The Storm Runner (The Storm Runner 1)

“No,” I argued, feeling my face flush. Why did it matter to me what they called him? “He has one serpent leg. Supposedly.”

And so did I, apparently. Whatever that meant.

Hondo hollered over his shoulder, “Screen says two minutes. It’s up ahead.”

But those two minutes were cut short by a siren and red flashing lights.

“Don’t stop!” Brooks warned.

We didn’t have much time, and if we got arrested, we’d never get to the party.

“I can’t shake him!” Hondo shouted.

A very big voice that I was sure belonged to an even bigger dude sounded over the cop’s loudspeaker: “PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY!”

“What do you want to do, kid?” Hondo called to me.

I glanced over my shoulder. The cop was a few feet away. Crap! With a deep breath, I sent a prayer up to the saints and anyone else listening. Then I said, “Hit the Turbo button.”

“Are you deranged?” Brooks said. “Jazz only thinks he fixed it.”

“Thinks is good enough for me,” Hondo said. Then, “Adiós, sucker!” And without hesitation he hit the red button marked turbo.

It felt like the atmosphere burned up around us. There was an explosion of white, as if we were hurtling through the Milky Way. The air got cold and I could no longer feel the ground beneath us. All the breath was sucked from my lungs.

We came to a sudden stop. We were thrown off the Turbo and as I spun through the air all I could think was Please land in a soft spot. Luckily for us, that spot was a thicket of bushes spread out across a lush green lawn.

I lay still for a second, blinking, waiting for the terrible pressure in my head to disappear. Slowly, I sat up. “Brooks? Hondo?”

Brooks was next to me, catching her breath, plucking branches out of her messed-up hair. Hondo rolled to his feet, moaning and cursing. We were in front of a pink building with a grande sign that read: beverly hills hotel.

“You guys okay?” I asked, glad I hadn’t broken anything.

Hondo wasn’t so lucky. He was clutching his left arm. “Might’ve busted a bone or two.”

Brooks and I hurried over.

“Give it a minute,” she said, lightly touching his arm. “The enchantment will fix it.”

Hondo raised a single brow and tried to smile but grimaced instead.

“You mean… nothing can hurt us while we’re enchanted?” I asked.

“Technically, you could die,” Brooks said. “But as long as that doesn’t happen, the enchantment fixes all imperfections.”

She was right, because in the same instant, the grass stains on her white dress faded and her hair readjusted itself, weaving back into perfect braids. We all waited, held our breath. Except Hondo, who was still cursing. Then he straightened and looked down at his arm. He shook it out, threw a punch at the air, and laughed. “Someone seriously needs to market this stuff.”

Brooks let out a breath. “It’s the reason enchantment doesn’t last for long and you can only use it once a year. Imagine what people would do to get their hands on something like this if it could be made permanent.”

Yeah. Imagine.

A part of me regretted wasting it on the dumb twins. If I’d waited, I could’ve used it to run with the storm and take down Ah-Puch. But then I wouldn’t have gotten an audience with the twins, the only other godborns in existence, and I was still convinced they had intel I needed. I simply had to learn what they did to defeat Pukeface. Then I would bolt to the Old World. Man, Hurakan was going to be seriously impressed.

We made our way to the front of the hotel, where exotic cars were lined up at the valet: two Teslas, a Maserati, a Ferrari, and a Bentley. Hondo let out a low whistle. “So this is where the other half lives!”

The valet smiled at us as we passed, and some of the rich people getting out of their cars waved like we were old friends. I waved back, but it was super weird to be accepted as one of the elite.

We made our way under the striped canopy and across a red carpet into the lobby. Hotel guests and employees nodded and waved, some said hello. It was like we were movie stars or something.