400 Horsepower of the Apocalypse
Chapter 26
Eventually, Leo and I had to pry ourselves apart. Famine had raced off and we didn’t feel the sick sensation of the horseman, but neither of us knew the exact range of Death and Uriel’s tracking ability. I still had a lot of questions and Leo was obviously exhausted, but he turned the Packmaster back in the direction of Highway 44.
We drove through the desert until rocks and sand gave way to the winding black strip of highway asphalt. The bus was gone, but to judge by the fresh tire tracks and the reek of diesel in the air, it had taken a tow truck.
Leo turned left, pointing us west — toward San Diego. I wasn’t sure if Leo had his steed under control or if the motorcycle just liked our route this time, but the ride was smooth and swift. The gibbous moon had risen and we raced through its bright silver light. We passed a few other cars and some of them honked at us, but Leo knew what he was doing — or else Death did — and the bike wove expertly through the scarlet taillights of nighttime traffic.
I caught one brief glimpse of a Highway Patrol cruiser, but I didn’t sense Michael nearby. We blew past so fast that the red and blue lights flashed only once before they vanished behind us. Leo was bent double over the handlebars of the Packmaster and trembling with the effort of maintaining control… I wasn’t sure if he saw the cop at all.
We crossed the border of California just after midnight, beneath the southern tip of Nevada. I don’t think Leo wanted to stop, but we were both falling over with exhaustion. Even if Leo couldn’t sleep, he needed some kind of rest.
So we finally pulled over in a town called Empire and staggered through the parking lot of a roadside motel. Between the two of us, I was less bullet-riddled and bloody, so I went into the front office and threw a rumpled fifty-dollar bill on the counter. The clerk jolted awake and opened his mouth to ask a question, but I shook my head and put another bill down.
“One room and don’t ask or say anything,” I told him.
The guy nodded and collected my money. He typed something into his computer and then handed me a key card with a number written on the little paper envelope. He pointed out the window to the matching door. Apparently, he took my shut-up bribe seriously.
Fine by me.
I thanked the sleepy clerk and headed back outside to Leo, who leaned against the cinder-block wall with his arms crossed and head down. He looked up at my approach, then wordlessly followed me down the row of brass-numbered blue doors until I opened one. We went inside and locked the door behind us.
“I can’t pay you back for the room,” Leo told me. “Hell, I can’t even pay the money I owe you for working on my bike anymore. When the Packmaster went rampaging, it kind of… burned off my saddlebags. We lost it all. I’m sorry, Jaz.”
I blinked at Leo, and then began laughing.
“Everything we’ve been through… and you’re worried about fifty bucks?” I asked.
Leo stared for a moment, but then smiled and laughed, too. We laughed until we wiped hysterical tears from our cheeks. I pressed my hands against my stomach and fought for breath while Leo rubbed his eyes. He sat heavily on the corner of the bed, then shook his head and stood up again.
“No. If I sit down, I’ll fall asleep,” Leo said. “I can’t let that happen.”
“So what did happen…?” I asked. “Back at Blue Mountain, I mean.”
“I got shot,” Leo answered. “A few times. I thought I was dead for sure. And without my… passenger, I would have been.”
Leo looked down again and pushed a finger through one of the bullet holes in his jacket.
“I got distracted,” he said. “I lost control of the Packmaster and it went wild. I… I couldn’t stop it.”
Leo leaned against the locked door and failed to suppress a shudder. He was looking out through the motel room window and I followed his gaze. His motorcycle was parked right outside. That wasn’t where Leo had left it… The biker’s expression was one of weary horror and I hurried across the room to put a hand on his arm.
“It’s not your fault,” I said. “You were bleeding out. Because you took the bullets for me and Diane.”
“Which only happened because I grabbed her in the first place,” Leo argued. He drew a shuddering breath. “I was stupid and desperate. So I got shot. I was bleeding and losing control of Death…”
I squeezed Leo’s arm. The thick muscles there were knotted like steel cables.
“How did you hold Death off?” I asked.
Leo dug into one of his jacket pockets and pulled out a hypodermic needle. I stared. It was the syringe that Diane had given Leo — and it was empty.
“You took the stimulant,” I said. “Holy shit, Leo. That’s how you stayed in control?”
He nodded wearily. “Barely, but yeah.”
“But after everything you went through with the heroin?” I asked. “And your mother…”
“I can’t afford to lose control of Death for a second,” Leo said. “The Packmaster destroyed half that base before I could call it off. Imagine what Death could do riding that thing through a city full of people.”
I leaned my forehead against Leo’s shoulder.
“We can’t let that happen,” I agreed. “Ever. Death and Uriel can never take control. And we can’t let them have their war.”
“I’m so tired, Jaz,” Leo said. “I don’t know what to do.”
“We go to your uncle,” I answered. “We ride to San Diego as hard as we can. If angels or horsemen get in our way, we push through. Fast, before they make Death or Uriel manifest.”
“What if Carlos can’t help us?” Leo asked. “The only solution SPOT had was suicide.”
I pressed my face into the leather of Leo’s jacket and took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of him.
“If Carlos can’t help, then we go with Diane’s plan,” I said. “Both of us. You know we can’t let the archangels and horsemen fight. I’m scared to die, but they’ll destroy everything. The entire universe.”
Leo raised one shaking hand and slowly stroked the tangled black curls of my hair.
“The universe is too big for me to understand,” Leo said. “I can’t fight for that, Jaz. I only know people. That’s why I fought in Blue Mountain, why I stuck that needle in my arm… to save you.”
“Killing me will be saving me,” I told him. “You know that. I can’t live with the cost if Uriel takes me. If Carlos can’t fix this shit, then we have to die. There’s no other way.”
Leo turned and held me tight against his broad chest. “You heard what Diane said. Blue Mountain wasn’t the only SPOT base. There are more of those guys, and they will try to kill us before we reach Carlos.”
“We’ll outrun them,” I said.
“And if we can’t?” Leo asked.
“Then Diane’s people capture us and this ends,” I said. “One way or another. But the Earth survives, and everyone lives.”
“Everyone but us. I can’t lose you, Jaz,” Leo told me in a low, deep voice that made my pulse race and my breath catch. “My world is the people that I love. You know that.”
“I don’t want to lose you, either,” I said.
Leo ran trembling fingers down the side of my face. “There’s so little time left. I don’t know if I can do this anymore, Jaz. That stimulant is supposed to last seventy-two hours, but I’ve already been running for so long.”
“I can help,” I told him. My heart pounded. “I can keep you awake.”
I grabbed the front of Leo’s battered leather jacket and drew him toward the bed. I felt the fire and rage of Uriel reacting to Death, but there was something else inside me. Something even bigger, brighter and more powerful than the archangel.
“Jaz, no,” Leo said. His voice was raw. “I can’t… What if I hurt you? Death…”
I pulled Leo down into a deep kiss.
“I’m not scared anymore,” I whispered against his lips. “Not of you. We’ll run together, Leo, as far as we can. Until there’s nowhere left to run.”
Leo stared down at me with dark wildfire in his eyes.
“Jaz…” he said. “I love you.”
“Then show me,” I told him.
Leo lifted me into his arms and kissed me until we couldn’t feel Uriel or Death anymore. There was only heat and desire, sweet sensation and racing hearts. I tore urgently at Leo’s clothes and his already shredded shirt ripped in my hands. Leo growled hungrily as he carried me to the bed. We fell together into the sheets in a desperate tangle, kissing and groping frantically. And then…
Well, none of your business. Get your own bronzed motorcycle god.
