Origin of Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Protector #3)(26)

Bree laughed. “We’re headed off the main track. Away from the tourists taking pictures. There’s a parallel valley—the real Death Valley—that only supernaturals can access.”

“They say it’s where the magic of hell seeps up from the ground,” Ana shouted as she stepped on the gas. The buggy flew across the desert, the huge tires eating up the ground. The mountains looming in the distance grew nearer and the heat more intense.

When Ana reached the first valley, mountains rose up on the left and right.

“This is the main valley,” Bree shouted.

She pulled a right, speeding over the scrubby ground toward the first row of mountains. She drove straight for one of the shallower inclines—which was still pretty danged steep—and the buggy climbed onto the mountain, tires digging in. She was a pro, weaving around boulders or steeper bits until we crested the ridge and got our first good look at the real Death Valley.





Chapter Eight





A long valley stretched out in front of us. It had to be at least a hundred miles long and several miles wide. The ground swirled in different colors and seemed to shimmer with heat. An aura of danger hung over the place, dark magic that made my hair stand on end.

“Welcome to hell!” Ana cried.

“She sounds happy about it,” Ares muttered.

I grinned. These girls were nuts, but I could relate. Cass, Del, and I had mellowed a bit, but not that much.

The buggy ate up the ground as it sped toward the valley floor. Once we hit the bottom, Bree tossed a harness into the back seat. “Back platform person, put that on!”

Ares grabbed it, shoving his legs through the straps.

“Hey!” I shouted.

He buckled the thing around his waist and grinned wryly at me. “I’m sure you’ll have your chance to kick some ass.”

“I’d better.” I’d see to it.

“Hook the harness to the bar on your platform in case you get knocked off the vehicle—the heat of the sand can kill you if you lay on it too long.” Bree pointed to the red button on the front of the harness. “Hit that if you need to release the harness quickly.”

“Got it.” Ares climbed up onto the back platform as Ana drove like a bat out of hell across the flat, arid land. He latched his harness to the bar.

“I recommend kneeling on one knee,” Bree shouted as she climbed onto the front platform and hooked her harness off. Her black hair whipped in the wind. “If you end up on the ground, keep running. Don’t stand still on the hot ground.”

The sky was a cloudless blue as the buggy raced across the planes. The mountains rose high on either side of us. Ahead, the ground almost appeared white.

“Badwater coming up!” Ana shouted.

The buggy hurtled toward the white surface. It looked a heck of a lot like the Rann of Kutch, the salt plains I’d gone to in India last week.

Until a massive crystal of salt speared out of the earth, right in front of the buggy. Ana dodged it by an inch, driving like a pro, but another one speared out of the ground in front of us. There was no time to dodge without the buggy rolling.

My heart leapt into my throat. We were screwed.

Magic swelled on the air as Bree threw out her hands. A massive sonic boom hurtled toward the salt spear, blasting it to pieces. Ana drove straight through the rubble, laughing.

But the spears continued to surge out of the ground. Ana dodged what she could. Bree blasted the rest, avoiding a collision that would crush the front of the buggy.

They were an amazing team, but eventually, more spears started to pop up in front of us. More than Ana could dodge or Bree could blast.

My mind raced, trying to figure out what I could conjure. I hadn’t yet learned to throw my destroyer power in front of me, and it was too slow for this.

Ares slammed his hand against the red button on his harness and leapt from the buggy, hitting the ground running. He sprinted ahead of the buggy, his vampire speed in full effect.

My breath caught in my throat. I’d never seen him go so fast. This was Ares unleashed. He hurtled toward the salt pillars in the distance, slamming into them with enough force to blast them apart. They crumbled beneath the brute force.

Bree whooped a war cry at the sight, sending sonic booms at the other pillars, smashing them to bits. Ana dodged the rest, weaving the buggy through the spears of salt like this was a deadly game of Frogger.

Ana and Bree were a hell of a team.

Finally, the salt flats ended. Ana drove by a sprinting Ares, who leapt up and grabbed the rail on the back of the buggy, swinging onto the back platform. Sweat dripped down his face and he was panting, his chest heaving like he’d run a marathon in ten minutes. Which he kind of had.

“Not bad, vampire!” Bree shouted. “Now clip off your harness!”

“Safety first!” Ana cackled as she hit the gas and plowed forward.

We really were in Mad Max—Bree just needed a guitar that shot flames. Though I had a feeling she’d use it as a weapon before making music with it.

Ahead of us, stone arches loomed in the distance. We hurtled toward them, the buggy eating up ground. Ana drove under the first one, which was easily forty feet tall.

“Get ready!” she shouted.

The ground ahead of us heaved upward, a massive figure growing up from the dirt. It was shaped like a man, but it was made of gravel and at least twenty feet tall. It grabbed up a scoop of earth, which was really just a giant rock, and hurled it at us.