We tumbled to the ground as the man’s legs went out from underneath him and the impact jolted me from my murderous rage. Beneath me the man was no longer moving but I felt his chest rise and fall so I knew he was still alive. I loosened my choke hold and looked around for Peter, emitting a squeak when I found him lying on the ground a few feet away.

“Peter?” I disentangled my arms and legs from the prone man and crawled across the grass to my friend. Peter’s normally pale face was so white that even his freckles looked washed out. His eyes opened when I leaned over him and I saw they were glazed with pain.

“Oh, Peter!” Gut wounds are always the worst and I had no idea if his accelerated werewolf healing worked in human form. I pressed my hand over his stomach to staunch the flow of blood.

He tried to smile and failed miserably. “A knife is nothing compared to a crocotta claw.”

I fumbled for my cell phone with my free hand. “I’ll call nine-one-one. Don’t worry; you’ll be okay.”

“More are coming.”

The deep African voice drew my eyes from Peter to the witch who was sitting back on his heels watching me.

“What?”

“Tarek.” He pointed to the unconscious man behind me. “He called for backup as soon as we found you. They will be here very soon.”

His meaning was clear. If I waited for the police or an ambulance, Tarek’s reinforcements would get to us first. “Why are you telling me this?”

The witch shrugged. I had no reason to trust the person who had just tried to violate my mind, but then he could have kept his mouth shut and let me be ambushed.

“How did you find us? Were you following me?”

He let out a deep laugh. “You are not such easy prey. I merely sensed your mind as we passed by. But the others know you are here now.”

I looked at Peter. “We can’t stay here. We have to go.”

He grimaced. “I know.”

“Can you stand?” My hands slipped behind his shoulders and helped him into a sitting position. Between the both of us, we managed to get him to his feet.

“Come on.” I wrapped an arm around him and together we walked slowly toward the diner. I wanted to urge him to go faster but his haggard breaths told me how much pain he was in. I felt him weakening with every step.

As we neared the diner, it looked less and less like the refuge I thought it would be. These men had no qualms about attacking me in the middle of the afternoon alongside a busy interstate. People like that would think nothing of barging inside the restaurant and taking us. I looked around frantically. We couldn’t stay here and we couldn’t call Phil and wait for him to show up. We needed to get out of here now.

At that moment I saw Scott shuffling like a zombie toward his shiny red Mustang parked in front of the diner. Jesus, I had forgotten about him.

“Scott,” I called to him as we hurried after him as fast as Peter could move. We caught up to Scott as he stopped beside the driver door swaying slightly, and one look at his slack-jawed face told me he was in no shape to drive out of here. The way Peter hung heavily on me, I knew he was about to pass out. “Damn it! Why does this shit keep happening?”

I leaned Peter against the car and searched Scott’s pockets until I found his keys. Gently nudging Scott aside I unlocked the driver door and levered the seat forward so I could get Peter into the back. He stretched out across the seat with a moan then promptly went out cold. My breath caught painfully in my chest and I scrambled to check his breathing and pulse to make sure he was still alive. “I’m so sorry, Peter,” I whispered hoarsely. “I’ll get us out of this, I promise.”

I got out and propelled Scott around to the passenger side and into the seat, fear causing me to slam the door with more force than was necessary. Then I ran back to the driver side and climbed in. Only then did it hit me what I was about to do and I stared around me in confusion. The Mustang was so different from Judith’s car and I’d only had one lesson so far. How was I ever going to figure this out?

Okay, first things first. I reached down until my fingers found the seat adjuster mechanism and moved the seat forward until my feet could touch the pedals. Gas on the right, brake in the middle, and clutch thingy on the left. No problem.

I pressed down on the brake. Grabbing the gear stick, I jiggled it into neutral and turned the key in the ignition. Nothing. Don’t panic. Think about what Roland told you.

I lost precious seconds recalling my lesson before I remembered. The clutch! I pressed the pedal to the floor and tried the key again. The Mustang rumbled to life.

Scott made a moaning sound and but there was no time to check on him. The one time I needed him and he was completely out of it. Figures. I looked around me again. Scott loved his Mustang. I wondered how he’d feel if he knew who was about to drive his precious car.

Movement in the side mirror caught my eye and I saw Tarek stirring on the ground. I must have really done the job on him because he was having trouble lifting himself to his hands and knees. He scanned the parking lot and his eyes zeroed in on the Mustang. Even from here I felt the rage radiating off him. He was not happy to be taken down by a pair of teenagers and his expression told me payback was coming if he caught up with us.

I took a deep breath and moved the stick into what I hoped was Reverse. God, don’t let me kill us all, I prayed as I took my foot from the brake and pressed gently on the gas while letting up on the clutch.

The car shuddered to a stop.