Elegy

“Okay.” Marcy nodded, then turned to Kirby. “You can stay here.”

“No.” Kirby shook his head. “You’re my date. I go where you go.”

“But it’s dangerous,” Marcy protested.

He smiled. “Danger is my middle name.”

“God, you’re hot,” Marcy said, then rather abruptly, she kissed Kirby on the mouth.

When she’d finished, she took his hand and ran off in the direction of the street, presumably to retrieve her car.

Alex scanned the crowd for Thea, which was easier since the dance floor had started clearing out. When Liv had pushed him into everyone, it kinda put a damper on things. The music hadn’t stopped, though, and he discovered Thea standing by the DJ.

“Thea,” Alex said. “Aren’t you gonna do anything? I know you hate Liv way more than you hate Gemma.”

Thea hesitated, looking toward the cliff, but then she shook her head, her red hair swaying on her shoulders. “I’m just trying to stay out of these things.”

“Staying out of it still puts you in it,” he insisted. “You know that Gemma can’t fight Penn and Liv, so if you just stay here, you let them win. You’re killing her.”

Thea wouldn’t meet his eyes, and her words sounded weak when she said, “She’s not my problem.”

Alex moved, stepping into her line of sight so she’d have to look at him, and he looked her right in the eyes. “You are worse than Penn. You act like you’re so above this and that you’re all moral and superior, but you’re not. You’re cold, and you have just as much blood on your hands as Penn does.”

“I never said that I was better than her,” Thea replied coolly. “And I never pretended to be good. If I somehow gave you or Gemma that impression, then I’m sorry.”

He shook his head in disgust, and a car horn honked loudly.

“Alex! Let’s go!” Marcy shouted.

He had nothing left to say to Thea since she’d made her position crystal clear, so he left. There was no parking on the street right in front of Bayside Park, where the dance was being held, so Marcy had pulled right up over the curb and sidewalk onto the lawn.

The passenger-side door of her tiny little Gremlin was open, and Kirby was in the backseat. Alex ran over to it and hopped into the car since he didn’t have time to question the fact that they were trying to catch up with a supernaturally fast siren and using a car that had been discontinued over thirty years ago.

Before he’d even shut the door, Marcy threw the car into drive. Instead of going forward, it lurched backward, making an awful chugging sound, before finally moving in the right direction.

“Is this thing even gonna make it?” Alex asked, as it bounced down off the curb, and he heard an awful scraping sound of metal against concrete.

“You gotta have faith in Lucinda,” Marcy said. “When she has to get up and go, she frickin’ gets up and goes.”

Alex remained dubious, but not for long. Marcy had her foot pressed all the way down, and though it took the car a little longer to get up to speed, once it did, it hauled. It also helped that Marcy didn’t stop for anything, not even stop signs or traffic lights.

As she ran a red light, they were nearly sideswiped by a Jeep, but Marcy jerked the wheel in the nick of time, and the car squealed and got out of the way. Then she floored it again, driving the wrong way into oncoming traffic for a few seconds before she moved back over to the right side.

In the backseat, Kirby was flying all over, and Alex heard him banging around as he flew from side to side.

“Kirby, honey, you gotta buckle up back there,” Marcy said. “I don’t want you getting too concussed to make out later.”

Though Marcy had nearly gotten them in about fifty accidents, they made it to the edge of town in record time. The sirens’ house was located at the top of a cliff, and the winding road through the cypress and pine trees was steep.

Marcy took the turns much sharper than Alex would’ve liked, but they were only about a third of the way up when he saw the icy blue color of Harper’s Sable through the trees.

“That’s Harper’s car!” Alex shouted, and when they rounded another bend, they were right behind her. “How’d we catch up to them?”

“Because Harper’s driving. Even in a life-or-death situation, do you think she disobeyed a single traffic law?” Marcy asked.

“Probably not,” Alex said. Being in a car accident when she was a kid made Harper kinda OCD about driving. “But where’s Liv? She flew out of the dance like a bat out of hell.”

“She’s probably already at the house, trying to lay some kind of trap for Gemma.”

Alex was just about to agree with Marcy, when the roof of the car came crushing in on top of them, sending the windows shattering outward.

FORTY-TWO

Ensnared

The convertible was still running when Daniel got out and walked into the house. No candles were lit this time, and it was rather dark inside, but he could see well enough to walk into the kitchen.

Penn came in a few seconds later and flicked on the overhead light while Daniel opened the cabinets near the fridge until he found the one containing alcohol. He grabbed a bottle of brandy and a large glass tumbler and proceeded to fill it.

“Sure, make yourself at home,” Penn said dryly. She pulled off the black stilettos she’d been wearing and tossed them absently on the couch before walking into the kitchen.