Black Ribbon: A Hard-driving Florida Urban Fantasy Thriller (Discarded Arcana Book 2) by Martin Shannon

Author:Martin Shannon [Shannon, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Weird Florida LLC
Published: 2021-03-08T22:00:00+00:00

9

No Rest

The Dad Wagon practically limped the last hundred yards or so to the rest stop, the engine burned out on Hellfire and the rest of the car a sulking mess of broken glass and static.

"This'll do." I urged the Mazda to make the remaining few feet before opening the door and practically falling onto the pavement.

The car whined to a very unpleasant sounding stop, then nestled up against the curb alongside a couple darkened fuel pumps.

This place looks empty.

The entire rest stop gave me the impression it was decidedly not open for business. Dominated by a single large building of completely dark glass and steel, it didn't scream "come inside and get your supplies."

It basically said "Leave now, and take your beater car with you."

We weren't going anywhere.

I gently lifted Mazie out of the passenger seat. I wasn't great at medical stuff, but it was pretty easy to tell she was still alive by the fact that her eyelids were moving.

"Ugh." She tried to adjust to the dim light. "Did I miss the magic show?"

"Yes."

"Damn." She leaned her head against my chest. "I wanted a balloon sword."

I turned toward the glass entry doors and hadn't gone a few feet before the Mazda honked.

"Huh?"

The trunk popped open.

The key…

"I can't take the key out. If I do... well, if I do, you won't still be you."

The brake lights turned on and flooded the lot in a sea of red.

"Listen, I have to get her inside. She's—"

The Dad Wagon pumped the brakes rapidly flashing red light over the ground.

"I said she needs medical attention."

Red lights flashed faster.

"Damn it would you—first aid kit!"

The Mazda practically sighed as it sunk into the pavement.

"Yeah, yeah. You try doing this. It's not nearly as easy as it looks."

The car didn't respond.

I found the first aid kit in the trunk pinned beneath a tire iron.

It took a few attempts to pick it up without losing my grip on Mazie in the process, but in the end, I got it, and her, to the closed glass doors.

Faint emergency lights cast their uneven glow over the large interior. Over the last five years or so, Florida highway rest stops had taken to looking like tiny malls: cavernous interiors with high ceilings and bright colors, surrounded by a small army of wildly overpriced stores hawking everything from snow globes and cigars, to the ever-popular orange juice.

As a state, we were nothing if not consistently on brand.

I reached the door and dug for my Magick, but the automatic glass slid open effortlessly.

That immediately sent the short hairs on the back of my neck to attention, but the ashen look on Mazie's face was far more important.

I carried her past tables and shuttered shops until I found an open spot on the soft rubber floor of a kid's play area.

She grunted as I laid her down.

Well, that's a good sign.

"Eugene," Mazie said, her eyes unfocused. "You're a really shitty Magician."

"I know."

She put a hand on my cheek. "But you sure are cute."

I took that hand off and put it on her chest.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.