I let out a small laugh. “Do you think the guy behind us called for backup? What if the Desaltis join him?” This wasn’t their area, and I wasn’t crazy enough to go anywhere near them, but if they found out I was on the run and didn’t have my guards with me, they might seize the opportunity and come after me.

“Then we better hurry.”

I zigzagged between the cars as they honked at us, probably not realizing at first what was going on. I doubt anyone in their right mind would honk and curse at an assassin.

“Find an alley. Someplace without many cars,” James said.

“Oh yeah, because that’s just super easy to do.” I groaned.

He turned in his seat and moved toward the back seat. When he glanced at me, I assumed he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t hit me accidentally. I looked around the street. There should be an alley that wasn’t full of cars or people nearby, so I headed toward it. James had managed to squeeze himself between the seats and get into the back seat.

“We’re almost in the alley. What are you going to do?” I said.

“Keep your head down and just drive, okay?”

“Yeah.” I ducked my head. James fired at the back window, which burst into pieces, then kept shooting at the assassin with two guns. Holding my breath, I didn’t let go of the steering wheel. There was a loud crash coming from somewhere behind us, but I didn’t dare to look, at least not until the gunshots ceased.

The silence that followed a few moments later was almost strange to my ears, and I glanced over my shoulder.

“He’s down,” James said, holding up his two guns. “Get us out of here.”

“Is he dead?” I asked, a bit of the tension leaving my shoulders.

“I don’t know. I think I hit him. He fell off his bike.”

“Good.” I had no idea where we were going to go now. The Desaltis or the assassins would be looking for us. “Do you think the assassins really went after us and left everyone else...?”

“Do you have a phone? We can call Meg, and then we have to ditch this car and avoid being seen at any cost.”

“Yeah, I do.” I fished it out of my pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to him as I slowed down a little. Our broken window and all the damage attracted too much attention, though, and I knew we had to get rid of the car as soon as possible. “Meg’s number is under her name.”

He dialed it, and my heart was in my throat while he waited for someone to answer.

“Meg?” James said as someone picked up, and he put her on speaker, holding the phone in between us.

“James? Is Arianna with you?” Meg asked.