As he rounded a corner to a bigger road, he didn’t see the van pull in behind him. For a brief, anxious moment, he thought he’d lost them.
That’s just great. I lost the tail when I was supposed to be letting him chase me. Now I’ll have to go back and find him.
Flash slowed, letting the Porsche coast down the street. He was wondering how to go about chasing down the bad guys when the van suddenly pulled out in front of him.
“I’m impressed,” he muttered. With a huge grin, he slammed his foot down on the gas pedal and sped toward the van. A few guys had gotten out already, fanning across the road. They leapt out of the way as Flash put the car into high gear and drove straight at them.
At the last second, he ripped the wheel to the side. The Porsche turned violently, sliding sideways toward the van with an ear-splitting squeal of ruined rubber against the asphalt. He had timed it perfectly, and even though his car tapped the side of the van, there was little damage.
Instantly, five guys jumped onto the Porsche. There was a massive thump on the roof as one landed there, and the Porsche rocked as two guys jumped onto the trunk and another on the hood. The last one leered through the passenger window, glaring at Flash.
The guy looked at the blow-up doll briefly, a flash of anger showing in his eyes.
“You took us on quite a ride, you know that?” he said. Flash grinned.
“Not over yet, asshole,” Flash yelled. He threw the car into gear and gunned it. The Porsche screamed in protest but took off in a massive cloud of smoke, making all the guys tumble off onto the road.
Flash was tempted to turn around and just mow them all down, but he wanted to get his hands dirty. After the thrill of the chase, he was aching for a decent, challenging fight. He hoped these guys were up to the task. It would leave him very disappointed if he slaughtered them in only a few minutes.
He leapt out of the Porsche and shifted on his first stride, becoming the wolf as he ran. Fury rose in his chest, and he let it loose as a long, drawn-out howl. The five men were just picking themselves up from the road. Flash jumped at the nearest one and tore out his throat.
As he twisted to go for the next man, something landed on top of him. It was massive, heavy, and had claws that were as strong as a steel vise with razors on its edges.
After jumping and twisting and only getting his back torn up for the effort, he eventually threw himself to the ground and rolled, dislodging the thing. As he jumped up, he saw it was a big, ugly vulture.
Flash darted in to kill it when he was hit by a massive punch. He turned and squared up, facing a bear shifter. The other two guys were still in human shape, and Flash didn’t know if they were shifters or not. One of them had an ax, the other a wicked-looking chain.
The vulture was getting up, and so was the bear. Flash focused on the bear and lowered himself, ready to spring.
The bear rose onto its hind legs and roared. Flash charged, curving to the side as if he were going for the vulture. When the bird lifted and the bear lunged at him, Flash ducked under its claws and latched on to the fur-covered neck.
The bear roared, staggering away and swiping at him with his claws. Flash hung on, sinking his teeth deep into the bear’s throat before shaking and twisting his head. The bear tried to run, but Flash tightened his hold until the bear went down.
He barely had time to release his jaw before he felt the sting of the chain on his hind legs. He was jerked onto the road, and the breath slammed out of him. He struggled briefly, but the chain was too tight. Flash relaxed, sagging against the pressure as if he was knocked out.
“Is he down?” one of them yelled.
“I don’t know. He looks out to me.”
“He killed Barry!”
“What, you didn’t realize this job was dangerous when you filled out the application?”
Flash held in a chuckle. He hated to kill a guy with a good sense of humor. It was just a pity they were on opposite sides.
The two guys crept closer while the vulture waited on top of the van. When they stopped right by his head, Flash heard one of them pull out a gun.
“This was too easy,” the guy said.
Flash sprang up from the ground. He threw himself at the nearest guy and tore out his neck. They had been standing so close together that the other man was knocked over too. The tension had gone out of the chain, and Flash was able to get free of it as he crawled over the dead guy to rip open the other one.
Above him, the vulture screamed. Flash turned toward it, growling. He was ready to send it to the birdie afterlife when he suddenly heard the rumble of approaching engines.
“Fuck!” he muttered, glancing around the side of the van. Several cars were approaching at high speed. The vulture cackled in glee.
Flash turned and ran back to the Porsche, shifting as he escaped. He gunned the engine, tearing away down the street. The cars followed him, swerving dangerously across the road. Flash pulled away from them, managing to lose a few cars as he twisted through the streets, finally losing the last one near the turnpike.
Once he was sure he’d lost them, he turned for home. He was grinning by the time he got there, imagining Slade and Cass all tied up in sweaty knots together. He hoped Slade had made his move and that he’d know Cass was the one.
