his mouth. She wrapped her arms tighter around his chest, feeding magic through her arms to keep her muscles strong. Even so, the strain of carrying a man twice her weight was hell on her triceps. Jessica was doing her best to share her own magic, keeping the flow open while clinging to Hailey like a backpack.

The odd trio dove in fast and hard over the interstate, right at the entrance to Tacoma. The road was surprisingly clear, even for the middle of the night on a Friday. Between the arcs of the street lights lining the main road, Hailey spotted the bright yellow-orange flashes, hurled forward from the driver-side window of the little car. The truck in front weaved through traffic with skill as it dodged each bolt.

"What do we do?" shouted Hailey.

"Get… me in… a fuckin'... car!" Jeremy grunted, barely audible over the screaming wind.

"Which one?"

"Neither!" He pointed wildly toward a few cars that had pulled off the side far ahead of the chase, warned by the police to clear the road. "I'll take one of theirs!"

Hailey dove before asking any questions, trusting Jeremy knew what he was doing. They touched down on the pavement to a gawking crowd motorists. Jeremy stumbled as he landed, but recovered quick enough, to her relief. She stuck around just a moment while he commandeered a vehicle, then took off again with Jessica still clinging to her back.

Beating her wings hard, she got some altitude, trying to find the two cars again. What the hell is this? A car chase? What's going on?

Hailey still had no ideas — but if someone awakened was involved, no matter what, it couldn't be good. She decided to go after them first, to try and get some answers. After all, she knew practically everybody. Whomever it was, Hailey was confident she could talk them out of this insanity.

She rolled again, building up speed and straightening out her trajectory. Her wings folded in and she dropped into a dive, hurtling straight for the two cars. Hailey stayed high enough to avoid any stray gunfire, while Jessica switched to an invisible shield of force surrounding them. In theory it could block a bullet or two — so long as Jessica's energy and supply of gemstones held out. They'd never tested it, thank god, but the magic should work.

Still, Hailey wasn't about to try their luck.

She swooped around wide, and dropped down almost to the street level well behind the second car. Hailey had flown this fast before, but never like this — three feet off the asphalt, drafting behind a car, with gunfire pounding back at her. A bullet clanged off the side of the car, but none followed. Hailey took that as a reload, and seized the opportunity.

With a huge burst of air thrusting her forward, Hailey swung around the passenger side and grabbed desperately for the door handle with her mind. It took a second, and the door flew open, though the wind pressure was already forcing it back.

Hailey dove in, Jessica still on top of her. The sprawled onto the passenger seat just as the door slammed shut behind them.

"What the fuck?"

She twisted around and upright, sitting on her legs. Jessica crouched low in the space beneath the glove compartment. Hailey turned to confront the driver — and her mouth fell open.

Rika Nishimura gaped right back at her, until a another gunshot twisted her around to the road. She swerved away, out of the line of fire.

The car started to tip slightly. Rika growled something incomprehensible and slammed her fist down in midair. The side of the vehicle thumped back onto the pavement.

"Rika?" Hailey gasped.

"Could ask you the same fucking thing!" she snapped. She leaned out of the window and hurled another fireball from her hand, just barely missing the rear wheel of the car. "Shit!"

"What's going on?"

"Gotta stop that fucking car."

Not enough time to ask why. This is insane. We gotta stop this now. Hailey saw the car Jeremy had commandeered swing out onto the road. He was going to try and ram them off, she was sure. "Use lightning?"

"Can't. Might hit him."

"What?"

"The motherfuckers took Ryan," she snarled.

"...Oh god." Hailey amplified her voice, trying to send it through the open window all the way to Jeremy's car. "Jeremy! Can you hear me?"

"You crazy, Hales?" asked Rika, confused.

"Shut up, Rika. I'm trying something." Hailey adjusted the flow of the soundwaves again, trying to block out the massive noise from every direction. "Jeremy!"

"Jesus, Hailey!"

"Shit…" Rika gasped. Hailey hadn't been very precise, so Jeremy's voice echoed through the whole car as if he were shouting from right next to them.

"Turn that shit down," he added.

"Jeremy, they've got a hostage."

"The fuck?"

Rika threw another fireball at the tires, but missed. The burst of flame splashed across the pavement, leaving another little flickering torch in the trail she'd left down the whole highway.

"This car's got one of my friends, and they've got another. We need to stop them clean."

"Police are settin' up a line down the road."

"Okay."

"Shit!" he grunted.

She didn't need to ask. The truck had just side-swiped his car, knocking him away, before barrelling down the nearest exit. Hailey lost the audio from Jeremy entirely as his car spun out.

"Who the fuck was that?" asked Rika as she spun the wheel, following the truck down.

"Friend." Hailey leaned forward, trying to reach out as far as she could with her own magic. "Get me closer. I might be able to slash the tires."

"I'm trying." They were speeding down city streets now, weaving through the thin evening traffic. "Fuck!"

A car pulled out in front of them from a side street, perpendicular. Hailey grabbed Jessica's hand, and at the same time hurled their car into the air. They sailed across the intersection, twelve feet up. Groaning from the effort, Hailey set them down, spinning wheels catching the pavement and barely losing them any momentum.

Rika fought with the wheel to regain control. They started to spin out, but Hailey shoved at the side of the car from the outside. With Jessica's help, she forced it back into alignment and didn't lose an ounce of speed.

"This is insane!" Hailey shouted.

Rika laughed grimly. "No shit! Welcome to my life!"

The truck was only a few blocks ahead. It peeled around a corner, and they followed at breakneck speed. The streetlights were practically a blur as they sped by. Cars peeled out of the way as the truck blared its horn.

Hailey's phone rang. She grabbed it up from her belt.

"I lost you guys," said Jeremy.

"We're on…" Hailey trailed off. Even with her eyes, she couldn't catch the street signs as they sped past. "I can't tell. We're gaining on them though."

"You guys got a chopper tail. I'll find you. Just need a new car. Stay on 'em." Jeremy hung up.

"Hope you're okay with being on the news," said Hailey, clipping her phone to her belt. She grabbed onto the window handle as they swerved around another curve. Rika put them into a drift, closing the gap a little bit more. "Where'd you learn that?"

"Street racing. Pissing my dad off and risking his cars doing it." They turned again onto a long, narrow freeway. There wasn't another turn as far as she could see, so they had a chance to catch up. "Hold onto your tits, Hales."

"What?"

Rika floored the accelerator. The car leapt forward like a pouncing cat. Hailey felt like she'd been hurled back into her chair. Rika had a powerful car, and she knew how to drive it well.

They were gaining on the truck, fast. Hailey kept reaching, even as the acceleration pressed her back into the seat. She could almost feel the tires. If she could just get at the air inside…

The truck screeched. Smoke billowed from the tires as it slowed down — moving toward them.

"Shit!"

Rika ducked. Hailey followed a split-second later.

Gunfire rattled through the windows, shattering the windshield and the passenger window. The car slumped as one tire fell flat, then another. They had at least two or three guns, by Hailey's guess. Nothing automatic, but plenty of bullets between them… and they were getting away.

She hadn't gotten the tires.

"Rika?" she asked, as the car skidded across the pavement.

"Chikushou!" Rika shouted, pounding the wheel with her hand.

Hailey shook her head. She kicked the door open before they'd even lost half of their speed, and grabbed Rika around the waist. "Come on!"