I was in trouble, big, bad, deep trouble. I tried to bolt, but the driver grabbed me by the hair before I took two steps. His hands, hot and rough, slid down my arms and gripped my wrists with bone-grinding force. He wrenched my hands behind my back, and I felt the bite as plastic cuffs were slapped onto my wrists. Then I was flung violently into the back of the car.
“Be careful, fool. There mustn’t be a mark on her.” Qwendar’s voice came out of the darkness.
“Where the hell were you?” the driver grunted.
“Establishing my alibi,” Qwendar snapped. “Get control of her!”
I tried to thrash and kick out, but the big thug was too quick. Glancing over my shoulder I saw him rip off his belt and wrap it around my ankles. Feeling like a trussed goose on its way to market I lay on the backseat, my cheek pressed against the cold metal of the seat belt. The seat next to me shifted as Qwendar got into the backseat. He patted me on the hip. I jerked trying to get away from him. I heard the driver’s door slam, and then we were in motion.
At first my mind was awash with panic. There wasn’t a coherent thought anywhere in sight. I drew in several deep breaths and forced myself to think. We were in a parking garage. There would be someone in the kiosk to take their money. I would scream. Police would come.
“He has an E-ZPass,” Qwendar said, as if he’d read my thoughts. “He waves a card at a reader. No stopping. No paying. No rescue. I do so love technology.”
“Except when it fucks you,” I said. I managed to lever myself up to a sort of sitting position. My arms were already going numb. “You thought I couldn’t see you.”
“True. It was a mistake on my part.”
“David knows everything. We’ve talked.”
“But where’s the proof, dear Linnet? And after you’re dead, no one will believe the ravings of one obsessed girl forcing her attentions on a man who has clearly said he doesn’t want her.”
Fear has a taste like bile and rancid oil. Panic made my gut feel loose, and I found I couldn’t draw a full breath. Qwendar turned to gaze out the window, indicating our conversation was over.
“Why, Qwendar? Why are you destroying your own people?”
“You humans had a saying from your Vietnam War: ‘We had to destroy the village in order to save it.’ That’s what I’m doing. I’m saving my people from your kind. Your world and your kind have become seductive to the Álfar.” I couldn’t help it. I let out a sound of derision. “I know it seems absurd. To me, too. Humans are constantly warning their children against Álfar charms, but your world of gadgets and ease has its allure too. Add to that, all of you humans attract our younger people. You are so short-lived, and as a result you live with such intensity and verve. Instead of understanding that you are chattel and playthings and nothing more, our youth are marrying you, living by your rules and values.”
“So you’re trying to turn us against the Álfar.”
“Yes. Once I can force a sufficiently violent and retaliatory incident against the Álfar, I will be able to convince the Council to order all of us back to our realm. That will give us a chance to recover our past glories and inculcate our youth in their true roles and nature.”
I shook my head and gave a bitter laugh. “God, I bet if I dig deep enough I’ll find out you’re one of the major funders of Human First.”
“Yes, you probably would. I have your measure, Linnet, and you are tenacious and very bright. I can’t risk it, and so I’m sorry to say you must become a casualty.” He sighed. “Sad, but such are the fortunes of war.”
He settled back into the corner of the seat and closed his eyes. It was clear our conversation was at an end.
I studied the wide neck of the driver. Maybe I could appeal to our shared humanity. An obvious ploy, but God knew I had nothing to lose. “Why are you doing this? Working for an Álfar. You heard him. He’s going to kill me. Are you really going to let that happen?”
“Yep.” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “When the pay’s this good, I don’t care who dies.”
“Wow, are you really this stupid?” Thug Boy took a one hand off the steering wheel and cuffed me across the ear. It was like a love tap from a rhino.
“I told you, don’t leave any marks on her!” Qwendar was obviously paying attention even while pretending to be asleep.
Desperate, I tried again with the driver. “Look, do you honestly think he’s going to let you live after you help him with this?”
“He’s taking me back to Fey with him. I can’t leave. Problem solved, and I avoid a few legal problems here.”
The car accelerated onto the freeway. We were heading north. I wondered where they were taking me. My mind ran in frenzied ferret circles. I tested the cuffs. They didn’t budge. My only hope was outside intervention. I needed CHiPS. So I needed Thug Boy to do something that would attract the attention of any passing cop or have a concerned citizen call the police.
I glanced over at Qwendar before I risked another remark. He was watching me and listening with an indulgent smile.
“Legal problems, huh? What kind?”
His laugh had all the humor of boulders rolling down hill. “Why you want to know? You gonna represent me, Counselor?” He laughed again at his own wit.
“Fine. Don’t tell me. I can guess. Bet you played football in high school. Probably the highlight of your life. Dated a cheerleader. Probably did a little date rape action on prom night. Beat up the queers and the geeks. You weren’t good enough to win an athletic scholarship, and then suddenly you had graduated and discovered you were too damn dumb to get into college.”
“You lose. I was in school selling blow, so I didn’t have to take out student loans. You think you know me. You don’t know anything.”
Illuminated by the glare of headlights I watched his knuckles whitened as he took a harder grip on the steering wheel when a merging car cut us off. The car swerved into another lane to pass a slower car, and Thug Boy didn’t slow down once we were past. I had to get it right. I cast around desperately. Then I noticed the lighter skin on the fourth finger of his left hand. Wedding ring. Gone now.
“So, what happened to your wedding ring? Your wife get sick of carrying the family because you didn’t graduate and couldn’t get a job?”
“I always had to work for cunts like you. Having it in for me.” The car jackrabbited forward as he smashed his foot against the accelerator. I was thrown against the door and felt the handle dig into my back. I thought briefly about trying to lever it open, but being thrown out of a moving car onto the 405 freeway would kill me just as surely as Qwendar and his knuckle dragger.
“Yeah. I’m sure. Well, maybe if you had an IQ above 80 you wouldn’t have lost out to all these smart women. How you doing on that child support? Behind? Of course you are, because people like you always are. Big man. You can ejaculate, but you sure can’t follow through. Although men as fat as you usually have problems in that department. Your wife find somebody who could satisfy her—”
“SHUT UP! Shut the fuck up or I’ll come back there and gag you.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Qwendar drawled, while not opening his eyes. “She’s baiting you. Don’t fall for it.”
The back of Thug Boy’s neck was brick red. He hunched his shoulders, his hands closing spasmodically on the steering wheel, but he started to slow down. “I’m not an idiot. I’m not stupid,” he said.
I started to open my mouth to respond, but lightning quick Qwendar thrust his handkerchief into my mouth and tied it in place with his tie. I fought the sense that I was choking and forced down vomit. Aspirating on vomit was not going to make the night better. Eventually they would have to get me out of the car. That would be my only chance, and I had to be ready for any opportunity that might present itself.