Wicked Burn (Realm Enforcers #3)(88)

“Now, Simone,” Vivienne ordered.

Dizziness swamped Simone. She couldn’t fight when she needed to throw up. Nick and Zane could handle themselves, and she had a baby to protect.

“Go, now!” Nick bellowed, punching through a guard’s neck.

Simone leaped into the car, grabbed the gun, and shut the door. “Go, Mom.”

Vivienne punched the gas, and the small compact leaped forward and onto the street. She dovetailed and swung around, increasing the speed until buildings flew by outside. “You all right?”

Simone tried to breathe evenly, her hand on her stomach. “Yes. Just a little nauseated.”

Viv nodded. “I was sick for nine whole months with you.”

“You know about the babe?” Simone asked.

“Yes. Your testimony and Nicholai’s closing went live to the witch nation yesterday.” Viv’s pale lips trembled. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” Simone frowned and studied her mother. “You should be in bed.”

Viv’s lips twitched. “I couldn’t exactly stay in bed when my only daughter was facing a death sentence, now, could I?”

“No.” But Viv had just sacrificed her position on the Council. “What have you done? The Council is everything to you.”

Viv turned, her dark eyes soft. “No. It’s a job, and one I was good at. You’re everything to me. Don’t make the mistakes I did and let ambition warm you at night. You can have love as well as power.” She turned back to the street ahead of them. “I’m going ta be a grandmother.” She chuckled.

“I love you, too.” Simone kept watch out the window in case she needed to shoot, when all she wanted to do was lay back her head and calm her stomach. “But you’ve just committed treason.” God, how could she help her mother?

“Eh. It’s only treason if they catch you and prove it.” Viv turned onto a narrow road heading into the hills. “I have enough political clout and blackmail materials on everybody on the Council that I should be all right. Of course, I fully intend to retake my position on the Nine as soon as we get this mess with you straightened out.”

There was the mother she knew and loved. “Thank goodness.” Although Viv would make an excellent grandmother, the idea of her hanging around and directing everything added to Simone’s nausea. “We will figure this all out.”

“Of course we will.” Viv cleared her throat. “Do you, ah, ever wish I had been more maternal? You know? With all the mushy stuff?”

Simone laughed. “No. I always felt loved and like I was a priority. And you gave me a lot to aspire to, seeing how hard you worked and how successful you are.” She bit her lip. “But you did try to cook many times, remember?”

Viv winced. “I never quite got it right.”

No. She was a terrible cook. “You’ll make an excellent grandmother.” It was true.

“Yes. Yes, I shall.” Viv slowed down to cross a narrow bridge.

“Did you, ah, give the codes to the veil to the Enforcers?”

“Nope, and if I did, I would not tell you and make you an accomplice after the fact.” She drove the car over several warped pieces of wood, causing them both to jump in their seats. “So don’t ask again.”

That’s what Simone had thought.

Vivienne looked in the rearview mirror. “We have company.”

Simone jerked and looked around to see a red pickup truck zooming closer. “Punch it.”

“Shit.” Vivienne slammed on the brakes. “I had to make the arrangements so quickly—but I used secure lines. How did they find us? Damn it. I should’ve known we’d have trouble.”

Simone turned and clutched the dash to keep from hitting it. “What—” A black SUV had driven across the other end of the bridge, blocking it. “We’re trapped.”

“Is it the Guard?” Vivienne clutched the steering wheel and leaned forward to stare through the rain.

“I don’t think so.” The red truck behind them wasn’t Guard issue, and the SUV in front of them had several dents along the side. The Guard wouldn’t allow a vehicle to remain in such disrepair.

Three men stepped out of the SUV, all armed with laser assault rifles.

“Bloody hell,” Vivienne said, looking through the rearview mirror.

Simone tightened her hold on the gun and glanced in the side mirror. Four more men, similarly armed, set up behind them. “ Who—” Her breath caught as Phillipe Sadler stretched his legs out of the SUV in front of them. “Oh.” Her arms trembled as she tried to figure a way out. “We’re outgunned, and if Phillipe is a witch with powers, I’d assume several of his men are, as well.” She stuck the gun in her right boot.

Vivienne kicked open her door. “In the name of the Coven Nine, back away.”

Phillipe smiled and lifted a green laser gun. “Simone? Get out of the car, or I’ll plug your mother so full of holes she’ll never be complete again. Although she did make it ridiculously easy to find you. By the way, I have a world-class hacker on my payroll now. Everything from phones to computers to satellites.”

Simone’s hand trembled, but she shoved open the door. “You’re making the biggest mistake of your life, Phillipe.” She wasn’t talking about Nick, either. If Phillipe thought to put Simone’s child in harm’s way, she’d burn him inside out the first second she got. “Take the reprieve and run.”