Reign of Wrath (Dirty Broken Savages #3)(59)

“I know,” she says back, and determination flares in her eyes. “But I’m going with you. There’s no fucking way I wouldn’t.”

She’s got an expression on her face like she’s daring me to argue with her, and I glance over her head at the others, standing by the other car. They’ve got a spectrum of looks on their faces, varying between frustration and awe, and it makes me laugh under my breath.

I think I know better than all of them that we couldn’t really stop River if we tried. She’s always been a fucking force of nature, barreling into our lives like a hurricane and forcing us to keep up with her.

It makes my heart beat faster. My blood is already humming for action, and this kicks it up a notch, adding to the adrenaline surging through me.

I haul River in for a kiss, smashing my mouth into hers and devouring her for a second. It’s all we’ve got to spare, but it’ll have to be enough. When I pull back, the monster’s smile is on my face.

“I knew from the first minute I met you that you were as crazy as I am,” I tell her. “I fucking like that.”

She grins, and her dark blue eyes are bright with a wildness that calls to me in the best way.

River gets into the passenger side of the new car, and the others get in their car, and that’s that. We don’t have time to argue about who’s going where, so it’s decided.

We peel out real quick. With Priest on the scope, we had a pretty good view of the other car coming, so we had a bit of time, but we need to move fast to catch up with it.

We take the little side road that led to the cabin back to the highway and head in the direction the runner’s car was driving.

I punch the gas, gunning it to catch up to the runner’s car, which is a massive SUV.

I laugh as I feel that rush that comes with the speed and with knowing we’re about to do this fucking thing. River’s eyes are intent on the windshield, looking out at the road ahead of us, searching for the SUV.

It takes a couple of minutes, but then we see it up ahead, looming all big and black and ready for the taking.

The lights are off on our car, and we drive quickly toward the SUV. I hit the gas as I get near it, wrapping my fingers tight around the steering wheel. This whole thing is my shit, the stuff I love. It’s dangerous to be speeding along like this, and I’m driving wildly, but with purpose and control. The car does what I want and only what I want, and I keep nudging it forward, my heart leaping every time the engine roars.

“Come on,” I whisper under my breath and tap the back of the SUV with our car, trying to run it off the road.

The SUV swerves a little and then course corrects, and the driver lays on the horn for a second, like he’s trying to warn me off. Like I’m some random ass driver on the road who got too close.

I grin that savage grin and gun it one more time, using our car’s smaller size to get it up right alongside the SUV and start bearing to the right.

It swerves hard, and I drop back, but then the driver corrects again. “Fuck,” I curse under my breath.

River’s leaning forward in her seat, one hand wrapped tightly around the door handle. She licks her lips and glances over at me, and I smile back at her.

We’re just getting started.

“Sit back,” I tell her. “And make sure you’re buckled in. Shit’s about to get wild.”

She just nods and checks her seatbelt before making a conscious effort to sit back further in her seat. The last thing I want is for her to get hurt in the middle of this, but she knows there’s a chance, and she’d rather see this through than try to wait somewhere where she’ll be safe. Got to admire her for that.

One more time, I hit the gas and ram the SUV to the side, sending it veering off the road. I can’t hear the driver, or even see him really, but I like to imagine he’s cursing up a storm while he tries to get his shit together.

That last hit sends the message that someone’s trying to fuck said shit up though, and the driver’s side window rolls down. There’s a split second where I see the gun before it starts firing, and I manage to slam on the brakes in time to avoid the bullets.

We stop in time, but the other car with Gage, Priest, and Ash in it almost barrels right into the back of us.

“Shit!” River curses, holding on to her seat.

“Warned you,” I tell her, glancing over quickly to make sure she’s alright. “Hold on.”

Full sentences are out the window now, and I’m focused only on the SUV ahead of us. It starts to get farther away, putting on speed to get away from us since the driver knows something’s up. But I’ve got it in my sights now. I’m like a shark with blood in the water, and I’m not letting up until this shit is done.

I slam on the gas and we shoot forward, creeping up past seventy, eighty, ninety miles an hour. The car squeals a little as I put it through its paces, but I don’t let up. Not until I’m right on the runner’s tail.

I jerk the wheel hard to the right, and we press into the side of the SUV at a hundred and something miles an hour. Even if the driver could correct in time, he doesn’t have the space to play with, and the SUV goes veering off down the side of the road.

Up here in these mountains, there’s not a lot between the road and the embankments, and the runner’s going too fast to do anything about it. The SUV crashes over the side and rolls down the embankment with a screech of metal.