Shay grabbed her bottle of generic grocery store powdered garlic out of her bag. She popped off the lid and tore off the protection seal with her teeth.

  Then, she hurled it at Daegeum’s face with all her might!!

  Hit! Please hit!!!

  He caught it.

  Huh?

  A pale, garlicky cloud fluffed up the air around him. It was a lot.

  Good enough.

  Daegeum’s head tilted far to the side, a little too far to look normal-- a little too far to look human.

  “This... is... g-garlic powder?” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

  “Yes! Yes, it is!!” Shay declared.

  Daegeum sneezed.

  Huh...

  He started coughing. Then, he sneezed again. “It’s-- it’s in my-- ah...”

  Again. Hm.

  Shay sneezed too. That made her stomach hurt where she got kicked.

  Then, Monty sneezed. He clutched at his twisted arm and cried out in pain.

  But Daegeum?

  Daegeum should have been so much worse! Why wasn’t he worse??!?

  A big car revved up its big engine, proceeded by the high-pitched squeal of its rubber on concrete.

  Despite her coughing fit, Shay grabbed Monty by the back of his suit collar and hurriedly dragged him to the side. Not even a second later, the full-sized, oncoming SUV smashed into Daegeum and the cars parked in the spaces behind.

  Shay threw up a little in her mouth seeing a relatively human person’s legs pinned like they were. Ugggh...

  Shadows coalesced on the hood of the Gallivanter, and when Raia appeared, she was holding onto Daegeum’s collar, slamming super-powered punches against his sack face.

  Was that really necessary?

  Ah. It was. Daegeum thrust his hand out, grabbing Raia by the throat. Then, her head got slammed against the car. She bounced, then collapsed onto her back.

  Fuck! Why?!

  Was he invincible?! He was faster than Monty! And even though Raia had shadowy teleport powers, she got grabbed with hardly any effort.

  Oh! Raia moved a little bit-- hopefully still conscious.

  Shay started waving her arms. “Mister Daegeum! Sir! Uh... kamsahabnida!!!”

  That was one of two Korean phrases she knew-- and the only one appropriate.

  Daegeum was still trapped between two vehicles and probably in a great deal of pain. But he still turned to her and bowed his head politely. “????.”

  Wow. Shay wasn’t sure that would work.

  Bang! Daegeum’s head violently jolted to the side. Raia had drawn her pistol, shooting him as she stood up. She walked forward, firing more shots-- each shot making a new bloody hole in his headsack.

  Was that good? Was he dead???

  “That... hurts,” Daegeum whispered, the rasp in his soft voice twisting and cutting into Shay’s nerves.

  Not! gooD! NOT! DEAD!!!

  “Fucking GO!!!” Raia screamed. “Fucking-- stay down, you fucking-- FUCKER!!!” It was sloppy, but she managed to reload her gun and get back to punching holes in someone’s skull.

  Another car engine roared to life, Monty’s black sports car screeching out of its spot, about five cars away. He screamed at her-- muffled sounds through his tinted window.

  Shay practically dove into the passenger seat of Monty’s car, only very slightly safer inside than out. He slammed on the gas pedal and they were moving. Fast. Dangerous. But something more dangerous was trying to keep them from leaving.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Oh.

  She rolled down the passenger window.

  “Who or WHAT the FUCK was that?” Monty yelled-- just before letting out a guttural growl of pain. He was driving with his left hand and... having a really bad time because it was a stick shift.

  “I-- I dunno what he is exactly,” Shay said. “He’s Nuri’s bodyguard. But-- I don’t know!”

  “That fucking BASTARD!” Monty snarled, “Next time I fucking see him-- fuck! We left the goth chick back there. Should we go back?”

  --“Relax.”

  A shadowy cloud seeped in through the open window. Shay glanced in the not-very-spacious back seat area, seeing Raia start to take shape. It hadn’t even been two minutes, but her face was even more scuffed up and her left eye was only half-open.

  “Focus on driving, Rider,” she said. “As I’m sure you guys are well fucking aware, I hit that son of a bitch with a fucking SUV and shot him multiple times in his fucking dome. Whatever he is, our team can’t handle him.”

  “I fucking can,” Monty shot back.

