The Reluctant Amazon (Alliance of the Amazons) Read Free Page B

beautiful. Model beautiful. Brown eyes.
Straight nose. But there was a hardness to her as well. She jammed the keys in
the ignition, fired up the engine and shifted the van into gear. The van lurched
into motion with a squeal of tires.
    “What’s a revenant?” Rebecca finally asked.
    “Didn’t you smell them?” Sparks took the lit cigarette from her
mouth and flicked the ashes out the open window. “Pee? Rotting meat?”
    Rebecca nodded. “Both. It was disgusting.”
    “That tells you they were just class-threes then. No sweat.
They aren’t so bad to fight. They’ve mostly rotted away. Not much brain left, so
they’re great for target practice. They don’t scream much when you hit ’em. That
quake you set off drew too much attention to you, so we weren’t the only ones
who found you. Class-ones might be close behind.”
    “The earthquake I set off? Are you
on dope? Smoking crack? Meth?”
    Sparks laughed at her. “No, thanks. My life is exciting enough
without chemical enhancement.”
    “Uh, hello? Nicotine?”
    She gave a conciliatory shrug. “Touché.”
    Enough was enough. “It’s been great to meet you, but I’d really
like this funhouse ride to end now.” She tried to maintain a calm tone of voice,
even though she was talking to an absolute lunatic.
    Sparks shot her a sidelong look before she put her gaze back on
the road. “You sound just like Helen. You Earths are so damn level-headed. The
only thing that lightens up Helen is tequila in massive quantities.”
    “Why do you both keep calling me an ‘Earth?’”
    “Because you are,” Artair announced from the back of the van.
“Tell her, Sparks.”
    “I’ll explain later, Celt,” Sparks replied. “I’m not going
through the whole stupid story twice in the same day.”
    “Twice? I don’t…” Rebecca’s thoughts spun in a thousand
different directions, none of which were pleasant, and none of which made any
sense at all. “I want you to pull over and let me out of this van. Now. ”
    “It won’t do you any good, you know.” Sparks turned the wheel
sharply, sending the van squealing around another corner as Rebecca braced
herself against the door. “If you don’t come with us, you’re dead. It’s that
simple. Artair and I can protect you until you learn how to protect
yourself.”
    Dead? That got her attention.
    “Protect me? Protect me from what? Who’s after me? What’s a
revenant?” None of the odyssey made any sense. She glanced to where the Scotsman
sat with his back to the metal wall, listening to every word of the conversation
and seemingly unaffected by Sparks’s out-of-control driving. “You know what? I
think you and Artair are a couple of escaped mental patients. You both belong in
straightjackets.”
    Sparks laughed again. “Yeah. Well…” She took a long drag from
her cigarette. Rebecca had no idea how she had been able to drive without
dropping the damned thing. The van began to slow to match the tempo of the other
traffic. “You might be right about that.”
    “Where are we going?” Rebecca asked even as she searched for an
opportunity to bail. If she jumped out of the moving van, how badly would she be
hurt? Would she even have time to unlock the door and throw it open before one
of her captors stopped her?
    Rebecca glanced back to Artair, who did nothing more than quirk
an eyebrow. Could he read her thoughts? If she tried to escape, would he
follow?
    No doubt. He would.
    “We’ve gotta find Megan. I can’t believe the luck of two
newbies being near New York City when the call came. The other two are in
California and New Mexico. At least I get to train Fire and Earth.”
    Rebecca covered her face with her hands, desperately willing
the nightmare to end. She slowly counted to ten. “I’m home. In my own bed.
Getting ready for my wedding. This is all just—just a bad dream.” She pulled her
hands away and realized a miracle wasn’t in the cards. “Oh, no…”
    “Oh, yes. ” Sparks grinned