Free The Isle by Jordana Frankel Page A

rearview mirror, I have my answer. Precious cargo. It’s making me cautious, as well I should be. But I win ’cause my methods are unorthodox to the point of suicidal, some might say. If I start flinching at every mobile that bites my way, I’ll never get us out of here.
    The DI Omnis draw closer, but we have one advantage—they don’t know where we’re headed, so they don’t know they’re in our way. It’s not a huge advantage, but it’s something.
    I wait for the blobs to get bigger, and then, when one of ’em comes a bit too close . . .
    Pedal to the metal, baby.
    I gun this beauty for all it’s worth. We shoot forward. I stick to my seat and my stomach drops. Steering us directly over the nose of one mobile—
    I bring us nose-to-nose with the second.
    I set the Omni in reverse. A glimpse in the rearview, however, shows me a surprise: the first guy’s pulled a 180. He’s now headed for our tail. I swallow. Okay, not that direction .
    Facing forward again—
    â€œRen!” Aven shrieks from the backseat. Her voice breaks with a fear like I’ve never heard before, and my insides twist up. The echo-location sonar beeps shrilly. On the screen, I see why. . . .
    A red arrow is headed right for us. It’s a net, attached to a harpoon. Or a harpoon attached to a net, depending on which you like less.
    The arrow hurtles closer, until it’s practically an Egyptian pyramid on the screen. I cut the wheel to the right, spinning us off at a ninety-degree angle.
    There, suspended like a bullet in midair: a third blob.
    â€œWill someone please turn off the sonar!” It should’ve been turned off soon as we made it out of the building, but both my hands are on the wheel, and Aven don’t have hands, so that leaves Callum.
    He flips it off and the beeping ceases, thank heavens. I’m the only one who needs to see the harpoons coming for us anyway.
    â€œI hope nobody’s worried,” I say to the others, trying to cut the tension. “This is nothing.”
    They both side-eye me as I give the Omni more speed. The mobile strains, its engine grinding for more.
    Of course as I say that, blob number three decides now’s a great time to let loose a net. Through the visor, I see a newred arrow rushing toward us. Thankfully, though, this guy ain’t much of a shot. I rotate the wheel just a few degrees and avoid it entirely.
    According to the dash’s schematics, I’ve got a turn coming up.
    I wait until the last possible moment and swing a hard left. Aven and Callum groan in unison, thrown into the side of the mobile.
    â€œIntentional!” I say. “I’m taking turns last-second, banking on how badly they suck at driving.”
    Sorta glad the thermal visor doesn’t show you when someone’s about to puke.
    I look behind us and spot only two yellow blobs. We push past the remains of one old building and then another, but we’re just not moving fast enough to lose them. And honestly, without Benny here to rig the speed, we’re not going to outrace them either.
    â€œHow you doing back there, Aven?” I ask.
    I wish I could split myself in two. That way I could be the driver and the sister. I could get us safely outta here, and I could reassure her that no one will ever, ever take her away again.
    Each time she’s in danger feels worse than the last.
    â€œI’m fine.”
    That’s all she gives me. In the past twenty minutes, she’s said nothing else. When Callum saw her wrists, she wanted to talk even less.
    â€œWe’re almost there.” I glance at the map, knowing I haveto lose these guys pronto. Our dot is three-quarters of the way to the dock. I give the Omni as much speed as she can handle, but navigating through all these buildings, taking turns left and right—it’s impossible to go full throttle.
    Blob one releases another dart. In my visor, I watch the red streak