“Traitors deserve death!” the wolf shouted behind them and Cricket glanced at a stony-faced Radley. “Such betrayal is paid in blood!”
The arrow pointed them at the base of the pyramid and as they drew closer, they saw the large stones that made it up. There was no opening. Cricket’s head began to ache the longer she focused on the stone.
“Radley—”
“Just follow it. The High Wizard promised a favor. He won’t kill us.”
“Are you sure?” Cricket asked, cringing as the base of the pyramid came closer and closer.
“No,” he answered honestly. “But what else would we do?”
Holding her breath, Cricket kept the nose of the Ferrari pointed at the base of the pyramid and the large stones that held it up. She didn’t hesitate, didn’t jerk away, but her heart throbbed painfully in her chest at the lack of air.
Cricket grunted and grit her teeth as they drew close, as the pyramid cast its shadow over them. That grunt turned into a scream as the stone threatened to smash them to pieces. Radley joined her as they drew close, his hands on the handle over his head and the side of the bucket seat. Their voices joined together, making a harmony of terror as the stones drew up over them. . .
. . .and then dropped open violently into a ramp.
The Ferrari dropped down the ramp, making their screams cut off with an oomph. Within a millisecond of them passing, the opening closed back up. The wolves couldn’t stop their trajectory, choosing to play a game of chicken rather than back off. The explosion rocked the stone around them as they shot through the narrow tunnel lit with dancing flame torches every ten feet. The horn echoed outside, signaling the death of the wolf team.
Radley huffed sadly. “Such a waste of good wolves.”
Cricket risked a glance at him despite her knuckles being white on the wheel. She wouldn’t admit how scared she’d been as they’d raced toward the stone. She certainly wouldn’t admit the words she’d almost blurted out just in case they’d crashed at full speed. “They’re wrong, you know,” she said before focusing on the small tunnel they traveled through. The stone beneath the tires were textured and with the tracks still on the tires, it made the ride rough.
“About what?” he asked curiously, glancing over at her.
“You’re no coward, Radley Whiteclaw,” she whispered. “You’re the bravest man I know.” She glanced at him quickly and away. “You’re a great alpha.”
She felt his smile rather than saw it, but when his fingers gently touched her arm, it sent goosebumps racing up and down her flesh.
“Thank you for that,” he mused, his eyes on the arrow still pointing them out of the pyramid. “When do you think this thing will disappear?”
Something slammed into the car from the right and Radley jerked away from it, his eyes searching for what hit them. “What the fuck was that?” he growled.
Another hit to the left side but it was gone before Cricket could see what it was. It was only as they continued forward, and the tunnel began to widen, that they saw what the threat was.
Cricket squinted. “Is that—”
“Mummies,” Radley finished. “Real creative. Mummies in an Egyptian pyramid.”
They threw themselves at the car, slowing them down as they literally had to drive over the things. The whole thing had a necromancer’s magic all over it, their eyes glowing green, so apparently the Zombie Councilman had lent a hand to the creation of this part. The High Wizard’s arrow continued to point out and Cricket wasn’t going to ignore it now.
“Move out the way,” she growled, running them over. With the driver side window gone, a hand reached through and tried to grab at her. She screeched when the hand threatening to wrap around her wrist just before Radley was there slicing it off with Peri’s dagger she’d had strapped to her thigh. While the magic in it did nothing for the dead, it still cut well enough for the hand to fall away back out the window.
One of the mummies slammed onto the hood, its head popping off and sticking to the windshield, sending a hairline crack across it. It didn’t kill the magic. Instead, the head growled at them through the now cracked windshield. Radley growled back, the sound all wolf, and the expression on the mummy’s face went slack before Cricket kicked on the windshield wipers. The wipers smacked into the head and shoved it off their window, disappearing in the tunnel behind them.
Radley snorted before falling into a fit of laughter. Cricket couldn’t help but join in until they were both laughing hard as they broke through the hoard of mummies.
Light appeared at the end of the tunnel, the ground beneath them angling up. The tunnel narrowed again, and they both braced themselves just as sunlight surrounded them and they shot into the air. The arrow disappeared just as they slammed back down, directly in the middle of the track. Cricket gripped the wheel tightly, righting the car and dropping a gear to add a boost.
Radley clicked on the tablet. “We’re in first,” he breathed. “Somewhere in there, we passed the crows.”
With a whoop, Cricket turned off the sand tracks and hit the gas, shooting closer to the finish line and her freedom.
It was so close, she could taste it.