Crow's Rest by Angelica R. Jackson

Author:Angelica R. Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: urban fantasy, young adult, fae creatures, humorous fantasy, haunted castle, contemporary fantasy, strong female protagonist
Publisher: Crow & Pitcher Press
Published: 2018-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

13

The window still wouldn’t work, and I mashed the button with my fist. “Nykur, don’t be stupid! We’re not in stealth mode anymore, and the faster we get Daniel, the sooner we can get home.”

After a static-filled pause, like Nykur was pondering my words, my window cracked about four inches. A strange odor seeped into the car, like rotting meat and the most delicious fruity punch all blended into one. Shuddering, I put my mouth to the gap and yelled, “Daniel! It’s Avery! Stop!”

Bobbin scrambled into my lap and began barking, sharp staccato blasts of joy. Finally, Daniel stopped walking and turned his head toward us. Nykur pulled up to him in an instant.

Daniel looked like a raggedy mannequin. Parts of the velvet costume he wore hung in strips, as if giant claws had raked his chest. And when he tried to touch my fingers where they poked out the window, his hand went right through mine.

He pulled his arm back hastily, but not before I’d seen it was slightly transparent. Oh! He didn’t have a body. It was here in the car with me.

“Avery?” he said. “Is it really you?”

“Yes!” I said through fresh tears. “We came to save you.”

He bent down to peer into the car, his face lighting up. “Bobbin! Hey, boy!” His eyes moved past us to the passenger seat, and anger and bitterness twisted his features. “You. This is all your fault!”

Lonan held up his hands—Daniel’s hands—and said, “That’s not true. If you hadn’t fought the switch, we wouldn’t be in this mess—”

Nykur’s dash lights suddenly went haywire and the speakers blared air-raid sirens.

“They’re coming!” Daniel and Lonan said together.

Nykur revved his engine, but I reached over and yanked the emergency brake. “No, Nykur! Give me one second.”

Before I could say anything else, a screech like sheet metal tearing in a wind reverberated around us. And again, closer. Daniel’s eyes held pure panic, and he turned to run.

“Daniel, get in the dog!” I screamed.

That threw him enough to hesitate. “Get in the what?”

“Get in the dog! Get in Bobbin, it’s your only chance.”

“That’s crazy—”

“Just do it!” Lonan yelled over him. “He’s ready—I already set him up with a spell.”

With a touch to Bobbin’s muzzle, Daniel’s form flowed right in, like a cartoon food aroma. Shiiit...

But I didn’t have time to trip out, because a dark cloud was approaching. It was close enough now to see that the mass was made up of misshapen, winged creatures, each as big as a two-seater plane.

“Go, Nykur!” Lonan smacked the dashboard and I let off the brake.

Now we were really flying, and it seemed we’d left our new friends behind—until a series of impacts jarred the car. A sound like demon nails on a chalkboard shrieked over our heads. Could their claws cut through the car roof?

Movement out of the corner of my eye made me whip my head around, and I came face to face with one of the creatures. Was that a gargoyle? A naked mole rat? A devil from a tomb carving?

Worse than all those things together.

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