“Whoa! They are going to shoot at us! Step on it, Winnie!”

Winnie pumped the gas and yanked hard on the wheel. They careened to the side, just as a great ball of fire shot out past where they had been and slammed into the side of a flying billboard. It exploded, glitzy bulbs and bits of screen raining out over the city.

“Hold on!” Winnie gritted out.

They raced through the sky, angling between buildings. The police car continued to volley out shots behind them. Ahmad hissed through his teeth as one narrowly bounced off the hood of their car.

“Ahmad! I need you to tell me if we’re going the right way!” Winnie called. “I can’t do this and think about directions at the same time. We need to shake them somehow.”

“Okay, but—”

They both froze as a second whine joined the first car behind them, and a smug voice announced, “FUGITIVES OF JUSTICE, YOU ARE EVADING FOUR OFFICERS OF THE LAW OF PAHELI. YOU ARE ADVISED TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM YOUR VEHICLE BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH DUE FORCE.”

“Fugitives?” Ahmad squeaked. He glanced down at the shimmering jewel in his hand. So he was right. This must be what they were after. But how could they be thieves and fugitives if they were supposed to find it?

Either way, he couldn’t just sit there and let them be fired at like this.

“Due force? They’re already shooting at us! Worse than the cops in New York. Ahmad, what are you doing?” The last was said in her now familiar, panicked shriek. Ahmad was halfway out the window.

“Playing it their way,” he yelled back. “Hey, you guys in the clown cars! Bet you can’t do this! Winnie, head through there!”

Winnie followed his pointing finger and gasped. “The Minaret!” It had its own raised platform in between two narrowly set, leaning buildings. If they could scrape through one of those passages, they would be able to make it back to Madame Nasirah’s shop without their troublesome shadows.

The police cars sped up behind them. “Predictable,” Ahmad yelled. “They are part of this world. Of course they can’t resist a good challenge.”

He leaned out the door, jeering at them, as Winnie jetted toward the passage. Ten feet . . . five feet . . .

“Ahmad, now!”

One final blast jetted out from the police car, colliding with the base platform of the buildings. It crumpled, heavy marble and thick wire swatting one of the cars out of the air like a fly. The others staggered and stumbled to avoid the debris.

Ahmad yanked himself back in as Winnie jerked the car to the side.

“We did it!” Winnie whooped.

And not a moment too soon. They heard the telltale screech and slide of skidding wheels and shattering glass behind them.

Winnie yanked on the brake and they slid in front of the alleyway, panting.

“That . . . was . . . awesome,” Winnie breathed.