  “You’re hurt, Rider,” Raia said sternly. “If you want a rematch, you can’t do it like that.”

  “FUCK!” Monty yelled. But as furious as he was, he shut his mouth and kept driving.

  Raia half-sighed, half-growled. She obviously wasn’t happy about the situation, either.

  “I know it fucking sucks,” she said. “But let’s do this smart. We get to a safehouse. We get you patched up? Set the break. Stop the bleeding.”

  Monty let out another groan before cutting it short, gritting his teeth.

  That was probably him agreeing.

  “Hit the freeway and exit Industrial,” Raia said quietly.

  They rode in absolute silence for a little while, oddly calm and serene save for the car noises and their bodies shifting from Monty weaving through traffic. Shay had a lot of thoughts. Most were related to self-blame and guilt. And to the fact that her breath still tasted like bile.

  So... she tried to... not focus on anything for a little bit.

  But Monty’s rough whisper broke the peace.

  “The bleeding,” he said... “Am I gonna turn?”

  Shay sat up in her seat. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m asking if I’m gonna turn into a fucking ZOMBIE, you dumb BITCH!!” Ah. The quiet, injured Monty turned back into regular, loud, fucking asshole Monty. “I got fucking BIT? And in case you fucking forgot, it was YOUR fault it happened!”

  He took a shaky breath... and he let it out, low and slow. He looked up, staring into his rearview mirror. “I am keenly fucking aware of what happens next.”

  “Hold on.” Raia leaned forward between Shay and Monty. Her ponytail must have come undone during the fight, as her long hair draped over the center console. Hm. Her shampoo smelled earthy and green.

  She gave Monty a once-over. She rubbed the ebony surface of Monty’s snake pin. Then, she sat back down and re-buckled her safety belt. “You won’t turn.”

  “And how the hell do you know that?” Monty whined.

  “Because I fucking know,” Raia said.

  “Like with what percent?”

  “A fucking hundred, dickwad,” Raia snapped. “I used to be a vampire, so I fucking know, okay?”

  Wait, what? That was possible?

  Judging by his lack of response, Monty was just as surprised. After a short pause, he scoffed and mumbled, “Alright. Got it.”

  Raia being a former vampire... made a little bit of sense. Delilah’s dark claw transformation might have been a shadow-type power. Maybe that was a common ability.

  (Also, Shay was highly suspicious Raia was a vampire when they first met. So it felt pretty nice to be partially right.)

  That... also gave clarity to another thing. Raia once said that she would have given up anything to be human again. Something horrible must have happened in the past... so her getting beaten up by Daegeum probably hurt a lot more than she let on.

  Shay sighed and shook her head.

  “Raia, I need to tell you what I found out at the gala.”

  She turned to look at Raia in the back seat-- but she was looking out the back window.

  “We’re being followed.”

  “I can handle it,” Monty said in an annoyed voice. “You two, make sure you’re strapped in.”

  Shay never thought car chases were super interesting-- not in the movies, not in the news...

  So, being in one... was interesting.

  Mostly bad-- but interesting.

  Shay screamed... a lot. She would have screamed ten times as much, but most of her screams got caught in her throat.

  It was actually a really bad situation, being forced to entrust her safety to a reckless a-hole, drunk on pain. What’s the longest time Monty could have had his driver’s license? Like two years, max?

  But... they lived. And to Rider’s credit, he didn’t hit anything-- not really. They ran over a few bumps, which made him loudly complain about his... shocks or something? She didn’t remember the exact term.

  After they got to safety-- and after a whole night of not actually puking... Shay’s body finally had enough. Vomitus. On the side of the road. Her stomach tried to puke out more.

  Oh, it was horrible...

  --and the stomach cramps! They were-- eh... not the worst she’d ever had. But they still sucked.

  Rider. Why did Monty get a cool nickname like that? He was the driver. He was in control. She and Raia were passengers at his mercy. They should have got... a reward or something.

  Even Raia puked. Once. She just... let it all out-- barely made any noise. Then, she wiped her mouth on her sleeve and was perfectly fine.

  Good for her.

  “Rider, wait here,” she said before gesturing to her. “Come on. Let’s make sure the safehouse is clear.”